Before permanently joining Lambert, Rufus William Bunnell worked around the country. He was born February 11, 1835, in Bridgeport, to William Rufus Bunnell and Sarah E. (Haight) Bunnell. After an education in the local schools, in 1852 he joined the office of Chauncey Graham, a local architect, as a student, moving to that of A. C. Nash in 1854 when Graham moved to New Jersey. In 1855 Bunnell joined Graham in his new office in Trenton, but after a few months moved west to Toledo, Ohio, where he worked with Frank J. Scott, an early local architect. In January of 1857 they formed a brief partnership, Scott & Bunnell, but in early 1858 Bunnell was back east, working for Woollett & Ogden in Albany before joining Lambert as a drafter. In 1859 Bunnell went south, joining contractor James F. Post of Wilmington, North Carolina, as his assistant. Bunnell was responsible for the design of the facade of one of Post's best known works, the Bellamy Mansion, begun that year. In 1860, becoming uncomfortable in the heightened tensions in the south in the buildup to the Civil War, Bunnell packed his things and took what he claimed was a temporary trip to the north. This trip proved to be permanent. After ensuring on behalf of Post that northern suppliers for the Bellamy project were fulfilling their orders, he returned to Bridgeport and joined Lambert to form Lambert & Bunnell.Janet K. Seapker and Catherine W. Bishir, "Bunnell, Rufus," North Carolina Architects and Builders: A Biographical Dictionary, 2015.
