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The Van Bergen's first home from 1920 until the 1940s, this is where John and Ruth first began their lives together and raised their two daughters, Nancy and Joan. Here in Highland Park is where Van Bergen established himself as a unique and gifted architect where he began to combine all the architectural skills that he had acquired - space, proportion, naturalism, utility - to create homes with the warmth and subtle beauty that would become his trademark.
Originally there was a separate garage, built in 1927, away from the house on the property. A large addition and screened porch at the back were done in 1929. When the property was subdivided, an attached garage and some alterations to the house were done by Van Bergen in 1946 for Irving Shepard who bought the house from the Van Bergens.
The house has a two story Living Room with a tent ceiling and balcony. This is a device that Van Bergen was to use often, very successfully. He not only mastered the drama of manipulating horizontal space, but of vertical space as well.
Unfortunately , the balcony in this house has been removed. Over the front entry, and on the opposite side of the house, you can still see the stone "buttresses" that acted as counterweights to beams that supported the balcony.
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