John was inspired.  From his windows and from his own back yard, 15-year-old John watched the construction, next door, of the Fricke house.  He saw it sprout from  the foundations up to the deep overhanging eaves and the massive chimney.  With its balconies, its new patterns of leaded glass, its complex geometric forms, and its intriguing floor plans, John must have been mesmerized.
          He also must have met, or at least seen, this flamboyant architect at the building site on many occasions.  William and Ella (Nell) Van Bergen would have known Frank and Catherine (Kitty) Wright socially.  Ella and Frank's mother, Anna, were friends for some years.  (Frank's sister Maginel was John's third grade teacher at the local Ridgeland School.)  What might the conservative Van Bergens have thought of the arrogant young architect whose striking new buildings upset the prim appearance of their neighborhood?

John Van Bergen, August 5, 1901--16 years old.
John is the boy in the middle, his brother, Frank is the boy on the left.
(one of the girls is their cousin, Florence.)

(photo courtesy Nancy V.B. Brigham)

This photograph was taken around 1905 on the front steps of the Van Bergen home at 632 Scoville (now 532 Fair Oaks) when John (farthest right in photo) was about 20 years old.
Top row:  Dr. Robert Grey, Jessie Van Bergen (John's sister), Nell (Ella) Van Bergen (John's mother), (Aunt) Florence Wood, Miss Schlack, John Van Bergen
Middle row:  Frank Van Bergen (John's younger brother), (Cousin) Florence Wood,
Bottom row:  Ann Wood, Frank C. Wood (John's uncle), Ella M.?, Matt Wood, Fred (W.F.) Van Bergen (John's father)

          In the spring of 1901, John graduated from 8th grade and then entered high school the next fall.  Oak Park and River Forest High School was still in its old location south of Lake Street.  For John, High School itself was pretty uneventful, except that the Township High School District was making plans to erect a new building across Lake Street between Scoville and East Avenues.  This would have little effect on John, because he graduated before construction began in 1905.   However John was indirectly involved with the new high school building.  The earliest existing drawing by John Van Bergen is a map of the High School District, commissioned by the District Superintendent.  The map is dated June 24, 1904.  John was still in high school.  It is not known how he came upon this project. 
          In June 1905 John graduated from high school and the next fall made a trip to Hollywood, California which was then still a small desert town.  Los Angeles, Pasadena and other parts of southern California were just starting to grow.  Many of the first residents and builders of these cities came from the Midwest, some from Oak Park.  While John was there, he "lived with an old Oak Park neighbor & friend (one of the original founders of that fair city, Hollywood), working for a small electric contractor." ² 

          For many years, John's father and a man named George Griffin were good friends.  George's son, Walter Burley Griffin, a young architect, needed some drafting help in his office.  Starting in January 1907, he took on John Van Bergen as a very inexperienced young apprentice. 
          As Van Bergen described it: Upon  returning from Hollywood, California where he was working for a year with an uncle building houses for "$10 per week", Van Bergen went "..to work for Walter Griffin at $6 per week.  I think that is more than I was worth". ³  Van Bergen said that Griffin "...was not only a skillfully trained architect but also a great teacher for me.  He had no end of patience for a very poor draftsman". ⁴  Van Bergen wrote, "[The] Training I had with Walter couldn't have been better for me as I was the only one in his office and I had to do something of everything.  Walter took great pains in explaining things to me - pains that no other architect ever took." ⁵  Van Bergen remained with Griffin and was the only help in his office until work slowed down in October 1908.
         Upon leaving Griffin's employ, Van Bergen immediately enrolled at Chicago Technical College to work toward receiving his architectural license.  At the same time, he went to work for E. E. Roberts, who had a very busy practice in Oak Park and was, with help from many of the other local architects, turning out dozens of commissions from his busy office.  John left Chicago Technical College in January 1909 when an opportunity presented itself to work in the office of Frank Lloyd Wright.
          John's mother, Ella, and Frank's mother, Anna, being friends may have had much to do with getting Frank to employ this inexperienced young draftsman.  However, it is just as likely that Wright had to take on anyone willing to work for him at all, since he had alienated just about all the other capable and experienced help that was available.  He also must have found John Van Bergen to be an eager and ambitious young man.