Parents' and Children's Schoolhouse

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Parents' and Children's Schoolhouse
Parents' and Children's Schoolhouse.jpg
Location1505 Crane Ct., Midland, Michigan
Coordinates 43°37′26″N84°14′42″W / 43.62389°N 84.24500°W / 43.62389; -84.24500 (Parents' and Children's Schoolhouse) Coordinates: 43°37′26″N84°14′42″W / 43.62389°N 84.24500°W / 43.62389; -84.24500 (Parents' and Children's Schoolhouse)
Arealess than one acre
Built1938 (1938)
Architect Alden B. Dow
Architectural style International Style
MPS Residential Architecture of Alden B. Dow in Midland 1933--1938 MPS
NRHP reference # 96000800 [1]
Added to NRHPJuly 25, 1996

The Parents' and Children's Schoolhouse, located at 1505 Crane Court in Midland, Michigan, was constructed for use as a nursery school. It has since been adapted as a single-family home. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. [1]

Midland, Michigan City in Michigan, United States

Midland is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan in the Tri-Cities region of Central Michigan. It is the county seat of Midland County. The city's population was 41,863 as of the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Midland Micropolitan Statistical Area, part of the larger Saginaw-Midland-Bay City Combined Statistical Area. In 2010, Midland was named the no. 4 Best Small City to raise a family in by Forbes magazine.

National Register of Historic Places federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.

Contents

History

Architect Alden B. Dow's wife, Vada B. Dow, was trained as a teacher at both Kalamazoo College and Columbia University. In the late 1930s, she established a progressive nursery school, using her own basement to house the program. The school quickly grew, and Dow began looking for a new building, However, the shortage of housing in Midland at the time made locating a new building difficult. She turned to her husband to design a new facility, and in 1938 the Parents' and Children's Schoolhouse was constructed. The design was recognized in a 1941 issue of Architectural Forum for its low cost and technical excellence. [2] The school was quite successful, and in 1942 plans for additional classroom space were drawn up. However, these plans were never carried out, and Dow closed the nursery school soon thereafter. In the mid-1940s, Alden Dow directed some minor interior renovations to convert the building into a three-bedroom home. Vada Dow continued to own the house as a rental property until the late 1960s, when it was purchased by a tenant. [3]

Alden B. Dow was an American architect based in Midland, Michigan, and known for his contributions to the style of Michigan Modern. During a career that spanned from the 1930s to the 1960s, he designed more than 70 residences and dozens of churches, schools, civic and art centers, and commercial buildings. His personal residence, the Midland Center for the Arts, and the 1950s Grace A. Dow Memorial Library are among numerous examples of his work located in his hometown of Midland, Michigan. The son of Herbert Henry Dow and philanthropist Grace A. Dow, Dow is known for his prolific architectural designs.

Kalamazoo College

Kalamazoo College, also known as K College or simply K, is a private liberal arts college founded in 1833 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The college campus is located immediately east of Western Michigan University. The school was founded by American Baptist ministers, but today maintains no religious affiliation.

Columbia University private Ivy League research university in New York City

Columbia University is a private Ivy League research university in Upper Manhattan, New York City. Established in 1754, Columbia is the oldest institution of higher education in New York and the fifth-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. It is one of nine colonial colleges founded prior to the Declaration of Independence, seven of which belong to the Ivy League. It has been ranked by numerous major education publications as among the top ten universities in the world.

Description

The Parents' and Children's Schoolhouse is an L-shaped, single story, International Style structure with a flat roof and stuccoed exterior. The design is marked by strong horizontal lines and broad flat surfaces. The front facade is divided into three sections, with a large picture window in the center flanked by a blank wall on one side and the front entrance and garage on the other. The entrance and garage are slightly recessed, allowing the roof to provide shelter. The roof continues on to overhang at each end on the building, emphasizing the strong horizontal lines of the house. [3]

International Style (architecture) type of modernist architecture

The International Style is a major architectural style that was developed in the 1920s and 1930s and was closely related to modernism and modern architecture. It was first defined by Museum of Modern Art curators Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson in 1932, based on works of architecture from the 1920s.

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References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2013-11-02). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  2. ↑ "Parents' & Children's Schoolhouse". Michigan Modern. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  3. 1 2 Elizabeth C. Panhorst (December 20, 1995), National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Parents' and Children's Schoolhouse
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