|
According to his obituary in the December 18, 1926 Oak Leaves newspaper, Charles Erwin, who was born in Ottawa, Illinois in 1859, came to Chicago as a boy and began his business career as a bank messenger. He became one of the pioneer advertising agency men of the world. He was also active in the development of the citrus fruit district of Florida and was proprietor of several large grapefruit and orange groves. He was also a member of a stockholders' committee which successfully restored the affairs of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.
A very large house for a wealthy client. After leaving his home in Oak Park which was designed for him by George W. Maher, Mr. Erwin had Van Bergen design for him a dwelling even more grand. With extensive woodwork and leaded glass (the ceiling panels in the living room are reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright's Heurtley Residence in Oak Park) and the highest grade of materials and workmanship, this house is an example which fits into a category that Van Bergen described as follows; "When it came to the Ewing home in Bloomington, the Erwin home, in Kenilworth & the Wack home here in S. B. , & a few others, I was dealing with wealthy clients who knew the best & wanted larger & finer of everything - they got what they wanted & didn't care about the repair & demolition costs".
Planning for this house was probably started around 1921 or 1922. Construction was started in 1925. Mr. Erwin died just before the house was completed in 1926 and never lived in it. Mrs. Erwin lived there for some years. Mr. Erwin had Van Bergen also design a much more modest house next door in 1922 for his daughter, Barbara.
The owner of the house in 1958 wrote to Van Bergen, "At the time we first started negotiations for the purchase of the house, we were under the impression that it was a Frank Lloyd Wright house; in fact, virtually everyone in the area had referred to it as the Wright house.
Having been in other houses that Wright had built, we were not the least bit surprised to learn that he had not built this house, for it certainly is designed better than any of his houses that we have been in."
Van Bergen replied, "It is seldom that an architect receives such high praise from one who has purchased an old building of his and I most sincerely appreciate your thoughtfulness."
|
|
