Westcott House (Springfield, Ohio)

Last updated

Westcott House
Westcott House Springfield 06.jpg
Westcott House
USA Ohio location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location1340 E. High St., Springfield, Ohio
Coordinates 39°55′17.38″N83°47′20.94″W / 39.9214944°N 83.7891500°W / 39.9214944; -83.7891500
Built1908
ArchitectWright, Frank Lloyd
Architectural stylePrairie School
NRHP reference No. 74001413 [1]
Added to NRHPJuly 24, 1974
The Westcott House by Frank Lloyd Wright The Westcott House 2005.jpg
The Westcott House by Frank Lloyd Wright

The Westcott House is a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Prairie Style house in Springfield, Ohio. The house was built in 1908 for Mr. Burton J. Westcott, his wife Orpha, and their family. The Westcott property is the only Prairie style house designed by Wright in the state of Ohio. The grounds include the main house and a garage with stables connected by an extensive pergola.

Contents

Early history

In 1903, as part of a merger, Burton J. Westcott came to Springfield, Ohio as Treasurer of The American Seeding Machine Company. He would hold the position for 21 years.

In 1916, Burton brought the Westcott Motor Car Company to Springfield, Ohio, from Richmond, Indiana. He was president of the company until 1925. Wright designed a detached garage which included a design for a large turntable (never installed), similar to at a railroad yard. The garage also included two pony stables and was connected to the main house by a pergola.

Burton's wife, Orpha, was from Hamilton, Ohio. The Westcott's had two children: Jeanne born in Richmond, Indiana, in 1895, and John born in Springfield, Ohio, in 1903. Orpha L. Westcott was considered one of Springfield, Ohio's most prominent and progressive women, and is credited with suggesting the selection of Frank Lloyd Wright as the architect for their new home.

In 1918, the Westcotts built the only addition to their home, a summer porch on the second floor and a room below in keeping with the original design of the Prairie style architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. By 1920, Jennie was no longer living in the Westcott House; she married Richard Rodgers from Springfield, Ohio. Their wedding was held at the house. The only other residents of the house were a cook named Nora and a housemaid named Margaret, both middle-aged and originally from Ireland.

The 1920s proved to be unhappy years for the Westcott family. Orpha died suddenly in April 1923 following a minor surgical procedure in Philadelphia. At the same time Burton's company was failing. He resigned as treasurer of the American Seeding Machine Company in order to invest more time for the failing Westcott Motor Car Company. Attempts to save the ailing car company had exhausted his finances. With no other option Burton sold out. The severe stress in his life took its toll on his health. In 1926 at 57 years of age, he died in his home on East High Street while under the care of his sister from Richmond, Indiana. Funeral services were held at the Westcott residence; he was buried in Richmond, Indiana. Burton J. Westcott was a true leader, Renaissance man, innovator, and a manufacturing pioneer of the 20th century.

Following the death of Burton in 1926, the Westcott House was sold to Roscoe Pierce. He lived in the house until his death in 1941. Eva Linton bought the house in 1944. She subsequently sub-divided the main house into five apartments. Linton also had the stables remodeled, adding a kitchen and bathroom, and converted the garage into her place of residence. Over the next 37 years the house fell into a state of disrepair and decline. Eva Linton died in 1980, and her estate was passed to her niece Dorothy Jane Snyder. Dorothy inherited the property in 1981 and maintained it until 1988 when she sold it to her son Ken Snyder and his wife Sherri.

Westcott House Foundation

In 1991, Ken died unexpectedly in a car accident. Sherri struggled to manage and maintain the house until she sold the house in 2000. The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy acquired the decaying Westcott House from Mrs. Snyder for $300,000 through the use of their Lewis-Haines revolving loan program, and as part of the predefined purchase arrangement the house was subsequently sold on May 11, 2001, to the newly formed non-profit The Westcott House Foundation. [2]

The Westcott House Foundation was organized by a devoted group of Springfield preservationists and benefactors, bolstered with a multi-year $3.5 million grant from the local Turner Foundation, they bought the house from the Conservancy and committed to restore the all-but-lost historic residence. Chambers, Murphy and Burge of Akron, Ohio, and Schooley Caldwell Associates of Columbus, Ohio, were secured to be the lead architectural firms for the project. The nearly 5-year, $5.8 million, restoration of the Westcott House was completed in 2005, and was governed by goals and objectives set forth by the Westcott House Foundation and the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy. More than four hundred architects, engineers, craftspeople and volunteers contributed to the effort. Original stucco was restored, paint was removed from brick walls, and the original Ludowici tiles were replaced with new ones. [3] The Westcott House opened to the public on October 15, 2005.

As of 2019, the Westcott House Foundation sponsors a lecture series, an array of educational programs for student, adults and educators, design exhibits, immersive art/multi-media events, design workshops, and social activities. The foundation strives to promote a greater understanding of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, particularly about Wright's concept of organic architecture, design process thinking, and design education. Guided tours are offered Wednesdays through Sundays.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Lloyd Wright</span> American architect (1867–1959)

Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements of the twentieth century, influencing architects worldwide through his works and mentoring hundreds of apprentices in his Taliesin Fellowship. Wright believed in designing in harmony with humanity and the environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture. This philosophy was exemplified in Fallingwater (1935), which has been called "the best all-time work of American architecture".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Springfield, Ohio</span> City in Ohio, United States

Springfield is a city in and the county seat of Clark County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, approximately 45 miles (72 km) west of Columbus and 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Dayton. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 58,662, while the Springfield metropolitan area had a population of 136,001 residents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robie House</span> U.S. National Historic Landmark in Chicago

The Frederick C. Robie House is a U.S. National Historic Landmark now on the campus of the University of Chicago in the South Side community area of Hyde Park in Chicago, Illinois. Built between 1909 and 1910, the building was designed as a single family home by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It is considered perhaps the finest example of Prairie School, the first architectural style considered uniquely American.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Lloyd Wright</span> American architect

John Lloyd Wright was an American architect and toy inventor. Born in Oak Park, Illinois, Wright was the second-oldest son of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. John Lloyd Wright became estranged from his father in 1909 and subsequently left his home to join his brother on the West Coast. After unsuccessfully working a series of jobs, he decided to take up the profession of his father in 1912. Shortly afterward, he was able to reconnect with his father, who took John under his wing. Differences in opinion regarding the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo caused the pair to again become disunited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darwin D. Martin House</span> American historic house in New York (1905)

The Darwin D. Martin House Complex is a historic house museum in Buffalo, New York. The property's buildings were designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built between 1903 and 1905. The house is considered to be one of the most important projects from Wright's Prairie School era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prairie School</span> Architectural style

Prairie School is a late 19th and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands, integration with the landscape, solid construction, craftsmanship, and discipline in the use of ornament. Horizontal lines were thought to evoke and relate to the wide, flat, treeless expanses of America's native prairie landscape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westcott (automobile)</span>

The Westcott was an automobile produced in Richmond, Indiana and Springfield, Ohio in the United States between 1909 and 1925 by the Westcott Motor Car Company. The car company was named for its founder, John Westcott.

Burton J. Westcott (1868–1926) was one of Springfield, Ohio’s most prominent citizens and successful businessmen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graycliff</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The Graycliff estate was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1926, and built between 1926 and 1931. It is approximately 17 miles southwest of downtown Buffalo, New York, at 6472 Old Lake Shore Road in the hamlet of Highland-on-the-Lake, with a mailing address of Derby. Situated on a bluff overlooking Lake Erie with sweeping views of downtown Buffalo and the Ontario shore, it is one of the most ambitious and extensive summer estates Wright designed. It is now fully restored and operates as a historic house museum, open for guided tours year round. There is also a summer Market at Graycliff, free and open to the public on select Thursday evenings. Graycliff Conservancy is run by Executive Director Anna Kaplan, who was hired in 2019.

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

The Isidore H. Heller House is a house located at 5132 South Woodlawn Avenue in the Hyde Park community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The house was designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The design is credited as one of the turning points in Wright's shift to geometric, Prairie School architecture, which is defined by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands, and an integration with the landscape, which is meant to evoke native Prairie surroundings.

<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">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">Charles E. Roberts Stable</span> United States historic place

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American System-Built Homes</span> Historic houses in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Iowa, United States

The American System-Built Homes were modest houses in a series designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. They were developed between 1911 and 1917 to fulfill his interest in affordable housing but were sold commercially for just 14 months. The Wright archives include 973 drawings and hundreds of reference materials, the largest collection of any of single Wright project. Wright cancelled the project in July 1917 by successfully suing his partner Arthur Richards for payments due and didn't speak of the program again. The designs were standardized, and customers could choose from one hundred and twenty nine models on seven floorpans. Because of this standardization, the lumber could be milled at a factory, thereby cutting down on both waste and the amount of skilled labor needed for construction. The buildings are often termed prefabricated homes, but they were not, since prepared materials were delivered to the work site for construction by a carpenter. Windows, doors and some cabinetry were made at the factory. Frames, shelves, trim and some fixtures were cut and assembled on site. Every milled profile had a part number and corresponding instructions and drawings for construction. Many extant homes remain in private hands and an ad hoc homeowners group sometimes meets to share ideas. Six structures are located in a federal historic district in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and others have been designated Chicago Landmarks in Chicago, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cedric G. and Patricia Neils Boulter House</span> Historic house in Ohio, United States

Cedric G. Boulter and Patricia Neils House is a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed registered historic home in the Clifton neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. It was commissioned in 1953, with construction beginning in 1954, and completed in 1956. Additions to the design were completed in 1958.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Car turntable</span> Rotating platform for cars

A car turntable or driveway turntable is a rotating platform designed for use by a car; they can be motorized or manually rotated and are usually installed in a driveway or in a garage floor. They rotate a motor vehicle to facilitate its easier or safer egress. Sometimes a local zoning prohibition of vehicles backing onto busy roadways prompts the installation of car turntables.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K. C. DeRhodes House</span> Frank Lloyd Wright house in Indian

The K. C. DeRhodes House was built for newlyweds Laura Caskey Bowsher DeRhodes and Kersey C. DeRhodes in 1906 by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is a Prairie style home located at 715 West Washington Street in South Bend, Indiana. The home was carefully restored by Tom and Suzanne Miller over more than four decades and remains in private ownership. It is one of two Wright homes in South Bend, the other being the Herman T. Mossberg Residence. It is one of eight Frank Lloyd Wright designed homes in Indiana, of which seven remain. It was also the first home Frank Lloyd Wright built in Indiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eugene A. Gilmore House</span> Historic house in Wisconsin, United States

The Eugene A. Gilmore House, also known as "Airplane" House, constructed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1908, is considered "a superb expression of Frank Lloyd Wright's mature Prairie school." The client, Eugene Allen Gilmore, served as a law professor at the nearby University of Wisconsin Law School. In 1973 the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert M. Lamp House</span> Historic house in Wisconsin, United States

The Robert M. Lamp House is a residence built in 1903 two blocks northeast of the capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for his lifelong friend "Robie" Lamp, a realtor, insurance agent, and Madison City Treasurer. The oldest Wright-designed house in Madison, its style is transitional between Chicago School and Prairie School. In 1978 the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Westcott House may refer to:

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. Woodward, Richard B. (August 16, 2007). "Wright's Westcott House Is Made New Again". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  3. Stephens, Steve (September 15, 2019). "Wright house in Springfield makes a marvelous museum". The Columbus Dispatch.