Christian Heurich, the owner of the Heurich mansion was born in 1842 in the small village of Hainia, Germany. He was always very proud of his humble origins, especially that he was born in the remains of a castle that once housed the Henneberg dynasty. Christian Heurich’s journey to become the ultimate American success story led him to the nation’s capital to build the Heurich Mansion or as it is known locally, the Brewmaster’s castle. The National Register of Historic Places recognizes the Heurich House as one of D.C.’s most unique landmarks. Originating in the late Victorian era, the house museum proves that the American dream, although challenging, is attainable. Christian Heurich’s Lager Beer Brewery was first established near what is now the site of the Kennedy Center and the entrance to the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Bridge. Despite the economic depression of 1873 and Prohibition in 1917, Heurich’s company prospered due to his hard work. He inherited the land for his permanent residence from his first wife, after her death in 1884. 1307 New Hampshire Avenue was destined to be the location of the Heurich Mansion. Heurich wanted his residence to serve as a reflection of his distinguished business success and abundant contributions to his community. He stayed true to his humble beginnings and hired only German-Americans to build the home of his dreams. John Granville Meyers, a local expert in fireproof construction was hired to design and construct the immense mansion. Heurich’s personal experience with fires at his brewery unquestionably influenced his decision for implementing advanced building techniques in the construction of his home. Heurich’s 13,000 square foot mansion was the first fire proof structure built in the a... ... middle of paper ... ...is own brewery and securing his own business. He became one of the most successful and oldest brewers working nearly eighteen hours per day, eventually increasing his production twenty times. The nouveau riche interior and exterior reflect his wealth and his desire for a renowned heritage. His home is a monument to his success and an inspiration to all who visit. Works Cited Harris, Donna Ann. New Solutions for House Museums: Ensuring the Long-term Preservation of America's Historic Houses. Lanham, MD: AltaMira, 2007. Print. Shireman, Candace S. The Rise of Christian Heurich's Mansion: a Study of the Interior Design and Furnishings of the Columbian Historical Society's Christian Heurich Mansion, Washington, D.C., 1894-1914. 1989. Print. "Heurich House Museum." Heurich House. Heurich House Foundation. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. .
“Cleveland Museum of Art: Building,” Cleveland Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. Web. 25 March, 2014.
The house was built in 1917 by William Bowers Bourn, a San Francisco millionaire whose wealth came from gold mining . Construction of the large property took 2 years, while it took 12 years to build the formal gardens, which were completed in 1929. Its name was created by Bourn, using the first 2 letters from the key words of his credo: “Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life.” After the deaths of Bourn and his wife in 1936, it was purchased by William Roth, another prominent San Franciscan, who pr...
Gehry draws his inspiration from famous paintings such as the Madonna and Child which he qualifies as a “strategy for architecture” (Friedman M. , 2003, p. 42) and which he used as an inspiration for a project in Mexico . Through his interpretation of the paintings and artwork, Gehry looked for a new kind of architecture. His search for a new type of architecture culminated in 1978 with his own house in Santa Monica. What was once a traditional Californian house would be redesigned to become one of the most important and revolutionary designs of the 20th century, giving Gehry international prestige and fame. Frank Gehry’s “Own House” uses a mixture of corrugated metal, plywood, chain link and asphalt to construct a new envelope for an existing typical Californian house. This house has been inspired by Joseph Cornell, Ed Moses and Bob Rauschenberg. Gehry comments on his house by saying that there was something “magical” (Friedman M. , 2003, p. 54) about it. He admits having “followed the end of his [my] nose” (Friedman M. , 2003, p. 54) when it came to constructing the “new” house, which led Arthur Drexler, former Director...
Burnham is a well-known architect around the world who previously completed work in “Chicago, New York, Washington, San Francisco, Manila, and many other cities” (Pg. 3). He was offered the job to design and build the buildings that would be a part of the World’s Columbian Exposition (Chicago World’s Fair), after Chicago won the bid for the fair in 1890, and eventually took the offer with his assistant, John Root. The construction of the fair began in 1891 and did not completely finish until the fair was already halfway over in the summer of 1893. During those two and a half years, the success and reputatio...
For Upton, “architecture is an art of social story telling, a means for shaping American society and culture...” (11), and it is up to the historian to choose which of many possible stories to tell. In his approach, he refused a chronological order and relied instead on five thematic structures: community, nature, technology, money and art. In the very first chapter, Upton introduces the symbol of the house in the United States; it represents the American dream and the concept of social mobility. He analyzes one of the most famous houses: Monticello, designed by Thomas Jefferson. In describing how this house served as a home for not only family members and numerous visitors, but for slaves as well, Upton proposes that Jefferson “organized Monticello to convey his sense of himself as the patriarch at the centre of his universe” (28).
Just about everyone in St. Louis has heard about the Lemp Mansion Haunting and the tragedies that befell the family. But what very few realize is that wasn’t the beginning of the sad Lemp Family saga, it was the end. What we know today as the Lemp Mansion wasn’t built by Lemp Family; it was actually built by another prominent St. Louis Family, the Feickerts. The Feickert Family started building the future Lemp Mansion in 1868. At the time, this was located in what would become one of the most opulent neighborhoods in the Midwest and it wasn’t even located in the city limits of St. Louis. In 1868, the future Lemp Mansion was located in an unincorporated area known as “The Commons,” and it was the hottest real estate market in the area. St. Louis was growing at such a pace that city planners couldn’t keep up with the ever-increasing demands of its population. Such rapid population growth and poor city planning left St. Louis citizens vulnerable to crime, disease outbreaks, and sanitation issues that killed thousands. Living in the commons was not only a sign of prestige but also one of security and safety.
From its revolutionary design to its breathtaking structure itself, the mansion is a monument to the past innovations which fostered America´s beginnings. The free-thinking nature which drove Jefferson himself is also expressed in the mansion and the inventions which lie within. This spirit of originality and independent thought are sorely missed today, and the nation could benefit greatly from a revival of these values. The memorialization of Jefferson himself is also to be valued, as one who gave so much to his community needs recognition and respect, his sheer genius also is inspirational. The preservation of Monticello allows the qualities of genius, innovation, and intelligence to be preserved for the future, in the hope that Monticello may inspire the next Jefferson to send civilization to even greater heights.
I have lived in or around Winston –Salem nearly all my life but have never once researched the Reynolds name or been to Reynolda House. I found the house to be amazing with all the thought and planning that went into its architecture and its functionality as a self-sufficient farm of its day; I for some reason have a hard time thinking that the early 1900s had skilled, intelligent people that could master such a feat. Touring Reynolda House, which is a museum and discussed later in this paper, was an adventure. Not only was the art breathtaking but the house was decorated as it was in R.J’s and Katharine’s era. While researching for this paper, it was easy to place myself back in that era at the beginning of what I am calling the Reynolds’ legacy. The Reynolda House museum is people friendly and a very nice tour in my
Green, Anna, and Kathleen Troup. The Houses of History. New York, NY: New York University Press, 1999.
James F. O'Gorman, Dennis E. McGrath. ABC of Architecture. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998. Document. October 2013.
... A home is a material object that exists within a concrete reality. It exists with its own qualities, a house built of materials that change and degrade over time. The costs of homeownership are harder to dismiss when one becomes disillusioned with the effects of a lack of attention to those costs. As someone with a passion for writing, my final project will be an extended expository essay about the history of homebuilding from ancient to modern times.
French architect, Henri Labrouste (1801–1875), studied at the École des Beaux-Arts. Labrouste’s work was esteemed by Auguste Perret, Viollet-le-Duc beheld his work as a ‘revolution’ and Giedion wrote that, “Henri Labrouste is without a doubt the mid-nineteenth-century architect whose work was the most important for the future” in his book Space, Time and Architecture (Giedion, 1944). Henri Labrouste was one of the first architects to integrate his rationalist view into architecture by incorporating the then new material, cast iron, into the architectural expression his buildings, not just as structural elements.
The Biltmore Estate is located in Asheville, North Carolina. It is the largest privately owned home in the United States. It was privately owned by George Washington Vanderbilt and his family. The house was designed by Richard Morris Hunt. Frederick Law Olmsted designed the landscape. The Biltmore Estate had a major role in the development of the creative architecture of the era and is well known for being America's largest home.
The Chicago world’s fair’s official name was the World’s Columbian Exposition, and its original purpose was to commemorate the four hundredth anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America, however Daniel Hudson Burnham, the foremost creator, wanted it to be something enchanting, a “white city .” While Burnham wanted the fair to be a “white city” the whole fair had to be greater in all aspects than the fair in Paris in 1889, because if the fair failed the honor of the United States would be stained, and the city of Chicago would be disgraced . Burnham wanted only the best American architects of the time and their plans for the buildings were fashioned after neoclassical ideas, they had a uniform height for the cornice, in hopes of creating harmony amongst the prominent buildings .
Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier are two very prominent names in the field of architecture. Both architects had different ideas concerning the relationship between humans and the environment. Their architectural styles were a reflection of how each could facilitate the person and the physical environment. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House, is considered one of the most important buildings in the history of American architecture and Le Corbusier s Villa Savoye helped define the progression that modern architecture was to take in the 20th Century. Both men are very fascinating and have strongly influenced my personal taste for modern architecture. Although Wright and Corbusier each had different views on how to design a house, they also had similar beliefs. This paper is a comparison of Frank Lloyd Wright‘s and Le Corbusier ‘s viewpoints exhibited through their two prominent houses, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House and Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye.