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NPS Form 10-900(Rev. 10-90)

United States Department of the InteriorNational Park Service

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESREGISTRATION FORM

SENT TO D.C.q-;;).3 - CX1

This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. Seeinstructions in How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (National RegisterBulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking UXUin the appropriate box or by entering the informationrequested. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter uN/A" for Unotapplicable.u Forfunctions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories andsubcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative items on continuation sheets (NPSForm 10-900a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items.

3. StatelFederal Agency CertificationAs the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this ~nomination __ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the NationalRegister of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, theproperty ~eets __ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant _natio statewide 1Sl0calIy. (_ See continuation sheet for additional comments.)

f\S2-t:. ~ DSHrOSignature of certifyin official

Illinois Historic Preservation AgencyState or Federal agency and bureau

In my opinion, the property __ meets __ does not meet the National Register criteria. ( _Seecontinuation sheet for additional comments.)

__ entered in the National RegisterSee continuation sheet.

__ determined eligible for theNational RegisterSee continuation sheet.

__ determined not eligible for theNational Register

Ownership of Property(Check as many boxes as apply)

_X_private_ public-local_ public-State_ public-Federal

Category of Property(Check only one box)

_X_ building( s)districtsitestructure

_object

Number of Resources within Property(Do not include previously listed resources in the count)

Contributing Noncontributing_1_ buildings

sites2 structures

objects1 2 Total

Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.)N/A

6. Function or Use

7. Description

Architectural Classification(Enter categories from instructions)

Modern movementInternational Style/Miesian

Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuationsheets.)

Name of Property Garvey, Hugh M., House County and State Sangamon, IL8. Statement of SignificanceApplicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property forNational Register listing)

A Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patternsof our history.

x C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction orrepresents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant anddistinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.

Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuationsheets.) See Continuation Sheet

Previous documentation on file (NPS)_ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested._ previously listed in the National Register_ previously determined eligible by the National Register_ designated a National Historic Landmark_ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # __ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # _

Primary Location of Additional DataState Historic Preservation Office

_ Other State agency_ Federal agency_ Local government_ UniversityX Other

10. Geographical Data

Zone Easting Northing1 16269867 44070152

Zone Easting Northing34

See continuation sheet.

Verbal Boundary Description(Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)

Boundary Justification(Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)

11. Form Prepared By

Submit the following items with the completed form:Continuation Sheets

MapsA USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.

PhotographsRepresentative black and white photographs of the property.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the NationalRegister of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties,and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with theNational Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours perresponse including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing andreviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Chief,Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; andthe Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503.

NPS Form 1O-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)


NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESCONTINUATION SHEET

The Hugh M. and Jane Garvey House is located in the village of Leland Grove, on thewest side of Springfield, Illinois, immediately west of Chatham Road, a majornorth/south traffic artery. The house is situated on a wooded lot of approximately oneacre and sited at a 45-degree angle to the cardinal directions (see landscape site plan,Figure 16). For the purposes of this description the main entry fayade will be called north,the bedroom fayade east. The house was designed by John Benya in 1956 and completedin 1959.

The house is approached by a slightly curving gravel driveway exiting from Fair OaksDrive on the south and moving in a northeasterly direction, terminating in a rectangular,paved parking court adjacent to the west elevation. The house is approached from thenorth end of this parking court by a short rise of brick steps and brick-paved terrace onthe north. The grade is raised on the north and east sides of the house. The entranceterrace is poured concrete and acts as a retaining wall for this raised grade. The concreteis surfaced with antique paving brick and leads to an open staircase rising a half flight upto the house's "service and play entrance" on the north elevation. The stairs have simplebalustrades of square steel balusters and wooden hand rail with floating treads of singleslabs of wood. Areas to the north and east of the house are heavily wooded and designedto act as a sound barrier from heavy traffic along Chatham road.

To the right (south) of the entrance parking court a walk leads south along the westelevation to a small landscaped entrance area and "family entrance" at ground level. Theentrance court is divided from the pool and patio areas further south by a wood palingprivacy fence. Inside this fenced area to the south the walk gives entrance to the originalswimming pool and concrete apron to the southwest. On the west side of the pool a later,non-contributing lanai is constructed of classical revival columns with low-pitched,gabled roof. The house's east and north walls are comprised almost totally oflargeexpanses of glazing and contain the family bedroom exposures.

The house dominates the landscape and its strong linear design of curtain walls, large,aluminum framed windows and flat roof clearly reflect the simplicity of its form and its

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)



International Style. The exterior walls of the two-story house are designed like curtainwalls with floor-to-ceiling windows and de-emphasized spandrels. Each of the fourelevations are divided by a vertical wall panel made of concrete and oversized, roughbrick. The house's structure is a mixture of steel columns and pre-cast, reinforcedconcrete horizontal elements. The main floor is comprised of Flexcore panels, 16-inches-wide by 13' 4" long, which are hollow, precast, pre-stressed, reinforced-concrete slabs.The ventilation and some electrical wiring are delivered through the hollow cores ofcertain floor panels. The edges of the Flexcore panels are supported by steel shelf angles,visible from the exterior through the continuous sheets of glass. The roof (which is alsothe exposed ceiling of the main living level) is made of precast, reinforced concretecoffers arranged in a grid and held in place with additional steel reinforcing bar andpoured concrete. The visual effect is that of a monolithically poured concrete waffle slab.A handful of the coffers are skylights with plexiglass lenses. The coffered roof continuesbeyond the exterior walls to form a deep overhang that dominates the exterior design.The slender columns at the comers reinforce the modernist vocabulary of the house. Theexposed steel structure relates to that of the Farnsworth House near Plano, Illinois,particularly as described by architectural historian Sir Bannister Fletcher, who writes thatthe Farnsworth House is

remarkable for the simplicity of its form and the precision of its detail. The planof this flat-roofed, single-storey building is rectangular, with a central core(comprising bathrooms, heating plant and afire-place) around which space flowsfreely, the various areas for eating, sleeping, etc., being indicated simply bypartitions 1

While larger than Edith Farnsworth's house, the Garvey House is clearly inspired by itsdesign tradition and elements. However, the Garvey House's use oflarge, textured brickis an unusual choice in strict International Style buildings. The brick decreases theseverity of the design, making it more approachable. This design choice is typical of John

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)



Benya's work, where bold architectural moves are enhanced by a sensitive handling ofdetails and material choice.

All four elevations are divided in half by a concrete and brick wall. Except for entrydoors, each elevation is symmetrical and nearly identical, consisting of a plane ofwindows divided in half by a center wall of poured concrete and jumbo, antique brick.Each elevation has a metal downspout roughly in the center.

The west and south elevations are nearly identical. The window walls on either side ofthe concrete and brick wall are divided into seven bays with a consistent fenestrationpattern. From left to right, bays one, three, five and seven are of clear, fixed glass fromfloor to ceiling. Bays two and six are of frosted glass with an operating hopper sashroughly in the centers of each floor level. The sheet of glass between the hoppers iscontinuous over the edge of the floor plate. Bay four, the center bay, has two long, fixedsheets of clear glass with a single operating sash at the bottom of the main floor level.Both elevations have entrances in bays nearest the brick and concrete walls.

The west elevation is also divided into two bays separated by a cast concretelbrickveneered wall, as are all other house elevations. The left (north) bay consists of sevenglazed strips rising from concrete knee-wall to overhang. Each strip is divided verticallyby steel framing to form a series of long, narrow, fixed-sash windows. The strips secondfrom left and right have insets of rectangular sash, which open for ventilation. Thehorizontal floor beam at center is recessed behind the glazing on this bay.

The north elevation contains the formal entrance near the center of the elevation and atthe top of an ornamental stair. The terrace, at the base of the entry stairs, is three stepshigher than the west and south elevations. The grade continues to rise towards the left

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)



half of the elevation, so there are no windows to the left of the center concrete wall of thelower level. The right bay consists of the same fenestration as the south elevation. At thefar left (east) strip in the upper level is a solid, flush metal entrance door covered with ametal storm door. The horizontal, operating sash is located near the top of the secondand fourth bays from the right (west). Also, all glazing, except for the far right and thirdfrom left, and the operating hopper sash, with semi-transparent glass for privacy.

The east elevation is a variation of the same design of two glazed walls divided by a solidwall. The right (north) bay continues the rhythm of the adjoining east bay of the northelevation. This includes the poured concrete wall of the lower level forming the base forthe window units in the second level, which here appear to be ground level because of theraised grade. The same seven strips of fixed sash windows form the right bay, includingthe operating horizontal sash in the strips second from right and left. And, like theadjoining east bay of the north elevation, semi-transparent glass predominates forprivacy. Only the third strip from the right and the horizontal operating sash have clearglazing. The steel beam supporting the floor/ceiling between level is alternately recessedbehind glazing and exposed across the bottom of these windows.

The same pattern of solid wall dividing the two bays appears here. The dividing wall hasbrick veneer covering its entire visible surface. This wall contains the chimney for thefurnace and continues above the roofline. The left (south) bay consists of the samearrangement of strip windows as the right. At the upper level the seven strip windows areglazed with privacy glass except for the strips at far right, fourth from the left andoperating, horizontal sash. Below, the series of windows are approximately half heightfrom those above due to higher level of the grade. The deep overhanging roof plane anddeep eaves are visually and structurally supported at both comers with steel columns.

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)



The primary design characteristic of the plan is the confinement of most interior walls tothe center on both lower and upper levels. This leaves exterior walls, with their largeexpanse of glazing, unobstructed. The central service core parallels the rectangle of thehouse and contains kitchen, four bathrooms, and bedroom corridor (see plans, Figures17/18). The series of spaces on the upper level for entry/reception, living, dining andrelaxing flow into each other on the house's north, west and south half (photos 5-14).Expansive exterior views promote the visual dissolution of boundaries between exteriorand interior. Bedrooms, on the east of the upper level, while divided by partition walls,nevertheless express this same openness and feeling of merging with the exterior that ischaracteristic of mid-twentieth century design. Main floor interior ceilings are exposedconcrete coffers. The floor dividing lower from upper level is made of smooth, pre-castconcrete panels containing channels through which forced hot air from the furnace travelsfrom the core of the house to perimeter ducts, warming the floor as it travels. Thistechnical application and the use of industrial materials like steel beams celebrate franktechnological innovations introduced into domestic architecture of the time.

Interior walls of the house are surfaced in plastic laminate panels in a wood grain andflooring is vinyl tile throughout the public areas. Plastic laminate kitchen cabinets,Formica countertops and tiled bathrooms all speak of the emphasis on a nearly industriallevel of surfaces and ease of upkeep more often associated with commercial buildingsthan private homes.

In plan the house's main, public entrance is on the north, which enters into a receptionspace and flows west into seating, dining and living room spaces as it moves south andreturns east along the exterior walls of the kitchen and comprising the west half of thehouse on the main level. The U-shaped bedroom/bathroom corridor is entered from thenorth and south ends of the kitchen giving access to this private half of the house.

The lower level is reached by stairs centered on the north and south walls, orientednorth/south. Full height iron balusters, reaching from floor to ceiling, form stairbalustrades running three quarters of the way across the otherwise open staircases.

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)

United States Department ofthe InteriorNational Park Service


This lower level has the central support core of steel beams but is divided moreconventionally with a north/south partition wall separating the plan into east and westhalves. The west section consists of one large, open entertainment room taking advantageof exterior views through nearly continuous glazed wall. Windows here are half-heightwith an approximately 3.5 foot-high knee wall below. Ceiling design is formed ofpainted, pre-cast concrete panels attached to the support beams with hot air channelsmentioned above. At their joints chamfered edges give the suggestion of wood planks.

The east half of the basement is divided into a nearly windowless furnace and utility area,including a 1950s era bomb shelter, in the north two thirds of this east half. The souththird contains fully-glazed walls and is divided into two bedrooms and a bath. (see planFigure 18). Nearly all interior finishes are original to the 1959 time period of the house.The Garvey House has been meticulously maintained during its fifty years of existence.

The original landscape plan by Charles Aguar called for flagstone walk and steps leadingto the main entrance on the north. Oversize brick was substituted for the flagstone on thesteps and terrace currently in place. The Garveys followed the original planting plan to alarge extent and Ann Garvey Klest recalls the large expanses of honeysuckle groundcoverand an encircling path. Unfortunately a large section of the landscape on the east wasremoved with the widening of Chatham Road in the 1970s and consequent loss of land.Chatham Road had once been the main entrance to the house from which a drivewayentered. The "~ame court," shown on the northeast comer of the original lot, served asparking space. After the road widening the Garveys kept only a driveway entrance fromFair Oaks Drive, which remains today. They planted the reduced land on the east withmore trees and shrubbery to minimize traffic noise from Chatham Road. Landscapes areamong the least static of historic elements and, while changes have been made as thegarden matured, the sense of Aguar' s original design remains intact. Much of thehoneysuckle has been replaced by grass, and the strolling path has disappeared, but the

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)



Garvey House is today sited in a woodland of mature, deciduous trees, as intended by itsdesigner over fifty years ago. Overall the Garvey House and grounds are a well-preserved example of a mid-twentieth century International Style house.

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)


NAnONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESCONTINUA nON SHEET

The Garvey-Ferry House at 8 Fair Oaks, Leland Grove, Illinois, is significant underCriterion C for its importance as a good example of the International Style as applied todomestic architecture. Before the mid-1960s this style was rarely employed for privatehomes in the city. Its comparatively early design date (1956) marks its anticipation of thelater, more common appearance of the style in 1960s Springfield subdivisions. TheGarvey House is a fully articulated International style residence strongly influenced bydesign trends of mid-twentieth century modem design expressed in the work of modernistarchitects like Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, particularly in his Farnsworth House in Plano,Illinois. Although the International or Contemporary style influenced the appearance of ageneration of modem houses in America, Springfield's Garvey House exhibits fullydeveloped International Style in its construction techniques of steel structural skeleton,curtain wall and theory of regularity based on a standardized unit of construction. Itsarchitect, John Benya, was an avid, self-styled follower of modernist design andresponsible for over 200 commercial and domestic buildings in this style between 1950and his death in 1989. The house came into existence between 1956 and 1959, the yearsduring which the design process began, and continuing until the house was first occupied,Easter week 1959.

Springfield area and Leland Grove domestic architecture of the first half of the twentiethcentury was marked by an overwhelming preference for traditional, revival-deriveddesign. This is borne out by visual surveys of subdivisions developed between 1910 and1950 and their architecture. Only a handful of modem and modernist styles appear. Ofthese few examples before 1960, most are in the Art Moderne/ Art Deco tradition. A fewsignificant International Style examples include the Stuart Brown House, 1405 SouthDouglas (1934) and Dr. John P. Marty House, 42 Tophill Lane (1959). While these andother modernist style houses in Leland Grove, including the 1956 Simmons House at2101 Cherry Road, reflect the same design idiom employed by Benya, none exhibit thefully-developed Miesian interpretation of International Style shown in the Garvey House.The Garvey House is also the only steel-frame residential example known in LelandGrove and Springfield. Arguably, the most significant International Style building in theSpringfield area is the Town House Apartments of 1955. This luxury high rise building,designed by Chicago's Shaw, Metz and Dolio architectural firm, remains the city's finest

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)



International Style multi-family residential building. The design incorporates the style'ssignature curtain walls, ribbon windows, and cantilevered balconies. Its luxuriousmaterials, including marble, terrazzo, mosaic, and fine woods, and richness offurnishings, lighting fixtures, and details, make the Town House a less stark example ofthe International Style idiom. Kitchens featuring Formica counter tops, enameled-steelcabinets, and dishwashers, along with an absence of trim molding on doors, vinyl floorscolored ceramic bathroom fixtures, and "baseboard raceway electrical outlets," gaveSpringfield residents a view of modernistic luxury housing with the accent on thefunctional. Although the building did not officially open until 1958, its design andmodernity were continually before the public in both newspaper publicity and from thebuilding itself as it rose on the city's skyline.

The use of International style for private residences in America was relatively rareaccording to architectural historians Lee and Virginia McAlester. "In the decadesseparating World Wars I and II," say the McAlesters,

Americans tended to prefer period houses that reflected past traditions, whileEuropean architects emphasized radically new designs that came to be known asInternational style architecture. Le Corbusier in France, Oud and Rietveld in Holland,Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe in Germany were all working without historicprecedent, trying to exploit the materials and technology of the day. During the1930s these ideas were introduced into the United States by several distinguishedpractitioners who emigrated to escape the developing chaos in Europe. The structuraland theoretical concepts they brought had a profound influence in America. At thebase of this revolution was the use of a structural skeleton, generally of steel, thatcould be covered by a thin, non-structural skin. With this developed the theory ofregularity. Asymmetrical facades were believed to gain coherence by having somevisible expression of the regular structural skeleton behind. This has application toonly the grandest houses, however, for most are too small to make steel-skeletonconstruction economically practical. 1

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)


NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESCONTINUA nON SHEET

The Garvey House is among this comparatively small number of houses in the UnitedStates to employ this method of construction and, as far as can be determined, the first inthe Springfield area. An important theory of Internationalist architects informed thedesign of these houses. According to the McAlesters,

Le Corbusier had stressed the idea of the house as a "Machine for living." In a worldof rapidly advancing technology this idea was appealing; all superfluous ornamentcould be stripped away, the latest machinery installed in kitchens and bathrooms, andtrue efficiency brought to the home. The phrase caught on and became the battle cryfor International style house design. Functionalism, emphasizing how a buildingserved its inhabitants, was a prime importance, traditional elements of the house thatwere merely decorative, rather than functional, were to be discarded.2

It was these influences that led directly to the design and construction of the GarveyHouse. It represents a conscious decision by clients Hugh and Jane Garvey to create afully functional, modem house designed, in the words of Le Corbusier, as a "machine forliving."

The Garvey House originated when Hugh and Jane Garvey, a prosperous, well-educated,Roman Catholic couple, found their small, Arts and Crafts Style house too small for agrowing family, which eventually included eight children. Hugh Garvey was a publisherand owner of Springfield's Templegate Press, which published religious-oriented worksas well as general literature. Garvey, according to his daughter Ann Garvey Klest, thoughnot schooled in architectural history or style, was a voracious reader and interested in allthings.3 Garvey came from a well-to-do Pennsylvania family and began his career as a

2 Ibid p. 470.3 Kleist, Ann Garvey. Telephone Interview. 5 June 2007.

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)



newspaper reporter in Cleveland. He was always proud of having had famed Federalagent Eliot Ness sign his first press card.4 At the time Ness was head of Cleveland'sDepartment of Public Safety. After Hugh Garvey came to Springfield in the early 1950s,to open his publishing business, he became involved in local civic life. He wasparticularly concerned with the cheap commercialism of the Lincoln Home area andpurchased several properties nearby, opening two high quality gift stores to discouragethe tawdry souvenir shops previously in the area.

Klest recalled that her father had a sense of intellectual adventure and was open to newideas. He was a regular user of the Illinois State Library from which he routinely broughthome albums of international music and films about other cultures and people around theworld. Although Hugh and Jane Garvey were very fond of their Arts and Crafts Stylehome, they had strong ideas about the new house, which would be a radical departurefrom their former house, and from most other private homes in the city. They selected alot in the newly-opened Fair Oaks subdivision in Leland Grove, Illinois, an upper-middleclass suburb adjoining Springfield on the southwest. The Garveys chose as their architectJohn Benya, a flamboyant designer who for a time was better remembered for hiscontroversial lifestyle than for his designs. In the last dozen years Benya has becomebetter appreciated as an important regional modernist.

John Benya (1911-1989) designed hundreds of houses and commercial buildings incentral Illinois, St. Louis, and beyond in the two decades following World War II. Bornin Witt, Illinois, of immigrant parents, Benya served in the United States Navy duringWorld War II. He received his architectural training at Northwestern University in

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)



Evanston, Illinois.5 His earliest professional experience was as staff architect for theCharles Behrensmeyer firm in the late 1940s. There he designed several small,convenient, ranch-style houses which could be inexpensively constructed and which wereinfluenced by Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian houses.6 By the early 1950s he hadestablished his own practice in Quincy, Illinois. Over the next fifteen years he woncommissions to design some of that city's most high-profile commercial and religiousbuildings. These included Notre Dame High School, St. Mary's Hospital addition, St.Boniface Church, Quincy Regional Airport Terminal and Gem City Savings and LoanAssociation headquarters. 7

Benya's designs from the early 1950s forward were heavily influenced by modernistideology and its quest to reduce design elements in order to express simple, clean form.Benya adopted the International Style's hallmark steel frame/glass curtain wallconstruction most famously popularized by Mies Vander Rohe. His Gem City Savingsand Loan of 1968 is a classic example of this idiom with its delicate steel columns andlarge expanse of glass. Continuous roof /ceiling planes extend the design beyond theinterior, forming a covered colonnade on the exterior and suggesting a visual, upwardthrust.

But it was his Quincy Airport Terminal building (1969) which is most expressive of thepossibilities of steel structures to produce large open interior spaces and move fromspatial limitations of traditional architecture. The terminal's great open court with freeform "martini glass" shaped supporting columns, expressed the futuristic quality ofdesign so beloved by modernists. Benya also designed the Quincy headquarters andmanufacturing plant of the Motorola Corporation. Company officials were so pleasedwith his design that they employed him to develop and design several other plants in theUnited States and South America.

5 "John Benya, "Well-Known Quincy Architect, Dies." Quincy Herald-Whig, June 19, 1989,6 Tieken, Steven L. Telephone Interview. 8 Feburary 2007.7 Benya Obit, op cit.

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Unlike many of his contemporaries, Benya enjoyed designing private residences andrelished the challenge to produce cool, clean, sophisticated, and occasionally exotic,designs with open floor plans and an emphasis on simple and easy living. Benyaemployed fine stone and woods including pecky cypress and finely grained birch toproduce rich effects through simple, expansive spaces. His passionate interest in creatingmodem homes is evident from Quincy's Lincoln Hill Subdivision. He developed thissubdivision and designed many of its homes. Benya wanted to design or control thedesign of all structures there and the neighborhood has the greatest concentration ofBenya home designs extant. These reflect his emphasis on originality, custom design andhigh quality construction. A permanent exhibit at Quincy's Gardner Museum profiles thebreadth and depth of his work with design references from sources as diverse as Japaneseto Native American architecture, according to Steve Tieken co-curator of the exhibit.Although most of these designs follow the prevailing modem ranch house pattern, theirstructural quality, bold massing and detail mark them as far above average insophistication among their neighbors. Several of the designs, with their strong horizontalemphasis, exhibited the more dramatic elements of contemporary houses including low-pitched gable roofs with deep overhanging eaves, cathedral ceilings, clerestory windows,partially enclosed patios and large sliding glass doors.

Particularly significant among the Lincoln Hill residences is the Lawrence and LouiseCervon house of 1954-56. The Cervon House is a simple rectangular shape with adeceivingly small exterior of dressed Indiana limestone blocks and glass block wallinspired by a Japanese screen. The interior displays several types of wood including"Pine ceilings ... cypress and beautiful birdseye flaming maple paneling and oak andwhite birch cabinetry."s One of the house's two wood burning fireplaces is faced with thewhite brick popular in 1950s design. The Cervon House, like the Garvey House, has theflat roof found on Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House. Benya found sympatheticclients in the Cervons who originally sought a more traditional style. Well able to afford

8 Steven L. Tieken, John Benya, the Quintessential Modernist: The Cervon Residence, (unpublished ms.,ca. 2006)

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)



an expensive house of any style, the young couple was open to Benya's ideas aboutmodernist design and living. The Cervons owned the house until selling it to Steven andJanet Tieken in 2003.

A brief survey of Benya' s contracts for the 1950s suggests a typical profile for a Benyahouse was a well-to-do couple in their thirties, often not native to the community andseldom members of local aristocracy. At least a handful were Jewish or other non-mainline denominational Protestants. Most were intellectually curious and progressivebusinessmen.9 Many Benya clients built in Quincy's Lincoln Hill area. Benya lostfinancial and design control of Lincoln Hill by the early 1960s due to poor businessjudgment. But by this time the nearly two-dozen houses he designed in the neighborhoodset the tone for the subdivision. Other non-Benya-designed modernist ranch stylesappeared alongside only a small number of traditional revival-style houses being builtthere since.

John Benya's flamboyant personality and personal life were both a hindrance and help inhis professional career. Benya's contemporaries recalled his gregarious nature, silk suits,debonair manner and ever-present, expensive, imported cigars. He crafted an elaboratelycasual approach to selling his services, wanting always to appear to be a genius whosecreative ideas came through inspiration rather than through steady, diligent work. Aparticularly memorable incident took place during a luncheon meeting with QuincyAirport representatives who were seeking design ideas for their new terminal. Withstudied casualness Benya took up a Martini glass from the table and traced threeoverlapping circles from the base of the stemware. He appeared to have instantly"created" the design theme eventually used in the new building. In reality he had likelytaken many hours previously to formulate this design. 10

9 Tieken interview, op cit.10 ibid.

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)



Benya's sociability, personality, and sense of fun, as well as his strong Roman Catholicfaith, gave him access to many clients including the Quincy Catholic Diocese with itsnumerous construction projects. Perhaps his most well-known, and controversial, Quincyproject was St. Boniface Church of 1962, a radically modem design of marble clad wallswith a stylized steeple reminiscent of Art Deco design. A huge, cubic interior withmodernistic stained glass windows, lighting fixtures and furnishings expresses his anti-traditional bias. This was his last great building project for Quincy's powerful Bishop,Monsignor Henry Schnelton, and the project that marked the beginning of Benya'sdecline artistically and financially. Always a heavy social drinker, Benya eventually fellinto alcoholism and neglected his business. He lost ownership of an office building in1971, leaving behind four truckloads of drawings and plans recovered 25 years later. Hewas jailed for contempt of court in 1976 and "fined for non-payment of wages and in hotwater with the IRS for non-payment oftaxes."ll His declining reputation and abilitiesleft him with fewer and fewer commissions until he was reduced to effectively beggingfor work and, in one instance, designing a garage for a client.,,12

It is not known how Hugh and Jane Garvey chose John Benya as architect for their newhouse but it is possible that he was recommended to them by one of their Catholicfriends. Daughter Ann Garvey Klest remembers the Garveys' passionate involvement inthe design process. The house as completed was extremely unconventional forSpringfield, and represented an equal collaboration between architect and clients. Thekitchen was heavily influenced by Jane Garvey's ideas and the needs of a large family. Itwas the physical and social center of the house with a piano for entertainment, longcentral counter, and laundry facilities containing a laundry chute from adjoiningbathroom. There was even a drinking fountain installed to reduce the time and energy ofconstantly washing drinking glasses for so many children. Efficiency was the overridingfactor in the design of the entire house and the family found amusing comparison withthe then-popular film Cheaper by the Dozen, based on the family of efficiency expert,

1 1Edward Husar, "John A. Benya, Imaginative Modernist" Quincy Herald-Whig, October 7, 2006.12 Tieken interview, op cit.

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)



Frank Gilbreth, his wife, and their dozen children. A large kitchen chalkboard served as amessage board with information on activities for the day. Reflecting their Catholic faith,Jane Garvey always noted the feast day of the saint for that day and list of people inspecial need of prayers on the board as well. 13

The entire house was designed around ease and efficiency and took advantage of thelatest technology to accomplish that goal. Interior walls were sheathed in a compositionmaterial which was false grained and surface grooved to imitate vertical planks of wood,varying in width from three to ten inches. Aqua-colored Formica cabinet countertops, anintercom system, extension telephones in color, radio and stereo with speakers inside andout, bomb shelter, in-ground swimming pool and central air conditioning system allcontributed to the modernity and efficiency of life for occupants of the house. In additionto custom-built bookcases, the house featured built-in table and benches and built-indesks in the bedrooms. A section of the bedroom hall was lighted with a skylight over asmall oratory or place for evening prayers.

The completed house's strong design affected every family member from the first. Astandard concrete form used for roof construction was approximately three feet squareand used as a dimensional measurement throughout the design. Thereafter Hugh Garveyreferred to nearly every measurement in relation to this form, saying, for example, whenreferring to some object, "That is about three forms wide." Some of the Garvey childrenmissed the warmth and coziness of their old house. Ann Garvey Klest, speaking of thehouse's school-building-like, commercial quality, remembered that, as a child, she wasalways careful to avoid falls, because there were very few soft or forgiving surfaces onwhich to land. Comers were sharp and hard-edged. Many of the Garvey'scontemporaries were puzzled by the house's design and a stranger once asked if thehouse, with its steel frame and flat roof was a library building. Commenting on the

NPS Form 1O-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)



characteristic glass curtain wall, Klest noted ironically that, "It ended up being a glasshouse edging a golf course.,,14 On balance, however, nearly all the children agreed thehouse, with its expansive views, was a great place for watching storms. It had the appealof a tree house with its heavily wooded lot and, at the time, few neighboring houses.

The original landscape was designed by Charles Aguar, then director of the newly formedSpringfield-Sangamon County Planning Commission Plan Commission. Aguar, likemany civil servants, took extra jobs to supplement his income. The landscape retains themood envisioned by Aguar, but many original plantings have been replaced. CharlesAguar (1926-2000) was a native of Illinois and attended the University of Illinois atUrbana-Champaign, where he graduated "with the first class to receive a formal degree incity planning.,,15 He served as Springfield, Illinois' first city planner. During this time(1956-1960) he produced the Garveys' landscape design. "After planning projects inTennessee, Missouri, Illinois, and Minnesota, he came to [University of Georgia, Atlanta]in 1970 to teach in what was then the School of Environmental Design.,,16 As a memberof the Georgia Conservancy he was appointed to help determine sites for nomination ofGovernor Jimmy Carter's Georgia Heritage Trust Program. Aguar developed plans forJekyll Island State Park, "developed model city and county zoning ordinances that wereadopted by dozens of Georgia cities and counties" and became "father of our Greenwaysystem in Athens-Clarke County." He worked to preserve Sapelo Island and create theNorth Oconee River Greenway. 17He patiently pursued the Greenway project for almostthirty years and it was only a few months before his death that ground was broken for thisproject.

Aguar's landscape philosophy was based on the idea that the individual designer "wastransitioning from the traditions of gardens and residential areas to a broader perspective:

14 ibid.15 Mary Jessica Hames, "Remembering Charlie" Georgia Magazine Vol. 82 (March 2003). December2008 www.uga.edu/gm/303/FeatCharlie.html16 ibid.17 ibid.

http://www.uga.edu/gm/303/FeatCharlie.html

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)



the city." Aguar is remembered for being "on the leading edge" of environmentalstewardship. Aguar and his wife, Berdeana, collaborated on professional writingincluding "Wrightscapes" (McGraw Hill, 2002), a definitive history of Frank LloydWright's landscape designs. IS

Charles Aguar's interest in progressive, modem landscape design fitted well with theGarvey's progressive and modernist views that informed the design of their new house.Modernist landscapes of the mid-twentiethth century were the culmination of the romanticEnglish Landscape Gardening tradition with its professed imitation of nature. Thisnaturalistic style was inspired by a literary reaction against the perceived oppression ofrigid geometric style of gardening and its association with the old order. Formal gardenswere replaced with informal groves of trees, thickets of shrubbery and meandering pathsin anti-formal style. Andrew Jackson Downing and other leading designers popularizedthis style in nineteenth century America which was entrenched in American designconsciousness by the mid-twentieth century. A particular sub-style popularized in theMidwest was referred to as the Prairie Style by leading proponents including Jens Jensen,whose Lincoln Memorial Gardens in Springfield was an outstanding example ofnaturalistic landscape design. Aguar's work followed this tradition.

Aguar's plan (Figure 16) took into account an increasingly busy Chatham Road to theeast with a heavy planting of trees and shrubbery enveloping the site to act as a soundbaffle. The rectangular shapes of the house, pool and game court were softened bycurving lines of planting and tied together by a continuous strolling path encircling thelot's perimeter. The gravel path passed through a "strolling garden," "Japanese Garden,"and semi-circular graveled "play yard." Groves of shrubbery Guniper, fragrant sumac,honeysuckle, quince and holly) were placed along this path and chosen for their texture,seasonal color and fragrance. Despite changes the naturalistic quality envisioned in theoriginal plan remains.

Ann Garvey Klest remembers at least one site visit by architect Benya after the housewas completed. Hugh and Jane Garvey lived in the house for over 40 years, making

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)



minor alterations reflecting their changing needs. After the children were grown theGarveys partitioned a large, basement-level bedroom, formerly separated by slidingdivider walls, into two individual rooms. They also removed built-in desks in at least twoupstairs bedrooms. 19 The grained, composition wall panels began to delaminate by 1980and one of the Garvey sons installed wooden splines to secure them. The Garvey's tastein interior design changed over the years as well. From an all-contemporary style in 1959,they began to include many pieces of nineteenth century furniture through the years.

Despite these minor changes the Garvey House retains excellent interior and exteriorintegrity and is an outstanding example of one of the first introductions of InternationalStyle to home design in the Leland Grove, Illinois area. Overall the Garvey house andgrounds are a well-preserved example of a mid-twentieth century International Stylehouse.

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)



Banister, Fletcher. Sir Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture. New York:Scribner, 1975.

Hames, Mary Jessica. "Remembering Charlie." Georgia Magazine. 82 (March 2003),December 2008. <http://www. uga.edu/ gm/303/F eatCharlie.html.

Hussar, Edward. "John A. Benya, Imaginative Modernist." Quincy Herald-Whig 7 Oct.2006.

McAlester, Virginia, and Lee McAlester. A Field Guide to American Houses. 16th ed.New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000.

Tieken, Steven L. John Benya, the Quintessential Modernist: The Cervon Residence.Quincy: unpublished, circa 2006

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)



I.Garvey-Ferry House2. Sangamon County, Illinois3.Photographer for current photographs: Edward J. Russo, Curtis Mann, Bruce FerryPhotographers for historical photographs unknown.4. October 2007, August 2008

NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)



NPS Form 10-900-aOMB No. 1024-0018(8-86)



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From:Sent:To:Subject:

Edson _ [email protected], November 20, 2009 12:55 PMWASO [email protected]; WASO [email protected] Register Weekly List 11/20/2009

The Director of the National Parl<Service is pleased to send you the following announcementsand actions on properties for the National Register of Historic Places.For further informationcontact Edson Beall via voice(202) 354-2255, or E-mail: <[email protected]> This and past Weekly Lists are alsoavailable here: http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/nrlist.htm

National Parl<Service 2280, 8th floorNational Register of Historic Places1201 ",..(Eye) Street, NW,Washington D.C. 20005

Celebrate National American Indian Heritage Month:http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/feature/indian/lndex.htm

KEY:State, County, Property Name, Address/Boundary, City, Vicinity, Reference Number, NHL,Action, Date, MUltiple Name

ILLINOIS, FULTON COUNTY,East Waterford School,Jet. N. Dickson Mounds Rd. and the E. Prairie Rd.,Lewistown vicinity, 09000897, LISTED,11/10/09

ILLINOIS, OGLE COUNTY,Indian Statue,Lowden Memorial State Park, 1411 N. River Rd.,Oregon, 09000871, LISTED,11/05/09

ILLINOIS,SANGAMON COUNTY,Garvey, Hugh M., House,8 Fair Oaks Dr.,Leland Grove, 09000898,LISTED,11/ 10/09

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected];

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/nrlist.htm

http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/feature/indian/lndex.htm

national register of historic places -;;).3-gis.hpa.state.il.us/pdfs/223493.pdf · elevations are...

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