John Henry Howe (1913–1997) was an American architect who started as an apprentice in 1932 under American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) 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 o ...

in Wright's

Taliesin Fellowship The School of Architecture is a private architecture school in Paradise Valley, Arizona. It was founded in 1986 as an accredited school by surviving members of the Taliesin Fellowship. The school offers a Master of Architecture program that focus ...

. He was Wright's head draftsman from the late 1930s until Wright's death in 1959, left the Taliesin Fellowship in 1964, and, beginning in 1967, opened an architectural practice in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. He died in California in 1997.

Biography

Howe was born in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

, on May 17, 1913. He lived and worked at

Taliesin Taliesin ( , ; 6th century AD) was an early Brittonic poet of Sub-Roman Britain whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the '' Book of Taliesin''. Taliesin was a renowned bard who is believed to have sung at the courts ...

in Wisconsin and Taliesin West in Arizona from 1932 to 1964. He was one of

's first apprentices in the Taliesin Fellowship, beginning the year it opened, 1932. He became the chief draftsman in 1937 during construction of

Fallingwater Fallingwater is a house designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 in the Laurel Highlands of southwest Pennsylvania, about southeast of Pittsburgh in the United States. It is built partly over a waterfall on Bear Run in the Mill R ...

by Frank Lloyd Wright. Howe was a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

during World War II and was placed in a Civilian Public Service (CPS) camp in

Sandstone, Minnesota Sandstone is a town in Pine County, Minnesota, United States, along the Kettle River. The population was 2,849 at the 2010 census. Interstate 35 and Minnesota State Highways 18 and 23 are three of the main routes in the community. Banning S ...

from 1943 to 1946 after which he returned to Taliesin. In 1947, he met Lu Sparks, and they married in 1951. Howe remained in the Taliesin Fellowship after Wright's death in 1959, and worked in Wright's successor firm, Taliesin Associated Architects, until 1964. After that, Howe went to California to work with former Wright apprentice Aaron Green (who was also Wright's representative in California) until 1967. In 1967, Howe moved to Minnesota with his wife, Lu Sparks Howe, and opened an architecture office in Minneapolis. He retired in 1992 and moved to Novato, California, with his wife. He died in Novato September 21, 1997.

Buildings

Wright buildings worked on by Howe include: *

* Hanna-Honeycomb House * Thomas Keys Residence * Patrick and Margaret Kinney House *

Kenneth and Phyllis Laurent House The Kenneth and Phyllis Laurent House is a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Usonian house in Rockford, Illinois. It was the only house that Wright designed for a physically disabled client. History Kenneth Laurent was born in Illinois in 1919. In 1 ...

Herman T. Mossberg Residence Herman T. Mossberg Residence is a house designed by the United States, American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It was built for Herman T. Mossberg and his wife Gertrude in 1948 in South Bend, Indiana, and remains in private hands today. It is one o ...

Melvyn Maxwell and Sara Stein Smith House The Melvyn Maxwell Smith and Sara Stein Smith House, also known as MyHaven, is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed Usonian home that was constructed in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 1949 and 1950. The owners were two public school teachers living on a ...

* Clarence Sondern House * William & Mary Palmer House * Robert H. Sunday House * Duey and Julia Wright House (no relation to the architect) *

Marin County Civic Center The Marin County Civic Center, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is located in San Rafael, California, United States. Groundbreaking for the Civic Center Administration Building took place in 1960, after Wright's death and under the watch of Wrigh ...

After Wright's death, Howe became the chief draftsman of Taliesin Associated Architects (the successor firm after Wright). He left in 1964 to work with Aaron Green, another former Wright apprentice who was a practicing architect in California. Howe stayed with Green until 1967. He decided to move to Minnesota and establish his architecture practice in Minneapolis. As a practicing architect, Howe "refused to change the natural contours of a building site", and would only design the building after walking on the site. Selected houses in Minnesota by Howe: * ''Jerpbak house'', Braemar Hills, Edina. 1969–70 * ''Weston house'', Indian Hills, Edina. 1980 * Howe's own home, ''Sankaku'', Horseshoe Lake, Burnsville. 1971

References

External links

John H. Howe, Architect Frank Lloyd Wright's Master of Perspective
from JohnHoweMovie.com
John H. Howe, Architect

Wisconsin Historical Society John H. Howe Collected Papers, 1887-2013 (bulk 1930-1993)

Three Historic Homes by Architect John Howe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howe, John H. 1913 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American architects Architects from Illinois American conscientious objectors Frank Lloyd Wright People from Evanston, Illinois

Biography

Buildings

References

Further reading

External links