Henry George Fiddelke, Designing for a Community (part 2 of 2)

Maintaining an office in Oak Park at the turn of the century must have been very competitive. Despite the unprecedented construction that was occurring in the region, there was significant competition. Several local architects, like Normand Patton (Patton & Fisher and Patton & Miller) and Wesley Arnold, had offices in Chicago but still maintained a strong local presence, particularly with larger single family homes and public work. More directly, William Van Keuren and Frank Thompson had offices in Oak Park and were often working within the same pool of potential clients as Fiddelke. There was probably no bigger direct competition than E. E. Roberts, who billed himself as making "more accepted plans than any architect in or around Oak Park". Roberts work was in the same vein as Fiddelke's, and like Fiddelke, he catered to all types of residential projects, from tiny cottages, to mansions. Finally, Fiddelke had competition from his former co-workers, George Maher and Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright had a local office and a steady clientele of upper class families. Likewise, Maher's talent was utilized on several of the finest of Oak Park homes. 

View of Oak Park. Looking North on North Oak Park Avenue from North Blvd, 1899. From the Illinois Digital Archive c/o Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park in cooperation with the Oak Park Public Library. 

It seems that the competition, coupled with a labor strike that jeopardized construction in the Chicago region became too much for Fiddelke to bare and in 1900, he sought work outside Illinois, in Duluth, Minnesota. In the local directory in Duluth for that year, Fiddelke was listed as a draftsman with Francis Cokefair. Francis was a civil engineer and he and his father, Charles Cokefair, had recently formed the Great Northern Development Corporation. They developed mining operations and then electrical power plants. It is unclear what kind of architectural work Fiddelke may have been involved in but the prospect of working for a major corporation doing large-scale public works probably seemed like a good prospect at the time. Fiddelke's time in Duluth was short-lived and by October of the same year, he had returned to Oak Park and a local paper announced that he had "been in Duluth for some time studying higher class architecture“ and had returned to Oak Park to remain.

Like most architects, Fiddelke remained competitive in Oak Park by forging strong relationships with groups of businessmen and families. This gave him a stream of clientele for repeat residential and commercial projects. His reputation for larger institutional projects, also gave him the opportunity to design more local schools and churches.    

Postcard image of Henry Fiddelke's Holmes School from Chuckman's Photos on Wordpress

In 1902, Henry Fiddelke purchased a home for his family as a sort of development scheme of Shoe Store owner, William Ruppert. Ruppert purchased several lots on the west end of Oak Park. He rehabbed an existing home and moved a second home from the property so that he could build a new Queen Anne Style residence for himself. Fiddelke oversaw design work for the new home and when Ruppert's project was complete, he purchased the rehabilitated Italianate home next door. Ruppert was so pleased with the project, that he hired Fiddelke once more, three years later, to build a new home for his family, about a mile south of this one.  

The Fiddelke home on the left and William Ruppert Home (1902) on the left.

William Ruppert Home, Oak Park (1902).

Detail of pediment over porch of the William Ruppert Home, Oak Park (1902).

William Ruppert's second home, Oak Park (1906).

Fiddelke designed a series of similar structures for Charles Kannenberg and his family. When Kannenberg first built in Oak Park, he had Fiddelke design him a Queen Anne Style home. About ten years later, he converted his home into two-flats, for rental and moved to a new bungalow designed by Fiddelke several blocks north. Several years after that, Charles' son, Baldwin, hired Fiddelke to design a home for himself, also a bungalow, in nearby River Forest. 

 

Charles Kannenberg Home, Oak Park (1896). The two-story portion on the right of the turret is a later addition.

Charles Kannenberg's second home in Oak Park (1911).

Baldwin Kannenberg Home (son of Charles Kannenberg) in River Forest (1916).

Detail of entry door and sidelight with art glass in Baldwin Kannenberg Home, River Forest (1916).

Like the Ruppert homes, there is strong difference between the ornamented Queen Anne homes that were left behind and the new "modern" homes that Fiddelke begins to create in the mid 1900's and beyond. While the homes appear more subdued at first glance, a closer inspection shows that many of the same design elements remain on these newer homes but they are executed in a very different manner. Ornate carved woodwork and built-ins becomes more planar and simple. Ornate foliate art glass becomes more abstract and geometric. Exterior clapboard and shingle are substituted with flat stucco, and the exterior scrollwork is lost and simple geometric shapes are employed to accent columns, keystones, and windows. Clearly Fiddelke is taking his overall stylistic cues from prevailing architectural trends that were being set by Prairie School architects working right around the corner from his own home. 

By the mid 1900's this geometric ornament is found in both residential and commercial projects alike and he is employing a mixture of heavily carved ornament and scrollwork and geometric blocks and diamonds. In his apartment building for H. C. Hanson, elaborate carved ornament and geometric diamonds are side by side in stonework that appears almost to be drawn on the facade. In Oak Park projects for Fred Leuthesser and George Fritts, a similar use of both diamond motifs and floral ornament occurs. For the rest of his career, each type of motif is employed in varying degrees, depending on the client. In this way, his work always seems to straddle two worlds but always grounded in allowing the structure to embody artistic ideals.

Hanson Building, Oak Park (1908). Note that both foliate and geometric ornament is used in the building's stone work.

Fred Leuthesser House, Oak Park (1913). Note the geometric ornament on the columns and the foliate scrollwork in the dormer. 

The Albert Johns house (1912), left and George Fritts house (1908), right, Oak Park homes designed by Henry Fiddelke. The Fritts house features carved floral motifs in the small wooden porch columns and dormer window while the stone work features diamond and square geometric motifs. 

Side view of the George Fritts house, Oak Park (1908), showing geometric accents at the windows with elaborate art glass. 

This exterior geometric ornament is particularly interesting because it is so unique. Much like his scroll work from his early career, it becomes both a trademark and a showcase for Fiddelke's creativity. Fiddelke's school work and banks are almost all demolished so trying to illustrate them here would be difficult. One project that showcases this modern ornamental program as well as Fiddelke's ability to design larger buildings is the Parkside Building, an office and retail building. 

Parkside Building, Oak Park (1916). 

The Parkside Building, so named by a competition in the local newspapers, was an office and retail building designed for businessman Leo Barr, owner of a local drygoods company. A simple building with a flat brick facade, Fiddelke takes full advantage of doorways, cornices and window surrounds as a way to employ his geometric ornament. The ornament, a series of square blocks with incised diamond forms is employed as corbels, lintel accents, and door and window surrounds. It is a relatively inexpensive way to achieve a high degree of ornament on the facade. 

Detail of entry, Parkside Building, Oak park (1916).

Detail of corner stone work and ornament at storefront head, Parkside Building, Oak Park (1916).

Two other excellent examples of this ornament can be seen on an apartment project for builder Henry Hogans and on a home he completed in Forest Park for businessman and public garage owner, Edgar Boesnberg. In both of these projects, the buildings are relatively simple but are very modern in appearance with a strong horizontal character and large window openings. The buildings are characteristic of the Prairie School but they are made clearly Fiddelke's own by the ornamental components and stone accents. 

Flat Building for Henry Hogans, Oak Park (1911).

Side entry detail of flat building for Henry Hogans, Oak Park (1911).

Edgar Boesenberg house, Forest Park (ca1915).

This geometric ornament was also not relegated to brick structures. Many excellent examples of Fiddelke's own take on the regional Prairie School work can be found across the north side of Oak Park and in nearby River Forest.

Mrs. Henry Buttendorf Home, built by Harper & Buttendorf, Oak Park (1915).

Herbert Baldwin House, River Forest (1912).

Fiddelke's practice appeared to be relatively vigorous until his retirement, two years before his death in 1931. His overall career was dominated by single family residences but he also completed numerous commercial structures, churches, and schools, particularly in the Village of Oak Park. In closing, I wanted to mention what I believe are Fiddelke's three most significant projects. 

In 1905, Fiddelke designed the Burton Hales Mansion. At the time, Hales was head of the Northwest Malt & Grain Company. Newspapers announced the construction of the home with great fanfare is it was to rival all other mansions in the Village. Situated on a prominent corner and constructed of limestone, and had the appearance of a castle with Tudor and Chateauesque influences. It is Fiddelke's largest residential commission in Oak Park and still one of Oak park's most prominent homes. Construction of the Hales home led to the commission by Hales for Fiddelke to design several Speculative homes behind his mansion in 1910. These too still stand today. 

Burton Hales home, Oak Park (1905).

Burton Hales speculative homes, Oak Park (1910).

A year after completing the Hales home, Fiddelke begins work on a slightly more modest structure for local physician, Clarence Hemingway, and his family. A departure from the historicist architecture of the Hales home, the project for the Hemingways has a simple foursquare appearance but is rectangular and stretches down the block. Like other homes of this period, it is simple in form, stucco clad and has sparse ornament. Though architecturally noteworthy, it is well known because it is the boyhood home of author Ernest Hemingway.  

Historic image of Hemingway home. Image from the Illinois Digital Archive, c/o Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park in cooperation with the Oak Park Public Library. 

Clarence Hemingway house, Oak Park (1906).

Detail of bay window, Clarence Hemingway house, Oak Park (1906).

Detail of dormer and rear porch, Clarence Hemingway house, Oak Park (1906).

I am always fascinated by the "gentleman farmer" trend affluent folks from the late 19th and early twentieth century, which is probably why I am so fascinated with Walter Rogers. Rogers was civil engineer and a founding member of the prominent construction company Bates & Rogers. Their work of constructing tunnels and bridges can be found across the country. 

Rogers hired Fiddelke to design a beautiful Prairie School home complete with Roman brick, punched openings, and elaborate art glass. In many ways, it is a beautiful interpretation of the Pleasant Home form, the most important Oak Park commission from his former co-worker, George Maher. 

Walter Rogers house, Oak Park (1906).

John Farson's "Pleasant Home", Oak Park (1897). George Washington Maher, architect.

Side view, Walter Rogers house, Oak Park (1906). 

Work with Rogers on his home led to another commission. In 1914, Rogers started work with another local architect, John Van Bergen, to design a working farm for his family in Glen Ellyn. Rogers had purchased some 300 acres of land adjacent to the estate of salt magnate, Joy Morton. Van Bergen's Design called for a daring single-story design in a refined Prairie School design that would have stretched across the site. It is not known why but by spring of 1915, he had switched gears and hired Fiddelke to design a large brick home with "most of the conveniences" of a city home. Rogers named the property "Warwood". It is a remarkable structure with incredible brickwork and Arts & Crafts detailing. It was also a working farm where Rogers and his children worked in the summers and cattle were raised for market.   

It is impossible to arrive at a complete assessment of Fiddelke's work because too much is not known. I've already mentioned the lack of biographical information about his education and studies and while much has been uncovered in this study, it is only a fraction of his overall body of work. There are about 50 extant projects by Fiddelke in Oak Park, probably even more, and there are another 50 in the surrounding community but there were clearly many many more. This study also failed to look into the numerous projects that he completed for a loyal clientele in the City of Chicago. The hope is that this writing goes some way towards an appreciation of Fiddelke's work and of the rich design heritage of Chicago and Oak Park.   

This is part two of a two part post. To see part one, CLICK HERE.