| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office.
The former J.D.R. Steven House sits prominently at the top of a sloped site in Eau Claire's west side residential section. Although the principal access to the house is from Hudson Street on the south, the building's "best side" faces east across a broad lawn. Horizontality is established in the overall form with short, one story brick arms extending out at all compass points from the two story core. Wide eaves overhang the walls from the gablet roofs over the second story and north, south, and east arms, and over the small projecting bay on the east side. Asbestos shingles now replace the original red cedar shingles. Windows are grouped in Prairie School fashion; horizontal muntins divide narrow easements flanking large plates of glass or used in multiples. Short interior chimneys rise from the ends of the ridge of the second story roof, the longer one marking the location of the central hearth.
Alterations have been limited to the concrete garage in the basement, and new plumbing fixtures in the bathroom.
Original owner, J.D.R. Steven (1872-1951) was born in New Brunswick, Canada, and became an Eau Claire resident at the age of 17 when he moved to the city with his mother and sister. After working for some years in a management position in the area's lumbering industry and organizing the Steven & Jarvis Lumbering Company in 1907, he eventually rose to presidency and principal ownership of the Eau Claire Book & Stationary Company.
Designed in the formative years of the partnership of William Gray Purcell (1880-1965) and George Feick, Jr. (1881-1945), the J.D.R. Steven Home figures significantly in the dissemination of the Prairie School Style. Associating shortly after Purcell's term of employment in the office of Louis Sullivan, together Purcell and Feick launched the reputation as one of the Midwest's leading twentieth century firms. In the same year that the Steven House was designed, George Elmslie (1871-1952) joined the partnership which was to grow even larger than that of Frank Lloyd Wright.
The Steven House was cited by Prairie School scholar, H. Allen Brooks, for the "seminal importance" of the plan, which was to be used in later commissions. The cruciform arrangement of living spaces around a free-standing fireplace allowed an open flow of interior spaces without the loss of the separation of functions. The simplicity of both exterior and interior design, based on the contrast of cream-colored surfaces with warmer brick, birch, poplar, oak, and maple, makes the house a classic in residential design as well as in historical style.
2016- "This house was designed by Purcell and Feick of Minneapolis. Its living spaces are arranged around a central hearth, which emphasized the open floor plan. Low-pitched roofs, projecting porches, simplified leaded glass windows and low horizontal lines meant to blend with the surrounding landscape are typical of Prairie School houses.
J.D.R. Steven was part owner of the Eau Claire Book and Stationary Company."
-"Eau Claire Landmarks: Designated Historic Properties in Eau Claire, Wisconsin", Eau Claire Landmarks Commission, P.O. Box 5148, 2016. |
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