Samara: Draft Nomination
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NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK NOMINATION NPS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 SAMARA (JOHN E. AND CATHERINE E. CHRISTIAN HOUSE) Page 1 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 1. NAME OF PROPERTY Historic Name: Samara (John E. and Catherine E. Christian House) Other Name/Site Number: 2. LOCATION Street & Number: 1301 Woodland Avenue Not for publication: City/Town: West Lafayette Vicinity: State: Indiana County: Tippecanoe Code: 157 Zip Code: 47906 3. CLASSIFICATION Ownership of Property Category of Property Private: X Building(s): X Public-Local: District: ___ Public-State: ___ Site: ___ Public-Federal: ___ Structure: ___ Object: ___ Number of Resources within Property Contributing Noncontributing 1 buildings 1 sites structures objects 2 Total Number of Contributing Resources Previously Listed in the National Register: 1 Name of Related Multiple Property Listing: N/A DRAFT NPS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 SAMARA (JOHN E. AND CATHERINE E. CHRISTIAN HOUSE) Page 2 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 4. STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this ____ nomination ____ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property ____ meets ____ does not meet the National Register Criteria. Signature of Certifying Official Date State or Federal Agency and Bureau In my opinion, the property ____ meets ____ does not meet the National Register criteria. Signature of Commenting or Other Official Date State or Federal Agency and Bureau 5. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that this property is: ___ Entered in the National Register ___ Determined eligible for the National Register ___ Determined not eligible for the National Register ___ Removed from the National Register ___ Other (explain): Signature of Keeper Date of Action NPS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 SAMARA (JOHN E. AND CATHERINE E. CHRISTIAN HOUSE) Page 3 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 6. FUNCTION OR USE Historic: Domestic Sub: Single Dwelling Current: Domestic Sub: Single Dwelling Recreation and Culture Museum 7. DESCRIPTION ARCHITECTURAL CLASSIFICATION: Modern Movement/Wrightian MATERIALS: Foundation: Concrete Walls: Brick, Wood, Glass Roof: Stone (marble gravel) Other: Metal (copper exterior finish) NPS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 SAMARA (JOHN E. AND CATHERINE E. CHRISTIAN HOUSE) Page 4 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form Describe Present and Historic Physical Appearance. Introduction The John E. and Catherine E. Christian house, commonly known as “Samara,” is located in West Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana.1 It has retained the entirety of its historic Frank Lloyd Wright designed features present during its period of significance, 1955-1956, and meets Criteria 4 (Architecture) of the National Historic Landmark Theme “Expressing Cultural Values; Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Design.” Named for the botanical term for the winged seeds of the pine tree species that populate the setting, Samara has benefitted from the continued completion of the house by its clients, per an agreement between them and Wright. All items remain from the historic period and subsequent additions have enhanced and completed the original design intent for the house. Decorative architectural features and interior furnishings that had not been realized earlier due to budgetary restrictions were fabricated to Wright’s specifications, overseen by the couple and later, following the death of Catherine Christian in 1986, by John Christian. The family also employed the talents of Wright’s apprentices and his firm’s successors following the architect’s death in 1959, especially during an update to the furnishings in the main living and dining spaces in 1974. Samara: A Chronology Designed near the end of his life, Frank Lloyd Wright’s house for the Christians is representative of the architect’s philosophical and symbolic ideals. The home, commonly known as “Samara,” is a Usonian type house, constructed on a modest budget and with the caveat that the clients would see the house to full completion during their lifetimes. As one of ten clients to still occupy their Wright designed home, Dr. John E. Christian (b. 1917) has held true to the architect’s vision and has maintained a consistent relationship with the architect’s firm, and later the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, to see Samara become a fully realized Usonian design.2 The Christians spent more than two years, from 1948 to mid-1950, researching the work of Frank Lloyd Wright through publications that included books by and about the architect and articles in popular and trade magazines. Visits to other Wright-designed residences during that period strengthened their desire to have the architect design their house. The couple eventually worked closely with him on all details following his agreement to accept the commission in 1951. Early correspondence between the Christians and Wright discussed the site conditions, including the tree species found on the lot, and the needs and wishes of the young family that also included their daughter, Linda (b. 1952). Catherine Christian (1918-1986) developed the program for the project, a twenty-seven-page typewritten essay entitled “What We Need for How We Live,” for Wright’s reference while planning their house. In it, she provided the architect with a short biography and portrait of each family member, a narrative on how they hoped to use the house for living as well as entertaining, and a room by room detail of current and future estimates for furnishings, storage, and equipment needs. “We want a home and its surroundings to have a future,” she wrote. “One that will grow with us.”3 1 See John E. Christian, “John E. and Catherine E. Christian House,” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1991). 2 The ten remaining homeowners, with location and dates for their houses, at time of this nomination submission, are: Gerte Shavin (Chattanooga, TN, 1950), Roland Reisley (Pleasantville, NY, 1951), Karen Johnson (Racine, WI, 1954), John Christian (West Lafayette, IN, 1954), Virginia Lovness (Stillwater, MN, 1955), Bette Pappas (St. Louis, MO, 1955), Betty Jane Iber (Stevens Point, WI, 1957), Mary Walton (Modesto, CA, 1957), Paul Olfelt (St. Louis Park, MN, 1958), and Socrates Zaferiou (Blauvelt, NY, 1961). Thanks to Jeffrey Levine, Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, Chicago, Illinois, for assistance in compiling this list. 3 Catherine E. Christian, “What We Need for How We Live,” 08 August 1953, 3. As part of the correspondence between the Christians and Frank Lloyd Wright, the original copy of this document, with attached photographs, is in the collection of the Christian project files in the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archive, housed at the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York, New York (henceforth “FLWF Archive”). A photocopy is included in the John E. Christian Samara Archive, West Lafayette Public Library, West Lafayette, Indiana (henceforth “Samara Archive”). NPS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 SAMARA (JOHN E. AND CATHERINE E. CHRISTIAN HOUSE) Page 5 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form In August 1953, the project came into full production mode in Wright’s studio, with the final set of twenty drawings ultimately approved by the Christians in January 1955. During that time, preliminary plans were developed, and changes made, to the house’s orientation on the site, its material specifications, its interior room arrangement, and its landscaping scheme. Typical of Usonian designs, the scope of work included the fabrication of Wright’s architectural vision as well as the interior furnishings and cabinetry, using locally sourced materials and labor whenever possible. Construction began in April 1955, using a local contractor, A. Frank Woods (1892-1967) supervised by Wright’s apprentice, Edward Kipta (1927-1996), who relocated to West Lafayette and served as the clerk-of-works.4 The Christians impressed upon their architect that their finances were limited and they would need to complete elements of Samara over time, something Wright understood and planned for in his design. Woods and Kipta saw that the home was constructed so that decorative elements, such as the copper roof fascia and Philippine mahogany clerestory panels, could be completed after the family took possession of their home, which they did in September 1956.5 The Christians continued their professional and social relationship with Wright, and received advice from him until his death in April 1959. From then to the present day, Samara has benefitted from a strong