Thomas H. Gale House

The Thomas H. Gale House or simply Thomas Gale House is a house in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park in the U.S. state of Illinois. It was designed by the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1892 and is an example of his early work. The house was way planned by Wright when he was still employed by Adler and Sullivan. The house is so significant because it is about the early period of development Wright shed. It is listed as a contributing property to a Registered Historic District and was raised in 2002 a landmark in Oak Park.

History

The Thomas H. Gale House is next to the Robert P. Parker House and the Walter Gale House is one of three houses along Chicago Avenue in Wright's Oak Park, which became known as " Bootleg Houses ." They were designed by Wright independently while he was still employed by Adler and Sullivan. Architect Louis Sullivan loaned Wright money to build his own house, which was practically executed by Wright ( Sullivan wished no independent activity Wrights ). The Thomas Gale House is very similar to the Robert P. Parker House, and a total of Wright designed at least eight of these houses as a celebration evening work, although he was still under contract with Sullivan. As Sullivan of these side projects learned the end of 1892 or beginning of 1893, he dismissed Wright. The Thomas Gale House is one of at least four of these buildings that are still standing ( the number varies, however, depending on the available source).

The three houses were part of a group that differed slightly, but nearly identical floor plans showed. These were the already mentioned houses that Wright had designed for Walter Gale and Robert Parker: That is also located in Oak Park Francis Woolley House, as well as the Robert G. Emmond House in La Grange, Illinois. Thomas H. Gale, a well known resident of Oak Park bought by his father Edwin six adjacent building sites at the Chicago Avenue when he married in 1891 Laura Robeson. He chose Wright as architect. Construction began in Juli 1892. Planned construction costs amounted to U.S. $ 3,000. The newly married couple lived with Thomas Gales parents until their own house completed. The following year, acquired Thomas brother Walter the neighboring plot and commissioned Wright, also to plan a house for him, it but only after Wright Adler and Sullivan had left.

Architecture

The appearance of Thomas Gales and Robert Parker's houses - limited this also applies to the house Walter Gales - was led by the more expensive Emmond house in La Grange. All three houses are characterized by irregular roofs with raised and polygonal dormers. The Thomas Gale House reflected losing the style of Wright's first teacher, Joseph Silsbee. Sullivan's influence is again apparent in the still massiveness of the house, his mindset of " geometric simplification " is evident in the design of the Parker house. Although both houses are supplied as standard in the Queen Anne style, the Parker House has lush rounded shapes, as it was usual with most Queen Anne houses that were built at this time.

The small size of Thomas Gale House belies its spaciousness. The turrets have walls, where there is more than half of the surfaces of windows. The fireplace is located in the center of the house, which has the effect that this can be operated and heated two rooms, the reception room and dining room. The side of the house fronts are symmetrical, but the adjacent building is too close to clearly show this.

The house is based on a rectangular plan and is supported by a stone base. The outer shell is formed by wooden shingles. The building has a hipped roof pulled up with polygonal dormers, a brick chimney and overhanging eaves ( a feature later for Wright's Prairie Style was common). To tour Ellen are located at the northeast and southeast corners of the building with conical roofs. The arranged in horizontal stripes bay window ( another common element of the Prairie style) are a mixture of casement and fixed windows. The current front terrace has a non- original version replaced with iron railings, which can be seen on the pictures of the architectural leader of the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust. The front facade also has a dormer with a pair of casement windows.

Importance

Although the building is decorated with small and inexpensive details, won the Thomas Gale House, as well as the Parker House, an important role in the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, because there is about his development as an architect digestion. The house is part of the Frank Lloyd Wright - Prairie School of Architecture Historic District listed building. On 18 November 2002, the Thomas Gale House was declared a landmark of Oak Park.

At first glance, the Thomas Gale House, as well as the other of its buildings from this period represent a step backwards in comparison to Wright's James Charnley House, since he thereby drew on architectural styles such as Colonial Revival, Queen Anne and Dutch Colonial. However, the houses show Wright's growing individuality by how he adapts outdated styles to his own view; the Thomas Gale and Parker House a streamlined version of the Queen Anne Style represents the houses combine features of square construction, which later became a distinctive feature of the fully developed Prairie Styles Wright.