Neal A. Prince Trust
Introduction and Biography
Neal A. Prince's Theatrical Biography from 1934 to 1958
Neal A. Prince's Professional Biography from 1944 to Present
Neal A. Prince/Herbert Hemphill Jr. Collection 1950-1967
Inter-Continental Hotel Collection from 1960-1985
Neal A. Prince Trust Various Other Holdings
Contacting the Neal A. Prince Trust

Neal A. Prince
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Neal Adair Prince, copyright 2005- All Rights Reserved

This Trust was created to be shared by the public as a depository of wealth of information and historic importance of Mr. Prince's experiences of creativity of his professional life.

Mr. NEAL ADAIR PRINCE was Born in Corsicana, Texas and armed with degrees in architecture and architectural engineering from Rice University. Neal Prince did military service with the United States Army 39th Combat Engineers in Italy. Returning to Texas, he became active in the Houston Little Theatre which produced a prizewinning play that he had authored. After a period as director of the Little Theatre, he went to the east coast and served for a season as Director of a Summer Stock Theater Company in New Hampshire. A spell in New York with the Actors Studio brought him to the classical quandary of those bitten by the theatre bug: a regular job supporting a regular diet or stick it out on the Rialto. Creature comfort won and through the Architectural League he secured a position with the firm (York & Sawyer) which was noted for the design of hospitals; after several months of observations in New York Bellevue Hospital, Mr. Prince became the firm's expert on the layout and planning of emergency rooms. In due course he decided against a lifetime in health care architecture, switched firms, and was assigned a project to design a motorway restaurant complex for Restaurant Associates, the New York area's most creative force in restaurant operations at the time. The job involved a complete package: architecture, engineering and interior. Mr. Prince took a genuine interest in the latter, and made a seminal career move to Ballard where, at Byron Calhoun's request, he did ad hoc work on a project to remodel the Hotel Jaragua in Ciudad Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, most of which work was never carried out, and a modest remodeling of the San Juan Hotel. Ballard had a contract for the interiors of the Phoenicia Inter-Continental in Beirut and Mr. Prince was sent out there to work on the interiors and also, because of his background, to represent architect Edward Stone in matters of interior layouts and finishes. All the furniture pieces were designed from scratch and were manufactured locally. In January 1961, Mr. Prince was hired to work full time as the Director of Interior Design in the Pan Am Development Department with the intention, at least in developing countries, that Inter-Continental Hotel would produce its hotels' interior designs "in house" and be reimbursed at cost under the TSA's. Mr. Prince shortly engaged Kenneth Smith, an interior designer from Ballard, and Charles Alvey, a specialist in graphics and industrial design. Mr. Prince's concepts and ideas were the forefront of its time, after designing and opening 154 Inter-Continental Hotels from 1961-1985, Mr. Prince has gain the deepest respect on the International level. Mr. Prince is a person of who uses function with style which mostly are lacking in today’s designs. With his ability to design each new Hotel using local materials and talents, such as the native artists and craftsman, he produce each Hotel with its own personality and flare but maintained the Corporate highest standards of which Inter-Continental Hotel was formed from. Mr. Prince gains the respect and acceptance by the local authorities.  This in turn avoided any local resistance in building the new Hotels around the world. With the assistance of Charles Alvey, Kenneth Smith, James Ray Baker and Richard W. Simpson created an industry of Hotel design and personalities that reflected each property. Inter-Continental Hotels gain much growth and respect through out the world by those concepts of designs. Still today, his work is unknown on a domestic level, but is concepts and designs are still cherished by guest, management and the organization of Inter-Continental Hotels Group. It is much to be learned from Mr. Prince's long history of experience from his first hotel of the Phoenicia Inter-Continental Hotel in Beirut, Lebanon to his last project doing the Willard Inter-Continental Hotel in Washington, D.C. Much is to be learned and passed down from Mr. Prince great experience and knowledge, it is important that this project be past upon us in an educational manner. It is important that his experience's and knowledge base, which are still called upon as consultant, to be learned and shared for others to appreciate with respect and honor.

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The Mission of this website reflects the various collections that were purchased together or separately by Neal Prince and Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. with additional comment on Mr. Prince's experience as Vice President of Interior and Graphic Design for the Inter-Continental Hotels. This collections is held by the NEAL ADAIR PRINCE TRUST and includes such artists as G.R. Aylmer, H.R. Barbor,& Eugene Berman, Randolph Beaumont (re: James Ray Baker), Banko Bijelic, Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Charles Edward Condor, Robert Courtright, Richard Dadd, Bob Duncan, Sir John Everett, Serge Ferat, Enid Foster, Ernst Fuchs, Robert Galster, Jane Greenwood, Hector Germain Guimard, Hein Heckroth, Utagawa Hiroshige, Dudley Huppler, Conrad Kiesel, Dong Kingman, Gustav Klimt, Jules Emile Leleu, Privat Livemont, Alexandre Lunois, Syd Mead, Francis Luis Mora, Alphonse Mucha, Michael Palmer, Paul Ranson, Howard Russell, Mlle. H. Scbeud, Kevin Schneider, George Segal, Walter Sickert, Albert Edward Sterner, Ida Bagus Tilem, Kamilo Vujcic, Andy Warhol, Stanford White, Willie White, Jacques Villon, Robert Yahn and various others.

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Neal Adair Prince, copyright 2007- All Rights Reserved

 

 

NEAL ADAIR PRINCE, Architect Emeritus, ASID -Biography Summary


ARCHITECT, INTERIOR DESIGNER, PLAYWRIGHT, DIRECTOR


 

PERSONAL


b. Corsicana, Texas, January 10, 1921; son, Fred Douglas and Opal Prince; mar. Frances Wooters Denman, October 7, 1944 (div. 1951); 2 sons, Neal Denman Prince b. June 21, 1946 & Peyton Denman Prince, b. September 19, 1949 (grandchildren of Justin Prince, b. June 14, 1982 and Allyson Prince, b. September 8, 1986);  1950-1964 associated with Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr.; 1966-1991 associated with George Kocyk;


EDUCATION


1934-38 Corsicana High School, Graduated 1938

1938-43 Rice University, Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering,

CAREER


1944-46, served to 1st Lt. 39th Combat of Engineers HQ, AUS;

1947-48, Architect, Ernest L. Shultz Architect, Houston, Texas;

1949, Playwright and Business Manager, Houston Little Theatre, Houston, Texas;

1950, Director, Wyndham Playhouse, New Hampshire;

1950-53, Architect, York & Sawyer Architects, New York, New York;

1954-57, Architect and Designer, Schoen & Hennessy Architects, New York, New York;

1958-60, Chief Architect and Designer, Walter M. Ballard Corporation, New York, New York;

1961-85 Vice President Interior & Graphic Design, Pan-Am / Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation;

1986-00 President, Prince Hotels Development PHD, Inc., New York, New York;

2001-Present, Consultant to the Hospitality Industry;


MEMBERSHIPS


Texas Board of Architects - Emeritus

American Society of Interior Designers,

Actors Equity