Charles E. Roberts Stable

Last updated
Charles E. Roberts Stable
Oak Park Il Roberts Stable5.jpg
The Roberts Stable's rear elevation, viewed from a public alleyway
USA Illinois location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Charles E. Roberts Stable
Interactive map showing the location of Charles E. Roberts Stable
Location Oak Park, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Coordinates 41°53′32″N87°47′36″W / 41.89222°N 87.79333°W / 41.89222; -87.79333
Built1896 [1]
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright (remodel)
Charles E. White (residential conversion)
Architectural style Tudor Revival
Part of Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District (ID73000699 [2] )
Added to NRHPDecember 4, 1973

The Charles E. Roberts Stable is a renovated former barn in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, United States. The building has a long history of remodeling work including an 1896 transformation by famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The stable remodel was commissioned by Charles E. Roberts, a patron of Wright's work, the same year Wright worked on an interior remodel of Roberts' House. The building was eventually converted into a residence by Charles E. White, Jr., a Wright-associated architect, sources vary as to when this occurred but the house was moved from its original location to its present site in 1929. The home is cast in the Tudor Revival style but still displays the architectural thumbprint of Wright's later work. The building is listed as a contributing property to a federally designated U.S. Registered Historic District.

Contents

History

Charles E. Roberts was an engineer, inventor and important early client of Frank Lloyd Wright. [3] Roberts was an influential member of the building committee of Unity Temple in Oak Park. [4] For Roberts, Wright also developed the Quadruple Block Plan of 1900–1903. [5] Some architectural historians have mistakenly identified Charles E. Roberts as the father of Oak Park Studio architect Isabel Roberts. [6] As has been well documented, Isabel's father was James H. Roberts of South Bend, Indiana.

In 1896 Charles E. Roberts, an established patron of Frank Lloyd Wright, commissioned two jobs by the architect. One was the Charles E. Roberts House, for which Wright executed an interior remodel, and the other was the Charles E. Roberts Stable. [7] Wright redesigned the structure from an old barn into a garage for Roberts' electric car. [8] The building was eventually converted into a residence by architect Charles E. White, Jr., Roberts' son-in-law and an employee in Wright's studio in the years 1903–1905. Sources greatly vary on the date of White's conversion. [7] [8] The village of Oak Park's landmark nomination form for Wright's other Roberts project, the patron's home, dates White's conversion of the garage into a residence at 1929, the year when the structure was physically moved from its original location to its present location. [7] Historian Thomas O'Gorman, while noting the 1929 move, states that the Wright-redesigned barn conversion was altered into a dwelling between 1903 and 1904. O'Gorman connects White's remodel to the thorough overhaul the building experienced under Wright's creative control. [8]

Architecture

The view of the front (east) elevation is obscured by foliage during warmer months. Oak Park Il Roberts Stable1.jpg
The view of the front (east) elevation is obscured by foliage during warmer months.

The house elicits in its viewer a distinct "English feel." [8] Indeed, through its many remodelings the building is cast in the Tudor Revival style of architecture. [7] The structure displays a steeply pitched, side gabled roof, rounded bay and half-timbering, all common elements of the Tudor Revival style. [7] Other 1890s Wright-designed buildings also displayed a connection to traditional domestic architecture styles. The house has a vertical upsweep which projects a sense of shelter and safety associated with the broad, overhanging eaves found in Wright's roof designs. White carried Wright's design a step further in his remodel, but Wright's architectural aplomb is still evident in the structure. [8]

The home expresses a familial coziness, common to Wright's later early modern Prairie homes. The entire idea of barn conversion was an architectural advance in the late 19th century. [8] Wright's work on the stable introduced angularity and converted it from a barn to a building which conveyed a meld of country charm and modernity. O'Gorman compares the home to those designed by architect Edwin Lutyens. The prominent roof features second-story dormers, and its massive scale is balanced by Wright's placement of towering chimneys at either end of the house. [8] The home's front facade is obscured by bushes, trees and landscaping during the warmer months, and the home is best viewed in autumn or winter. [9]

Significance

The Charles E. Roberts Stable is one of several examples of Wright's work on pre-existing structures found in the village of Oak Park. Other examples include the Peter A. Beachy House and the Hills-DeCaro House, as well as the Roberts House; each of those buildings were pre-existing homes. [10] The building once sat at the rear of the Charles E. Roberts House, a locally designated Oak Park Landmark, today it stands next door to that structure. [9] The stable is listed as a contributing property to the Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District. [11] The historic district was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on December 4, 1973. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unity Temple</span> Historic site in Oak Park, Illinois

Unity Temple is a Unitarian Universalist church in Oak Park, Illinois, and the home of the Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation. It was designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and built between 1905 and 1908. Unity Temple is considered to be one of Wright's most important structures dating from the first decade of the twentieth century. Because of its consolidation of aesthetic intent and structure through use of a single material, reinforced concrete, Unity Temple is considered by many architects to be the first modern building in the world. This idea became of central importance to the modern architects who followed Wright, such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and even the post-modernists, such as Frank Gehry. In 2019, along with seven other buildings designed by Wright in the 20th century, Unity Temple was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio is a historic house and design studio in Oak Park, Illinois, which was designed and owned by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. First built in 1889 and added to over the years, the home and studio is furnished with original Wright-designed furniture and textiles. It has been restored by the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust to its appearance in 1909, the last year Wright lived there with his family. Here, Wright worked on his career and aesthetic in becoming one of the most influential architects of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Lyman Silsbee</span> American architect (1848 - 1913)

Joseph Lyman Silsbee was a significant American architect during the 19th and early 20th centuries. He was well known for his facility of drawing and gift for designing buildings in a variety of styles. His most prominent works ran through Syracuse, Buffalo and Chicago. He was influential as mentor to a generation of architects, most notably architects of the Prairie School including the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Lloyd Wright–Prairie School of Architecture Historic District</span> Historic district in Illinois, United States

The Frank Lloyd Wright/Prairie School of Architecture Historic District is a residential neighborhood in the Cook County, Illinois village of Oak Park, United States. The Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District is both a federally designated historic district listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and a local historic district within the village of Oak Park. The districts have differing boundaries and contributing properties, over 20 of which were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, widely regarded as the greatest American architect.

John Shellette Van Bergen was an American architect born in Oak Park, Illinois. Van Bergen started his architectural career as an apprentice draftsman in 1907. In 1909 he went to work for Frank Lloyd Wright at his studio in Oak Park. At Wright's studio he did working drawings for and supervised the Robie House and the Mrs. Thomas Gale House. Van Bergen designed prairie style homes in the Chicago area, mostly in the suburbs of Oak Park and River Forest. His home designs are recognized as excellent examples of Prairie style architecture and several are listed as local landmarks. A few of his homes are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Heurtley House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The Arthur B. Heurtley House is located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, United States. The house was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and constructed in 1902. The Heurtley House is considered one of the earliest examples of a Frank Lloyd Wright house in full Prairie style. The house was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places when it was designated a National Historic Landmark on February 16, 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Gale House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The Walter H. Gale House, located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and constructed in 1893. The house was commissioned by Walter H. Gale of a prominent Oak Park family and is the first home Wright designed after leaving the firm of Adler & Sullivan. The Gale House was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on August 17, 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter A. Beachy House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The Peter A. Beachy House is a home in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois that was entirely remodeled by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1906. The house that stands today is almost entirely different from the site's original home, a Gothic cottage. The home is listed as a contributing property to the Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District, which was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward R. Hills House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The Edward R. Hills House, also known as the Hills–DeCaro House, is a residence located at 313 Forest Avenue in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois. It is most notable for a 1906 remodel by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in his signature Prairie style. The Hills–DeCaro House represents the melding of two distinct phases in Wright's career; it contains many elements of both the Prairie style and the designs with which Wright experimented throughout the 1890s. The house is listed as a contributing property to a federal historic district on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and is a local Oak Park Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan G. Moore House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The Nathan G. Moore House, also known as the Moore-Dugal Residence, is a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The house was built one block south of Wright's home and studio at 333 Forest Avenue in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois. It was originally completed in 1895 in the Tudor Revival style at the request of client Nathan Moore. Wright obliged his client's wishes, but long after disliked the house for its adherence to historical styles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George W. Smith House (Oak Park, Illinois)</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The George W. Smith House is a home in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, United States designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1895. It was constructed in 1898 and occupied by a Marshall Field & Company salesman. The design elements were employed a decade later when Wright designed the Unity Temple in Oak Park. The house is listed as a contributing property to the Ridgeland-Oak Park Historic District which joined the National Register of Historic Places in December 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emil Bach House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The Emil Bach House is a Prairie style house in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States that was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The house was built in 1915 for an admirer of Wright's work, Emil Bach, the co-owner of the Bach Brick Company. The house is representative of Wright's late Prairie style and is an expression of his creativity from a period just before his work shifted stylistic focus. The Bach House was declared a Chicago Landmark on September 28, 1977, and was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on January 23, 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eben Ezra Roberts</span> American architect

Eben Ezra Roberts (1866–1943) was an American architect known for his work in the early modern Prairie style, pioneered by Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as other traditional residential styles. Roberts was born in Boston and attended architectural school at Tilton Seminary in New Hampshire. After moving to Chicago he eventually established a practice in the suburb of Oak Park, Illinois. In Oak Park alone, Roberts designed over 200 houses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert P. Parker House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The Robert P. Parker House is a house located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, United States. The house was designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1892 and is an example of his early work. Real-estate agent Thomas H. Gale had it built and sold it to Robert P. Parker later that year. The house was designed by Wright independently while he was still employed by the firm Adler & Sullivan, run by engineer Dankmar Adler and architect, Louis Sullivan; taking outside commissions was something that Sullivan forbade. The Parker House is listed as a contributing property to a U.S. federally Registered Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Furbeck House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The George W. Furbeck House is a house located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park. The house was designed by famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1897 and constructed for Chicago electrical contractor George W. Furbeck and his new bride Sue Allin Harrington. The home's interior is much as it appeared when the house was completed but the exterior has seen some alteration. The house is an important example of Frank Lloyd Wright's transitional period of the late 1890s which culminated with the birth of the first fully mature early modern Prairie style house. The Furbeck House was listed as a contributing property to a U.S. federal Registered Historic District in 1973 and declared a local Oak Park Landmark in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William H. Copeland House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The William H. Copeland House is a home located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, United States. In 1909 the home underwent a remodeling designed by famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The original Italianate home was built in the 1870s. Dr. William H. Copeland commissioned Wright for the remodel and Wright's original vision of the project proposed a three-story Prairie house. That version was rejected and the result was the more subdued, less severely Prairie, William H. Copeland House. On the exterior the most significant alteration by Wright was the addition of a low-pitched hip roof. The house has been listed as a contributing property to a U.S. Registered Historic District since 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscar B. Balch House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The Oscar B. Balch House is a home located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, United States. The Prairie style Balch House was designed by famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1911. The home was the first house Wright designed after returning from a trip to Europe with a client's wife. The subsequent social exile cost the architect friends, clients, and his family. The house is one of the first Wright houses to employ a flat roof which gives the home a horizontal linearity. Historian Thomas O'Gorman noted that the home may provide a glimpse into the subconscious mind of Wright. The Balch house is listed as a contributing property to a U.S. federally Registered Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis J. Woolley House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The Francis J. Woolley House is located in Oak Park, Illinois, United States, a Chicago suburb. The house was designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1893. The Queen Anne style home is reflective of Wright's early designs for lower-cost, more affordable housing. The Woolley House is similar to the trio of homes in Oak Park that are widely known as the "bootleg houses." The design is heavily influenced by Wright's first teacher, Joseph Silsbee, and the Arts and Crafts movement. The house is listed as a contributing property to a local and federal historic district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harrison P. Young House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The Harrison P. Young House is a home in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, United States. The 1870s era building was remodeled extensively by famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, early in his career, in 1895. The home's remodeling incorporated elements that would later be found in Wright's pioneering, early modern Prairie style. Some of the remodel work included setting the home back an additional 16 ft from the street and an overhanging porch over the driveway. The House is similar in some ways to Wright's other early work and was influenced by his first teacher, Joseph Silsbee. The house is considered a contributing property to both a local and federally Registered Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ridgeland–Oak Park Historic District</span> Historic district in Illinois, United States

The Ridgeland–Oak Park Historic District is a historic district in Oak Park, Illinois that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It includes 1558 contributing buildings over 539 acres (218 ha).

References

Notes

  1. Frank Lloyd Wright Architectural Guide Map, Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust.
  2. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. Frank Lloyd Wright: An Autobiography, by Frank Lloyd Wright, p. 383
  4. Frank Lloyd Wright: An Autobiography, by Frank Lloyd Wright, pp. 153, 158
  5. Frank Lloyd Wright and His Vision of the Future, by Franz Sdoutz
  6. The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, by William Allin Storer, Second Edition, p. 150
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Charles E Roberts House," (PDF), Oak Park Landmark Nomination Form, HAARGIS Database, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 O'Gorman, Thomas J. Frank Lloyd Wright's Chicago, Thunder Bay Press, San Diego: 2004, pp. 100-103, ( ISBN   1592231276).
  9. 1 2 "Charles E. Roberts Stable House," Oak Park Tourist, excerpted from: Sprague, Paul E. Guide to Frank Lloyd Wright & Prarire School Architecture in Oak Park Oak Park Bicentennial Commission of the American Revolution [and] Oak Park Landmarks Commission, Village of Oak Park: 1986, ( ISBN   0961691506). Retrieved 14 June 2007.
  10. "Hills-DeCaro House," (PDF), Oak Park Landmark Nomination Form, HAARGIS Database, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
  11. "Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District," Property Information Report, HAARGIS Database, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved 14 June 2007.