Kilham & Hopkins

Kilham & Hopkins was formed in 1899 or 1900 by its founding members, Walter H. Kilham and James C. Hopkins. Both were graduates of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kilham receiving a B.S. in 1889 and Hopkins receiving his in 1895.

The works of the firm up to 1912 were documented in an illustrated retrospective, "The Work of Kilham & Hopkin: Architects of Boston, Massachusetts" published in Architectural Record. Kilham served as an instructor in architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for several years, and also developed a reputation for his work as a painter.

The firm became Kilham, Hopkins & Greeley after William Roger Greeley joined the firm in 1916. Greeley lived in Lexington, Massachusetts, wrote "The Essence of Architecture" in 1927, and served as moderator of the American Unitarian Association, the highest lay position in the Unitarian Church. The firm later became Kilham Hopkins Greeley and Brodie while Walter S. Brodie was a member of the firm from 1945 to 1970. One of the founder's sons, James C. Hopkins Jr. (c. 1914–1998), also became partner.

Firm founder Walter Kilham was an advocate for the end of tenement housing and for the construction of suitable housing for working men. By 1918, the firm "had achieved a reputation as advocates of housing reform and progressive town planning." The firm produced plans for World War I shipyard workers' Atlantic Heights Development in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, based upon their work in five projects already completed by the firm in Massachusetts. The firm's contributions to early 20th century reform housing were the subject of a 1987 work published by the University of Chicago Press.

In 1946, firm founder Walter Kilham published a book on the history of architecture in Boston.

A number of these architects' works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.