Richard Magill Gibbs

Richard Magill Gibbs, 74 years of age, died on Monday, January 26, 2026. He spent his life working as an architect, having graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1974. His confident and entrepreneurial spirit led him to establish his architectural practice the following year, R. M. Gibbs Design, in Providence, which he committed to the renovation of historic structures and the building of new houses. In 1979 Richard and husband Randy Harelson established their home in Barrington, Rhode Island, rehabilitating a former carriage house and making an abundant garden of the property—a creative endeavor that the two men would pursue throughout their lives, in numerous locations, as an expression of their shared values and as a gift to the many friends, guests and family who would visit them. In1986 the couple moved to Seaside, Florida, where Richard designed and built their home in the early years of the renowned new town and ultimately other houses as the town developed. In 1990 Richard became Seaside’s Town Architect. Six years later he became Town Architect for Rosemary Beach, FL. Following its development Richard designed and built the Community of Draper Lake Coastal Village in Santa Rosa Beach, FL, and Brewster Point in Rockport, Maine. When Richard and Randy learned of the opportunity to acquire the c.1810 LeJeune House in New Roads, Louisiana, they moved from Florida and began a near twenty-year tenure of stewardship for the historic house and gardens. During this time Richard’s architectural practice encompassed the design and construction of numerous houses in Southeast Louisiana.

Over the arc of his career, in addition to the dozens of homes he designed in New England, Florida and Louisiana, Richard designed the renovation and restoration of two apartments at the Dakota, a National Landmark building, New York City; a new entrance pavilion for the historic Blithewold Mansion and Gardens, Bristol, Rhode Island.; and an event pavilion at Eden State Gardens, an historic home and garden in Point Washington, Florida. Richard was a member of the board of the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation. In 2019 he received the Seaside Prize, a prestigious annual award presented by the Seaside Institute, recognizing individuals and organizations that have significantly influenced the fields of architecture, urban planning, and community development. In 2023, as a member of the Southern Garden History Society, he established the Randy Harelson Scholarship Fund.

Richard lived his early years in Princeton, New Jersey, with family that has roots in Quaker traditions, which profoundly shaped his gentle and kind character and restrained sensibilities. As a child Richard exhibited a passion for design and a creative vision of the world around him—collecting models of cars, designing the landscape around the family home, but most of all, spending endless hours developing house plans. His brother's earliest memory of Richard, at age four, is of him designing home layouts by placing 6”x 4” wooden blocks upright on their small ends to represent building shapes; meanwhile his two year old brother stacked them up into towering piles and looked on in bewilderment. A few years later, after the gift of miniature trains, Richard slowly filled the entire basement with an elaborately laid out town.

Summer trips taken to New Jersey beaches were some of the family's happiest moments—the experiences instilled in Richard the desire to lead a life always spent near the sea. His parents took great joy in his artistic endeavors as they were both artists themselves, allowing him such creative excesses as wallpapering the dining room with tinfoil. Not so much when, in his senior year of high school, he purchased a Corvair racecar with a Corvette engine to race late at night on country roads.

Richard believed that his summer job laying bluestone terraces was the entree into making a career in architecture. But it was perhaps the house painting business he ran during summers while in college, generously providing employment for his brother and friends, that is most fondly remembered by his brother. Joyful memories his brother has of those days and the times they spent together over the years remain, along with a bond of friendship and love eternal.

All who were touched by Richard’s life, kindness and generosity are welcome to come and are invited to speak at the Meeting Worship with Attention to Richard’s Memory at the graveside on February 14, 2026, 1:00 pm, Roselawn Cemetery, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Worship will be convened by Pam Daigle Arnold, Member of Baton Rouge Friends Meeting (Quakers).