Property Record
9353 COTTAGE ROW
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Cranbrook Craig |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 48329 |
| Location (Address): | 9353 COTTAGE ROW |
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| County: | Door |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | Gibraltar |
| Unincorporated Community: | Fish Creek |
| Town: | 31 |
| Range: | 27 |
| Direction: | E |
| Section: | 29 |
| Quarter Section: | |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: |
| Year Built: | 1898 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1992 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Craftsman |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Stucco |
| Architect: | Louis LaBeaume |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | #650: Stone fence and pumphouse, gar-NC. Historical Background This is the main house of the Crunden family complex which included two houses, a tennis court, ice house [not extant], play house, and many stone landscape features. Elizabeth Chittenden Crunden and her husband Frank commissioned Louis LaBeaume, architect of St. Louis, to design this house. The Crundens were from St. Louis and it is not inconceivable that they knew LaBeaume socially and perhaps had used his services previously in thie home city. LaBeaume also designed the houses at 9267 Cottage Row [35-15] for Elizabeth Crunden's daughter. Born in St. Louis, Louis LaBeaume (1873-1960) studied at Columbia University and abroad. He first established practice in Boston before returning to St. Louis in 1902 to work on designs for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition 91904). Following the Fair, he opened the office of Mariner and LaBeaume which was succeeded by LaBeaume & Klein. He served as a member of the City planning Commission (1914-1916), the Plaza Commission (1925-1940) and the Board of Control of the City Art Museum (1916-1941). An outspoken critic and author on various architectural topics, LaBeaume published a series of four articles in the Journal of the American Institute of Architects in 1924-25. Drawn from sensitive observations and a study of architecture while touring Spain, the articles reveal LaBeaume's fascination with the exotic and unfamiliar character of Spain's Medieval and Renaissance heritage - a blend of Moorish, Mudejar, and European traditions. Employees of various LaBeaume partnerships maintain that he never actually designed anything but rather landed the commissions. Apparently, he was quite a character. LaBeaume was quite well-connected socially, and was from an old St. Louis family of French ancestry. He was president of the local chapter of the AIA in 1918 and 1920. He was also first vice president of the national AIA in 1935 and 1936. He was a self-described artist and writer, and wrote lavish plays. Frank Payne Crunden wsa born in St. Louis in 1859. His parents were English. He married Elizabeth Chittenden of Iowa in the 1870s. In 1876 he bagan work in the woodenware business for Udell Schmieding and Company. He began his own woodenware businesses Crunden Martin Woodenware in 1888. One one of the products was Diamond paper bags. He was also President of Conzelman Crunden Company, Bowman Stamping Company, and Vice President of Swayzee Glass Company. In St. Louis, the Crundens lived on Westminster Place, in an area which is currently a National Register Historic District. Elizabeth Chittenden Crunden was legendary on Cottage Row. She had a passion for building, and particularly for masonry. She purchased a stone quarry on the outskirts of Fish Creek to supply her damand for stone. The stone walls, benches, stairs, and grottos along Cottage Row were all influence dby, if not built for, Mrs. Crunden. She employed Henry Eckert as her property's caretaker, and found in him a talented stone mason. During the height of the Depression, she proposed to the town that they improve Sunset Park with stone walls and benches constructed by out of work local laborers. Apparently, she planned the park, and provided midday meals to the workers. She also maintained her family's consistent visits to Fish Creek, and was responsible for attracting other St. Louis families to Cottage Row. Mrs. Curnden not only had the locally renowned stonemason Henry Eckert in her employ, but a host of others at various times. These included Eddy Henry, carpenter who came daily for three years, an interior decorator (name unknown, lived with the Crundens for a summer) and Loretta Churches, a local seamstress who came daily for the same summer that the interior decorator was there. The well run household was managed by Mrs. Crunden, but heavily depended on the battalion of servants. In particular, an African-American couple Oscar and Mary. Oscar was the butler, and Mary was the cook. They were with the family for thirty years. Oscar and Mary lived across Cottage Row in a house that was built for them [house largely reconstructed, only foundation original: 9360 Cottage Row, 36/7]. Oscar's sister Ida, who did the ironing and serving, and several young nieces of Mary's who also served and in general rounded out the staff also lived there. While many on Cottage row shopped at the grocery stores in town, Mrs. Crunden had her staple goods shipped up from Milwaukee and major meat sent from Green Bay. For fresh goods she set off daily with Oscar to local farms. She also stoped at the commercial fishing dock in Fish Creek and got fresh fish. This house belonged to Mrs. Crunden's daughter Mary Cole, and was later sold to Robert West. It is presently owned by Mrs. Sidney Harris, widow of the Chicago Tribune columnist. Historical Significance As with the other summer residences on Cottage Row, this property represents the pattern of living of wealthy urban midwesterners seeking to escape the heat of the cities. Mothers and children would spend the entire summer in Fish creek, while the fathers would visit as their business schedules would allow. In some cases, several generations and family branches would share the same house. Architectural Description This house, designed by Louis LaBeaume, is Elizabethan Revival in overall stylistic influence. It appears that the house as it stands today is very different from the original construction in the late 1890s. It is well known in the family that Mrs. Crunden had a passion for making changes to her house.i The house itself bears this out. The massing of the house as originally constructed is somewhat obscured by years of enthusiastic alterations. The main block, a simple side gable structure clad primarily in wood shingles, is not unlike many of the neighboring "cottages", and is "rustic" in overall feel. The later gabled dormers and wings carry the Tudor-effect half-timbering and stucco. Stylistically, this is logical, as the Tudor became enormously popular after the turn-of-the-century, rather than before it. Architect Louis LaBeaume may have been as involved in the additions as he was in the original design of the house, as indicated by the design of the George. W. Sutherland Residence in St. Louis County, Missouri, built in 1927, designed by the firm of LaBeaume and Klein, St. Louis. Under the eaves of the asphlat-clad multi-gable roof, the walls are half-timbered and stucco. The walls of the first and second stories are painted wood shingle. Some of the second story walls are also half-timbered and stucco. The house rests on a handsome fieldstone foundation. The fenestration pattern varies throughout the house. In the main block the larger windows are and ususual six-over-two dougle-hung wood sash, found in singles and pairs, and smaller windows are multi-pane fixed sash. In addition, windows on the second floor are multi-pane casements. Architectural Significance The home was only intended for summer use. It is an example of the work of Louis LaBeaume, architect of St. Louis, Missouri. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. Archibald Douglass Cottage Row Building List. B. Betsy Guenzel, Fish Creek, The Summertime, privately printed, 1991. C. Betsy Guenzel, September 2, 1992 interivew with Rebecca Sample Bernstein, White Gull Inn, Fish Creek. D. "Beaumont Medical Building, 3714-26 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri" National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form. Copyright 1983, Landmarks Association of St. Louis, Inc. E. Carolyn Toft, Landmarks Association of St. Louis, interview with Rebecca Sample Bernstein, 10 December, 1992. F. Betsy Guenzel, Grey Walls Remember, typed manuscript, author's loan to Rebecca Sample Bernstein. G. John Albury Bryan. Missouri's Contribution to American Architecture, A History of the Architectural Achievements in this State from the Time of the Earliest Settlements Down to the Present Year. (St. Louis ARchitectural Club, St. Louis Missouri) 1928. p. 259. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |