Our customers Lisa and Terry’s wedding date was set. Now the question was, “Where to live?” Coincidentally, Terry’s mother was ready to sell the home where he lived for much of his childhood. A deal was made and the house was kept in the family.
The neighborhood is an ideal place to bring up a family. Four by two blocks, the area known as Merchant Plat, has the added benefit of being situated next to a lake. For Terry, Merchant Plat represents a “classic American Neighborhood — beautiful older homes with sidewalks, plenty of mature trees, close to downtown… It is one of the neighborhoods people love to walk and ride their bikes.”
The house was roomy and solid but was frozen in the 1960s, with few updates done since the previous owner sold to Terry’s parents. While Terry lived in the house for much of his youth, he knew little about the house architecturally and had not paid attention to the details, some obscured by siding or shag carpeting. For example, the broad front porch had been enclosed. As the project quickly grew, so did Terry’s knowledge of both architecture and building methods. “Once my friend Patrick Smith, an Architect, told me it was an American Foursquare, I was hooked — going to the library, buying books, investigating online,” Terry told us.
The American Foursquare, a popular early 20th century floor plan, is known for its efficient layout — basically not a corner of wasted space! Terry’s home was built in 1918 when the Foursquare plan was at the height of its popularity. 1918 saw the end of of World War I and prohibition was around the corner. It was a conservative time when being American meant owning a single family home. As a solution to the squalor bred in immigrant tenement housing, single family dwellings were designed to bring order and rationalism to home life and therefore solidify moral character.
With the help of family, friends, and an architect, Terry took on the project himself, serving as the general contractor. The house was renovated in many stages, first a few interior stages, then exterior was tackled.
Similar Foursquare plan, circa 1916, Sears, Roebuck Co.
Like the typical Foursquare, the first floor interior is composed four main spaces; an entry hall with open staircase, a kitchen, a living room and a dining room. It is very open in feel — the only doors to close are to the kitchen. A first floor addition in the back provides for a family room, study, laundry room and full bath.The second floor, originally had three bedrooms and one bath (one was added later). The third floor attic space has been converted to a bedroom.
First plan of attack was to remove wall paper and acoustical ceilings tiles which masked cracked plaster, and remove shag carpeting which revealed well preserved original hardwood floors. All of the patching, sanding and painting was taken care of prior to the wedding and move-in. The paint colors were all picked from Sherwin Williams Arts & Craft Palette, in keeping with the era of the house. Also the existing first floor addition, was given structurally integrity and brought into stylistic alignment with the house with carpentry details and locally made custom lead glass windows.
Next, Terry and his wife Lisa tackled the kitchen and dining room and bathrooms. They expanded the kitchen by stealing space from an under utilized nook in the dining room to add room for an island. The kitchen is now “eat-in”, convenient for meals with the couples two young children.
The dining room features an unusual coffered ceiling design which appears more Prairie School or perhaps Macintosh influenced. The couple’s interior decorating gravitates toward Art & Crafts with some Prairie Style and Mission touches. They selected Brass Light Gallery’s Prairie School inspired River Forest Chandelier and Studio Lanterns to light the dining room. Note how the overlay pattern of the River Forest Chandelier matches the custom doors that lead to the addition. Period appropriate hardware, plumbing fixtures and hexagonal floor tiles were also chosen for the bathrooms.
Dining room before & after
To provide extra space for the large family that inhabited the house prior to Terry’s parents’ purchase, the porch had been entirely enclosed. During the demolition to open it back up, a note, written on top of a Gilbey’s Gin ad from a 1966 Times Magazine, was found. It said, ” Now hear this! George Stalle remodeled this house. He started in 1959… This part of the ‘project’ consisted of transforming the front porch… That’s all! And lots more! We also buried a $1,000.00 bill just for fun. Hope you find it!” Terry recalled that “there was another map, one of the kids had drawn, to show where additional ‘treasures’ were buried. The ‘X’ on the map was under the neighbors driveway.” By reverting the porch back to its original intent (opening it back up, adding new balustrades and square tapered columns in the Arts & Crafts style) Terry created the most dramatic and significant visual impact of the project.
The last big project was removal of the aluminum siding. Fortunately, the aluminum preserved the original wood siding which was in remarkably good shape. The period cedar shake found on the 2nd floor was a pleasant surprise. With little repair and lots of sanding and painting, the exterior was returned to its original likeness.
The five year restoration process revealed the homes original layout and Arts & Crafts disposition.Terry exposed the house’s beauty and design integrity and in the process transformed the solid structure into a warm, airy, open environment; a home, to enjoy while raising his own children with his wife Lisa.
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Dining room before & after
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Similar Foursquare plan, circa 1916, Sears, Roebuck Co.
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Ravenwood Ceiling Fixture 2nd floor hallway
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Dining Room is 12′ x 15′ 6″
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9′ Ceiling, 24″ overall fixture length, bottom of fixture is 7′ off the floor
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Craftsman Lantern Two-Light Sconce
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Exterior of an American Foursquare
Sources:
Antique Home. “Colonial Revival: The American Foursquare.” Web. 18 June, 2010.
Antique Home Style. “Foursquare Style — 1895 to 1930.” Web. 18 June, 2010.
Antique Home Style. “Modern Home No. 264B148, 1916 Sears Roebuck Modern Homes.” Web. 18 June, 2010.
Jennings, Jan and Herbert Gottfried. American Vernacular Interior Architecture 1870-1940. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1988.
Sears, Roebuck and Co. Small Houses of the Twenties The Sears, Roebuck 1926 House Catalog: An Unabridged Reprint. New York: Dover Publications and The Athenauem of Philadelphia, 1991.
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