In the mid 1940's, the war was over, their daughters, Nancy and Joan had grown up, Highland park was built up and John and Ruth Van Bergen were restless.  Much of the work coming in was not satisfying for Van Bergen.  Many clients were more interested in remodeling than in building new.  For the middle classes, there was so much available at "affordable" prices in the multitude of new developments sprouting up all over the country.  Most people were just not interested in an "architect" built house.  What any developer could come up with was good enough for most. 
          Van Bergen resisted bending to these new trends and absolutely refused to work for "speculators" and "developers".  Those were dirty words in his vocabulary and he wanted no part of it.  What he did instead, between the fewer and fewer commissions for new houses and alteration work, was to become, in his own way, an "Architect - Developer".  In 1946, after selling their Highland Park home, the Van Bergen's bought a large tract of land in a beautiful, hilly section of undeveloped Hawthorne Woods, near Lake Zurich, Illinois and built their new house (while temporarily living in a tent on the grounds).  They subdivided and sold off other lots on the property, at a profit - at least one with a design built by Van Bergen.  This real estate speculating is what helped them survive financially. 

Right; John and Ruth standing in front of their home in Hawthorne Woods in1949.
Photo courtesy of Nancy B.B. Brigham

          They would repeat this process again after only a few years, when they moved from Hawthorne Woods to Barrington Hills, Illinois in 1950.  They lived in Barrington Hills for about 5 years and things were really slowing in John's career.  By this time he was nearly 70 and thinking about retirement, or at least slowing down. 

Van Bergen in his studio at Sutton Road in Barrington Hills.

Photo courtesy of Joan Kopplin

          A few years earlier, John's brother, Frank and his Sister, Jessie had moved to California.  John and Ruth liked the weather and the scenery out west, and finally, after many trips to various locations including New Mexico and several parts of California, they settled on Santa Barbara.  Montecito, just outside of Santa Barbara, was still quite undeveloped.  They adored the scenery from the foothills above Santa Barbara and the land prices were still very affordable.