John S. Van Bergen
Encyclopedia
John Shellette Van Bergen (2 October 1885-December 20, 1969) was an American architect born in Oak Park, Illinois
. Van Bergen started his architectural career as an apprentice draftsman
in 1907. In 1909 he went to work for Frank Lloyd Wright
at his studio in Oak Park
. At Wright's studio he did working drawings for and supervised the Robie House and the Mrs. Thomas Gale House. Van Bergen designed prairie style
homes in the Chicago area, mostly in the suburbs of Oak Park and River Forest
. His home designs are recognized as excellent examples of Prairie style architecture and several are listed as local landmarks. A few of his homes are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
At the time the Van Bergen family resided in a home on Euclid Avenue in Oak Park, a building that no longer exists. The Van Bergen’s then moved into the present day 500 block of Fair Oaks when a young John Van Bergen began to show an interest in architecture. .
In 1897, across the street from the Van Bergen family home, the Frank Lloyd Wright
designed George W. Furbeck House was constructed and four years later the William G. Fricke House went up nearby as well. This further influenced the young Van Bergen. Van Bergen's mother was friends with Wright's mother, Anna, and Van Bergen's third grade teacher was Wright's sister, Maginel. In 1901 John Van Bergen began high school at the old Oak Park and River Forest High School
, which was then located on Lake Street. During high school Van Bergen produced his earliest known drawing, a map of the high school district
commissioned by the district superintendent. The map was dated June 24, 1904. After high school Van Bergen spent time in Hollywood , California. When he returned from California he soon found an architectural apprenticeship.
in 1907. Van Bergen's father has been friends with Griffin's father for many years and when the young architect needed a draftsman in his office, in January 1907, he took on Van Bergen as an apprentice. Late in his life Van Bergen recalled Griffin as "not only a skillfully trained architect but also a great teacher for me. He had no end of patience for a very poor draftsman." Van Bergen also found the training he received under Griffin useful, recounting in 1966:
Van Bergen remained with Griffin as his only apprentice until October 1908. After he left Griffin's office Van Bergen enrolled in Chicago Technical College to work toward his architectural license, at the same time he went to work for E.E. Roberts, an architect closely associated with the Prairie School
. In 1909 he left Chicago Technical College and began working with architect Frank Lloyd Wright. He joined Wright before he was a licensed architect and went to work in his studio. Van Bergen was the last architect added to Wright's studio and while there he was put in charge of finishing many Frank Lloyd Wright projects. Working for Wright he did working drawings and was supervisor for the Robie House
and the Mrs. Thomas Gale House. Van Bergen designed many Prairie style residences in and around Chicago, especially in the suburbs of Oak Park and River Forest. Of the architects closely associated with Wright, Van Bergen and Francis Conroy Sullivan were the two least known. Van Bergen's work was very much cast in a similar manner to that of Wright's early Prairie work and some of Van Bergen's designs are among the most striking within the school. When Wright left for Europe in late 1909 Van Bergen, along with Isabel Roberts, remained behind to close Wright's studio and help end the Oak Park, Illinois phase of Wright's career. After Van Bergen left Wright's studio he briefly worked for another former Wright employee, William Eugene Drummond
.
He received his architect's license in 1911, left Drummond's practice, and started his own practice. Van Bergen's first design commission was for the Elizabeth Manson House in Oak Park. The permit for the home was dated August 9, 1911, and the permit for the garage, which Van Bergen also designed was dated December 30, 1911. The original garage has since been replaced. While the interior design is still immature the home's massing and flow already have the unique subtlety characteristic of Van Bergen's work.
Little research has been done on Van Bergen's career because a 1964 fire destroyed his Santa Barbara, California
home along with many of his architectural drawings and records. For many years the assumption by those who studied the Prairie School was that there were few records of Van Bergen's work thus the search would be fruitless. Despite this fire, researchers are rediscovering Van Bergen's work, much of which still remains standing.
Van Bergen designed Prairie style homes, influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, as demonstrated in this quote from Van Bergen:
Van Bergen's homes can be found throughout northern Illinois. Three of his Prairie style homes with nearly identical layouts can be found in the A.O. Anderson House
in DeKalb, Illinois
, the Max and Cecile Przyborski Residence in North Chicago, Illinois
and the C. Percy Skillin Residence in Wilmette, Illinois
. All three buildings are almost identical and were all probably built around 1913.
Another notable home designed by Van Bergen can be found in the Chicago suburb of Maywood, Illinois. The Richard Cluever House is a large estate which not only represents an exceptionally large Prairie style design but also notable for its landscape design
which was created by Jens Jensen
, famous landscape architect
. The landscaping includes an artificial pond and stream complete with a limestone
bridge. The stream's water is pumped from the nearby Des Plaines River
. In his hometown of Oak Park Van Bergen designed the Charles Flitcraft House in 1914 and then in 1923 he designed a unique, underground garage addition for the home. The driveway retaining wall
is made of the original rough-cut and stratified limestone, a style Van Bergen used in many houses after the 1920s.
The renowned Prairie style, “Fireproof House for $5,000”, was a design developed by Frank Lloyd Wright and later adapted by Van Bergen in his practice. The design was intended to serve as an attractive model of space and cost efficiency. Van Bergen designed many as sixteen variations of this plan in Oak Park alone from 1911 through 1923. Built in 1913, “The Mary Greenlees Yerkes Residence” is a fine example of this. What also adds to the unique character of this home is a specifically designed upstairs art studio, for then noted local artist Mary Agnes Yerkes
, over its main entrance. The "Mary Greenlees Yerkes Residence" is an Oak Park Preservation Trust 2001 award recipient.
Prairie style homes designed by Van Bergen are often considered "excellent" or "outstanding" examples of the style and some of them have been declared local landmarks. The city of Chicago declared the Miller House
, a 1915 example of Van Bergen's Prairie style on South Paxton Avenue, a landmark on December 1, 1993. The Miller House was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1991. In the suburb of Wilmette the Bresbach House, another example of Van Bergen's 1910s work, is a local landmark.
Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the twenty-fifth largest municipality in Illinois. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago due to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L' Blue and Green lines,...
. Van Bergen started his architectural career as an apprentice draftsman
Technical drawing
Technical drawing, also known as drafting or draughting, is the act and discipline of composing plans that visually communicate how something functions or has to be constructed.Drafting is the language of industry....
in 1907. In 1909 he went to work for Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
at his studio in Oak Park
Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio
The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio at 951 Chicago Avenue in Oak Park, Illinois, has been restored by the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust to its appearance in 1909, the last year Frank Lloyd Wright lived there with his family. Frank Lloyd Wright purchased the property and built the home in...
. At Wright's studio he did working drawings for and supervised the Robie House and the Mrs. Thomas Gale House. Van Bergen designed prairie style
Prairie School
Prairie School was a late 19th and early 20th century architectural style, most common to the Midwestern United States.The works of the Prairie School architects are usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands,...
homes in the Chicago area, mostly in the suburbs of Oak Park and River Forest
River Forest, Illinois
River Forest is a suburban village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Two universities make their home in River Forest, Dominican University and Concordia University Chicago. The village is closely tied to the larger neighboring community of Oak Park, Illinois. There are significant...
. His home designs are recognized as excellent examples of Prairie style architecture and several are listed as local landmarks. A few of his homes are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Early life
John S. Van Bergen was born October 2, 1885 to William and Ella Van Bergen, one of four children. .".At the time the Van Bergen family resided in a home on Euclid Avenue in Oak Park, a building that no longer exists. The Van Bergen’s then moved into the present day 500 block of Fair Oaks when a young John Van Bergen began to show an interest in architecture. .
In 1897, across the street from the Van Bergen family home, the Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
designed George W. Furbeck House was constructed and four years later the William G. Fricke House went up nearby as well. This further influenced the young Van Bergen. Van Bergen's mother was friends with Wright's mother, Anna, and Van Bergen's third grade teacher was Wright's sister, Maginel. In 1901 John Van Bergen began high school at the old Oak Park and River Forest High School
Oak Park and River Forest High School
Oak Park and River Forest High School, or OPRF, is a public four-year high school located in Oak Park, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is the only school of Oak Park and River Forest District 200....
, which was then located on Lake Street. During high school Van Bergen produced his earliest known drawing, a map of the high school district
School district
School districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...
commissioned by the district superintendent. The map was dated June 24, 1904. After high school Van Bergen spent time in Hollywood , California. When he returned from California he soon found an architectural apprenticeship.
Career
John Van Bergen began his career as an apprentice draftsman working with Walter Burley GriffinWalter Burley Griffin
Walter Burley Griffin was an American architect and landscape architect, who is best known for his role in designing Canberra, Australia's capital city...
in 1907. Van Bergen's father has been friends with Griffin's father for many years and when the young architect needed a draftsman in his office, in January 1907, he took on Van Bergen as an apprentice. Late in his life Van Bergen recalled Griffin as "not only a skillfully trained architect but also a great teacher for me. He had no end of patience for a very poor draftsman." Van Bergen also found the training he received under Griffin useful, recounting in 1966:
"[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."
Van Bergen remained with Griffin as his only apprentice until October 1908. After he left Griffin's office Van Bergen enrolled in Chicago Technical College to work toward his architectural license, at the same time he went to work for E.E. Roberts, an architect closely associated with the Prairie School
Prairie School
Prairie School was a late 19th and early 20th century architectural style, most common to the Midwestern United States.The works of the Prairie School architects are usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands,...
. In 1909 he left Chicago Technical College and began working with architect Frank Lloyd Wright. He joined Wright before he was a licensed architect and went to work in his studio. Van Bergen was the last architect added to Wright's studio and while there he was put in charge of finishing many Frank Lloyd Wright projects. Working for Wright he did working drawings and was supervisor for the Robie House
Robie House
The Frederick C. Robie House is a U.S. National Historic Landmark in the Chicago, Illinois neighborhood of Hyde Park at 5757 S. Woodlawn Avenue on the South Side. It was designed and built between 1908 and 1910 by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and is renowned as the greatest example of his Prairie...
and the Mrs. Thomas Gale House. Van Bergen designed many Prairie style residences in and around Chicago, especially in the suburbs of Oak Park and River Forest. Of the architects closely associated with Wright, Van Bergen and Francis Conroy Sullivan were the two least known. Van Bergen's work was very much cast in a similar manner to that of Wright's early Prairie work and some of Van Bergen's designs are among the most striking within the school. When Wright left for Europe in late 1909 Van Bergen, along with Isabel Roberts, remained behind to close Wright's studio and help end the Oak Park, Illinois phase of Wright's career. After Van Bergen left Wright's studio he briefly worked for another former Wright employee, William Eugene Drummond
William Eugene Drummond
William Eugene Drummond was a Chicago Prairie School architect.-Early Years and Education:He was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of carpenter and cabinet maker Eugene Drummond and his wife Ida Marietta Lozier...
.
He received his architect's license in 1911, left Drummond's practice, and started his own practice. Van Bergen's first design commission was for the Elizabeth Manson House in Oak Park. The permit for the home was dated August 9, 1911, and the permit for the garage, which Van Bergen also designed was dated December 30, 1911. The original garage has since been replaced. While the interior design is still immature the home's massing and flow already have the unique subtlety characteristic of Van Bergen's work.
Little research has been done on Van Bergen's career because a 1964 fire destroyed his Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
home along with many of his architectural drawings and records. For many years the assumption by those who studied the Prairie School was that there were few records of Van Bergen's work thus the search would be fruitless. Despite this fire, researchers are rediscovering Van Bergen's work, much of which still remains standing.
Style and works
"Since the American architect has a great opportunity as a leader of the people toward honesty, simplicity and directness, he can educate their tastes and control, to a great extent, their morals and happiness."
Van Bergen's homes can be found throughout northern Illinois. Three of his Prairie style homes with nearly identical layouts can be found in the A.O. Anderson House
Andrew O. Anderson House
The Andrew O. Anderson House, also known as the A. O. Anderson House, is a Prairie style house in the city of DeKalb, Illinois, United States. The house was designed by American architect John S. Van Bergen around 1913 and built around 1916. Van Bergen designed many Prairie homes and was an...
in DeKalb, Illinois
DeKalb, Illinois
DeKalb is a city in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. The population was 43,862 at the 2010 census, up from 39,018 at the 2000 census. The city is named after decorated German war hero Johann De Kalb, who died during the American Revolutionary War....
, the Max and Cecile Przyborski Residence in North Chicago, Illinois
North Chicago, Illinois
North Chicago is an outer suburb/exurb of the Chicago metropolitan area and is an incorporated city in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 35,918 at the 2000 census....
and the C. Percy Skillin Residence in Wilmette, Illinois
Wilmette, Illinois
Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located north of Chicago's downtown district and has a population of 27,651. Wilmette is considered a bedroom community in the North Shore district...
. All three buildings are almost identical and were all probably built around 1913.
Another notable home designed by Van Bergen can be found in the Chicago suburb of Maywood, Illinois. The Richard Cluever House is a large estate which not only represents an exceptionally large Prairie style design but also notable for its landscape design
Landscape design
Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practised by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice landscape design bridges between landscape architecture and garden design.-Design scope:...
which was created by Jens Jensen
Jens Jensen (landscape architect)
Jens Jensen was a Danish-American landscape architect.-Early life:Jens Jensen was born near Dybbøl in Slesvig, Denmark, in 1860, to a wealthy farming family. For the first nineteen years of his life he lived on his family's farm, which cultivated his love for the natural environment...
, famous landscape architect
Landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....
. The landscaping includes an artificial pond and stream complete with a limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
bridge. The stream's water is pumped from the nearby Des Plaines River
Des Plaines River
The Des Plaines River is a river that flows southward for through southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois in the U.S. Midwest, eventually meeting the Kankakee River west of Channahon to form the Illinois River, a tributary of the Mississippi River....
. In his hometown of Oak Park Van Bergen designed the Charles Flitcraft House in 1914 and then in 1923 he designed a unique, underground garage addition for the home. The driveway retaining wall
Retaining wall
Retaining walls are built in order to hold back earth which would otherwise move downwards. Their purpose is to stabilize slopes and provide useful areas at different elevations, e.g...
is made of the original rough-cut and stratified limestone, a style Van Bergen used in many houses after the 1920s.
The renowned Prairie style, “Fireproof House for $5,000”, was a design developed by Frank Lloyd Wright and later adapted by Van Bergen in his practice. The design was intended to serve as an attractive model of space and cost efficiency. Van Bergen designed many as sixteen variations of this plan in Oak Park alone from 1911 through 1923. Built in 1913, “The Mary Greenlees Yerkes Residence” is a fine example of this. What also adds to the unique character of this home is a specifically designed upstairs art studio, for then noted local artist Mary Agnes Yerkes
Mary Agnes Yerkes
Mary Agnes Yerkes, , , was an American Impressionist painter, photographer and artisan. She was skilled in the mediums of oil, pastel and watercolor. Her professional career was cut short by the Great Depression, but she still continued to paint well into her nineties with a passion for her craft...
, over its main entrance. The "Mary Greenlees Yerkes Residence" is an Oak Park Preservation Trust 2001 award recipient.
Prairie style homes designed by Van Bergen are often considered "excellent" or "outstanding" examples of the style and some of them have been declared local landmarks. The city of Chicago declared the Miller House
Allan Miller House
The Allan Miller House is a prairie style house in the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago, United States. Located along Paxton Avenue, the home is the only surviving example of Frank Lloyd Wright colleague John S. Van Bergen's work found in Chicago. The house is cast in prairie style and was...
, a 1915 example of Van Bergen's Prairie style on South Paxton Avenue, a landmark on December 1, 1993. The Miller House was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1991. In the suburb of Wilmette the Bresbach House, another example of Van Bergen's 1910s work, is a local landmark.