Randolph Freed Martz

Randolph Freed Martz, 72, of Charleston, South Carolina, son of Lyle Freed Martz and Margaret Jones Martz entered into eternal rest Thursday, November 8, 2024. Arrangements by J. Henry Stuhr, Inc. Downtown Chapel.

Randolph was born November 10, 1951, in Cleveland, Ohio, where his father was working temporarily to renovate an electric generating plant, and the family soon returned to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, their permanent residence. 

Randolph was a classical architect whose buildings have been mainly constructed in Charleston and elsewhere in South Carolina. His designs for buildings have also been constructed in the following states: Connecticut, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, and North Carolina. His list of drawings includes approximately 500 projects designed from 1984-2021, and approximately half of them are for completed buildings. A selection of his completed work will continue to be made available through www.randolphmartz.com.

His degree in architecture was earned at Carnegie-Mellon University, where he also took courses in the history of architecture. He apprenticed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in Charleston, South Carolina. While completing his apprenticeship in Charleston, he worked as estimator from 1979-1984 for H. A. DcCosta Company, a contractor who specialized in restoration.

Randolph lived in Charleston since 1976, but he has also traveled in more than sixty countries in Asia, Africa, and the Americas to enhance his knowledge of world architecture. On one trip, he traveled by land from China to France and along the way worked as a draftsman on designs for the airport in Tehran (a project about which an article was published in the News & Courier). At various times, he has spent a total of more than a year in Rome studying its ancient and Renaissance buildings. 

His work has been published in six volumes. The first volume includes completed projects, measured drawings, sketches of historic details for adaptation, earliest designs, travel sketches, essays, and a short story. The second and third volumes volume contains travel photographs mainly of architecture. Two additional volumes include un built projects from 1978-1988 before he became a registered architect. An additional volume consists of short stories. The first three volumes were published by Lulu Press and the last three are available on Amazon.com.

At various times, Randolph trained numerous apprentices including Ryan Moss, Michael Hoenes, Christopher Liberatos, and Marion Simons. He served as a mentor for a number of interns from the Preservation Program at the College of Charleston. He has given hundreds of public presentations to Charleston’s Board of Architectural Review, and he has given lectures to various groups including students in the Rome Program of Notre Dame University.

Randolph is survived by his first cousins: Kathleen Martin Montgomery, William Martin, Kent Martin, David Martz, Pamela Martz Sulkowski, and Karen Martz Croce.

No memorial services have been planned at this time.