Wylie F. L. Tuttle

A native New Yorker, Tuttle graduated from Columbia College in 1944.[4] He was a member of the Delta Phi fraternity and rowed for the varsity crew team.[5][6] He was a Navy pilot in the Pacific theater during World War II. After the war, he joined the real estate firm known then as Brown, Wheelock, Harris & Stevens in New York. He then founded Collins-Tuttle with Arthur Collins in 1954.[7] He served as president of the company until he died.[2]

Tuttle seized the opportunity that arose out of Paris' growing need for urban development and decided to use American building expertise to help construct a modern landmark, stating at the time that "Paris needs a skyscraper and the competition here isn't as strong."[8] Tuttle and his associate, Herbert Papock, eventually enlisted a consortium of 17 French insurance companies and seven banks in the $140-million multiple-building project that became known as the Tour Montparnasse.[2][9] The financing was led by French industrialist Jean-Claude Aaron.[10][11][12]

After the complex was finished, Tuttle turned over the management to his French partners.[2] After his initial success in France, he continued his real estate ventures across the United States, and was also a founder and the first president of the Young Men's Real Estate Association.[2]

Tuttle maintained a residence at Rock Hall, Maryland, that was designed by the architect Paul Rudolph in 1984 and built in 1986.[13][14] He died on April 5, 2002, at his home at age 79.[4] His daughter, Alexandra Tuttle, was a freelance journalist who was killed in Georgia, where she was covering the Civil War after the collapse of the Soviet Union.[15]