Robert Foote Shannon, 1945-2023

Robert Foote Shannon, 1945-2023. Photo provided.

WINDHAM, Vt. – Robert Foote Shannon was born Sept. 21, 1945, in Kansas City, Mo. and died peacefully at home in Santa Fe, N.M., on Feb. 2, 2023. He was 77 years old. He died from complications of lung cancer while in the loving care of his life partner Steven Fellows.

Bob was the son of Adrian Foote Shannon and Mary Oliver Shannon of Lima, Ohio. Bob attended the Lawrenceville School in N.J., followed by Yale University in New Haven, Conn., earning his master’s degree in architecture in 1967. Following grad-school, he moved to Windham, Vt. to start his practice.

Bob was an architect of note, an artist, inventor, and writer. His life and his life’s work focused on sustainable living through creative design. He founded the Fourth Corner Foundation in 1995 and developed a campus at his home in Windham, Vt. Later he established a winter home and second campus in Santa Fe, N.M.

Bob is survived by his son, Thomas Foote Shannon of Miami, Fla., and daughter Elizabeth Thankful Shannon of West Hollywood, Calif.

“When he could build

with the simplest palette,

polishing the dirt to

a silver shiny luster,

he would revel in his

new material invention,

always the apostle

of simplicity in the

most complex way”

-Lawrence Linder-

Two Celebration of Life events are being planned. One will be held on March 25 in Santa Fe, N.M. The other will be on July 28 in Windham, Vt. For more information or foundation donations please visit www.thefourthcornerfoundation.org or www.everloved.com/life-of/robert-foote-shannon/.

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