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remodeling Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, ...

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.

History

The William Copeland House was first constructed around 1873 for William H. Harman. The large, Italianate home represented a microcosm of the general character of homes in Oak Park before Wright began designing buildings. Homes of this style, "classically tinged" and "robust," dotted the landscape of small towns across the United States. In 1909 the then-owner, Dr. William Copeland, a prominent surgeon with offices in Chicago and Cleveland, commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to remodel the home.William H. Copeland 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, (). Retrieved 11 June 2007. It was the second commission for Wright from Copeland; in 1908 the architect had designed a garage for Copeland at the residence.O'Gorman, Thomas J. ''Frank Lloyd Wright's Chicago'', Thunder Bay Press, San Diego: 2004, pp. 270-71, ().

Architecture

The Copeland House was designed around 1873 by an unknown architect and cast in the Italianate style. Wright's 1909 remodel work included exterior and interior alterations. A new tile roof was added above the decorative brick work; the roof was removed in the 1950s because of its maintenance expenses. The work fused Wright's

Prairie 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 hip roof, hipped roofs with broad Overhang (architecture), ove ...

with the traditional Italiante style through the building's exterior lines. The new low-pitched hip roof that Wright designed, along with the wrap-around porch and overhanging eaves are all elements found in the Copeland House which can be found on other Prairie style homes Wright designed. The remodeling work also replaced the original doors with doors, frame, sidelights and a

transom Transom may refer to: * Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar * Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet * Operation Tran ...

window all of Wright's own design. Wright's original plan called for the Copeland House to be remodeled into a three-story Prairie house but that plan was rejected. The result was that the Wright-designed remodel was not as ambitious as it had been planned to be originally. Of the exterior work Wright designed, the new roof was the most substantial. In addition to the expansive exterior work Wright remodeled the main rooms on the ground floor to adhere to his Prairie style. Also inside he designed the dining room sideboard, table and chairs.

Significance

The Copeland House is an example of Wright's remodeling design work. It is listed as a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

to the

Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Cur ...

.Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District
" Property Information Report, HAARGIS Database, ''Illinois Historic Preservation Agency''. Retrieved 11 June 2007. The

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

joined the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The William Copeland House is one of three homes in Oak Park that Wright was commissioned to remodel. The other two are the 1906 Peter A. Beachy House and the Hills-DeCaro House, also on Forest Avenue.Hills-DeCaro House
" (

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

), Oak Park Landmark Nomination Form, HAARGIS Database, ''Illinois Historic Preservation Agency''. Retrieved 11 June 2007. Wright also added a large brick fireplace to the library. However, as evidenced by the sagging cantilevers at Fallingwater and the sagging second floor of the Heurtley House, Wright's use of available materials occasionally exceeded their structural capacity: the mantle of the fireplace is a large stone that cracked under the weight of the bricks, as did steps in the front stairway. The center wall of the coach house also sank due to inadequacy of the center foundation.

References

* Storrer, William Allin. ''The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion''. University Of Chicago Press, 2006, (S.158)

External links

An archived version of Before and After Pictures of the Copland House
from the Forest Avenue tour at dgunning.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Copeland House, William H. Houses completed in 1909 Frank Lloyd Wright buildings Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie School of Architecture Historic District Houses in Cook County, Illinois Historic district contributing properties in Illinois Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Cook County, Illinois

History

Architecture

Significance

See also

References

External links