Nathan G. Moore House
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The Nathan G. Moore House, also known as the Moore-Dugal Residence, is a house designed by
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 ...
. The house was built one block south of Wright's home and studio at 333 Forest Avenue in the
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
suburb of
Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated in ...
. 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. A 1922 fire gave Wright the opportunity to redesign the house. The structure was completely rebuilt above the first or lowest floor in a manner in keeping with Wright's other works of the late 1910s and early 1920s. While the new design stayed evocative of Tudor architecture, the house was heavily ornamented by details of
Sullivanesque Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago School, a mentor to Frank Lloy ...
,
Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...
, and other exotic origins. Wright's second scheme remains largely intact today and the house continues to be a private residence despite a brief period as a tour home.


History

In 1886, Nathan Grier Moore bought a small, wood-framed house on a 50 feet by 150 feet lot at the southwestern corner of Forest Avenue and Superior Street. Moore had been born in 1853 in
Cherry Tree, Pennsylvania Cherry Tree is a borough in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 276 at the 2020 census. History Cherry Tree was originally known as "Canoe Place" because its location marked the spot where the West Branch of the Susqu ...
and had attended
law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...
in
La Crosse, Wisconsin La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census w ...
. He had recently been hired into the office of Chicago
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John P. Wilson. However, Moore chose to reside in Oak Park with his wife Anna and first daughter Mary (born in 1883) instead of Chicago. The couple's second daughter, Marjorie, was born in 1889 while they lived in their first Oak Park house.


First Wright design

Nathan Moore purchased the neighboring lot to the south in 1891 after the previous house on that site had been destroyed by fire. He soon announced his intention to build a new home on his expanded property. Frank Lloyd Wright accounted in his autobiography that Moore had been approached by many architects, including Norman S. Patton, before Wright himself was asked to design the project in 1894. Mr. and Mrs. Moore reportedly traveled to Wright's newly opened downtown Chicago studio in the Schindler Building to request his services rather than simply calling at the emerging architect's house across the street. Moore had apparently not come to Wright in admiration of his design style. According to Wright, he proclaimed that "I don't want you to give us anything like the house you did for Winslow" referring to the recently completed house that Wright had designed for William Winslow in River Forest, Illinois. "I don't want to go down backstreets to my morning train to avoid being laughed at." Moore then proceeded to show Wright pictures of English
half-timber Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...
buildings as inspiration for the proposed dwelling. Wright was apprehensive to design a house in a historical style, but he accepted the commission because of his financial obligations to his family (as he said, his "three children were now running around the streets without proper shoes"). The first plan proposed a remodel of the home Moore had bought in 1886. Plans changed and the existing structure was instead moved three lots west to front Superior Street. This made way for the construction of a three-story Tudor Revival house which was completed in 1895. The three story structure was built tight against the northern lot line which allowed for maximum yard space to the south. Walls on the main floor were faced in golden-tan Roman brick while the upper floors were finished in typical, dark-stained half timbering over light
stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
. A steep,
gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
d roof and two slender, tall, brick chimneys topped off the composition. The main house was symmetrically proportioned with few exceptions – including the chimneys and window openings flanking the Superior Street entrance. A garage connected the residence to a garden house at the northwestern corner of the property. Wright also designed a matching
stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...
building across an alley to the southwest. The interior was paneled in dark wood yet was amply lit by bands of diamond-patterned, leaded
casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a cas ...
s which opened the rooms up to the south garden. Inside also featured eight fireplaces, each with unique custom surrounds. ''(See more period images of th
first Moore House
.'' Nathan and Anna Moore "were delighted with the house." Unfortunately the same cannot have been said for Wright. He came to regard the design with embarrassment and admitted that his "heart wasn't in it." His decision caused further regret after he was asked on more than one occasion to devise similar Tudor inspired houses for other clients. Like his mentor and former employer, Louis H. Sullivan, Wright considered the copying of historic styles to be "uncreative" and completely contrary to American freedom. Even so, Wright managed to work a few interpretive deviations into the design of the Moore House. These included a broad, south-facing porch complete with brick end piers, Sullivanesque details on the balustrades, and his signature bowl-shaped
urns An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...
. "It was the first time...an English, half-timbered house ever saw a porch," Wright stated and further conceded that "the porch was becoming to the house."


Property expansion and Edward R. Hills House

Soon after the new house was finished, Moore resumed the expansion of his property. In 1900 he bought the house on a 100 ft wide lot to the south from prior owner William C. Gray. That same year, Wright was rehired to remodel this recent purchase for Moore's eldest daughter. Actual construction waited until yet another house was acquired south of the former Gray house in 1905. This last house had been owned by a Mr. and Mrs. D.L. McDaniels. With an estate that now measured 250 feet by 150 feet, Moore was able to demolish the McDaniels house and move the Gray house south where it was subsequently refurbished and enlarged. The house, along with 60 ft of Forest Avenue frontage, was deeded to Mary and her husband Edward Rowland Hills in 1910 ''(see also Edward R. Hills House)''.


Fire and second Wright design

In the early morning of December 23, 1922, an electrical fire destroyed the third floor and caused significant damage to the lower floors of the Nathan G. Moore House. At the time, Wright was engaged in the construction of several projects in
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, but he accepted Moore's request to design the reconstruction and appointed
Charles E. White, Jr. Charles E. White Jr. (1876–1936) was a noted Chicago area architect who for a time worked in the Oak Park studio of Frank Lloyd Wright and who, both before and after that time, had a successful and influential career as an architect and a writer o ...
as local coordinator. Within a year the house was again ready to be occupied. While Wright took this opportunity to completely redesign the house, he retained the essence of the Tudor style. The foundations as well as most of the first floor walls and south porch were retained. A
slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
roof and masonry chimneys were rebuilt in almost identical form to the originals, but Wright chose to leave out the second floor walls. The new roof sat directly on the first floor, thus making the entire structure significantly shorter. The pitched roof of the previous porch was traded for a second floor
terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...
with two open
lightwell In architecture, a lightwell,light well, light-well sky-well,skywell, sky well or air shaft is an unroofed or roofed external space provided within the volume of a large building to allow light and air to reach what would otherwise be a dark or ...
s to the porch below. This second house was more imbued with integral ornament than the first. A simple, first floor
bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. Types Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or r ...
in the east elevation was exchanged for one with a
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motif. Each side featured paired
lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet wi ...
s and a facing of intricately adorned
terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...
. While half-timbering was limited to the peaks of three gables, the remaining surfaces were replaced by banding of terracotta and heavily carved, geometrically patterned wood. In these details, Wright not only drew inspiration from English Tudor, but also from Mayan architecture and the elaborate, organic style of Louis Sullivan. The result showed similarities to other Wright designs of the period, including
Midway Gardens Midway Gardens (opened in 1914, demolished in 1929) was a 360,000 square feet indoor/outdoor entertainment facility in the Hyde Park neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. It was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who also collaborate ...
(1913), the Imperial Hotel (1915–23), the
Hollyhock House The Aline Barnsdall Hollyhock House in the East Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright originally as a residence for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall (built, 1919–1921). The building is now the centerpi ...
(1917–1921), and the four textile block houses (1923). The stables and garden house, which both survived the fire and retained original detailing, serve as a comparison between the styles of the earlier and later designs.


1946 to present

On August 16, 1946, Nathan Moore died; his house and property were left to Mary Hills. The Hills did not keep the estate, but instead sold it the following June to Milton J. and Mary Summerville. During the transaction, the Hills retained the southern 40 feet of land to expand their own narrow lot. The home's most recent owner was Robert Dugal, who opened the house for seasonal public tours. However, these tours ceased operation in 2001 due to the progression of his
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disease. Mr Dugal died in 2020.


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * * * Storrer, William Allin. ''The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion''. University Of Chicago Press, 2006, (S.034)


External links


Historic photographs of Moore House prior to 1922 fire
(on dgunning.org – Virtual Tour of Forest Avenue); the maturity of the landscape indicates that the top photo was taken several years before the bottom image. {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Nathan G. Residence Frank Lloyd Wright buildings Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie School of Architecture Historic District Houses completed in 1895 Houses completed in 1923 Houses in Cook County, Illinois Historic district contributing properties in Illinois Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Cook County, Illinois