Edwin Hill Clark

Edwin was the youngest of four children born to a well-to-do Chicago family. His father, raised on a poor Vermont farm, became a very successful commodities broker after the Civil War. In 1889 his father quit the commodities business and took the family to live in Europe for two years. When the family returned to the United States, his father purchased the Chicago branch of the Wadsworth Holland paint company.Louis Doubrowski, "Jewel Paint in Chicago for 75 Years", Chicago Daily Tribune, March 26, 1961, p. A14 Expecting to enter the family business, after graduating from Phillips Andover Academy Edwin went on to major in chemistry at Yale in preparation to becoming the company's technical expert.The Book of Chicagoans, ed. Albert Nelson Marquis (Chicago, A.N. Marquis and Company, 1911) p. 137

Clark was a talented musician (allegedly the first person in Chicago to play the saxophone) and sculptor.June Provines, "Front Views and Profiles", Chicago Daily Tribune, Dec. 10, 1934, p. 19 His brother, Alson Skinner Clark, was an early American impressionist and went on to be one of the founders of the "California School" of en plein aire painters.Deborah Salon, An American Impressionist: The Art and Life of Alson Skinner Clark (Manchester, Hudson Hills Press, 2005)

Edwin only stayed with the paint company for three years before leaving to study drafting at the Armour Institute (now the Illinois Institute of Technology) while he was recovering from an illness (which may have resulted from lead poisoning).{{cite web| last1=Huber| first1=Louise H.| title=Residences in Lake Forest, Illinois Designed by Edwin Hill Clark, Architect| url=http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/ref/collection/lakefore001/id/172| website=Illinois Digital Archives| accessdate=10 September 2015}} He then joined the architectural firm of William A. Otis, a highly successful Winnetka-based architect.{{cite web| last1=Greenough| first1=Nan| title="O" is for Otis| url=http://winnetkahistory.org/gazette/o-is-for-otis/| website=Winnetka Historical Society| accessdate=10 September 2015}} In 1908 Otis made him a junior partner, and the partnership lasted until 1920 when Clark established his own architectural firm in an office at 8 East Huron Street in Chicago.{{cite journal| title=Personals| journal=The American Architect| date=1920| volume=117| page=830| url=https://archive.org/details/americanarchite117newyuoft| accessdate=10 September 2015}}

He continued to practice until his wife, Katharine Bayley, died in 1946. He then turned his firm over to two of his associates and limited his activities to working with his old clients and other small jobs. During his career he was associated with a number of different architects and was known for the support and help he provided young architects starting out in the profession.{{cite web| last1=Lackner| first1=Herman H.| title=Chicago Architects Oral History Project| url=http://digital-libraries.saic.edu/cdm/search/collection/caohp/searchterm/Lackner,%20Herman%20H./field/creato/mode/all/conn/and/order/intdat |website=saic.edu| publisher=Art Institute of Chicago| accessdate=21 October 2015}} For instance, he hired one of the country's first woman architects, Juliet Peddle, who spent four years with him learning the practical aspects of operating an architectural business.{{cite book| last1=Allaback| first1=Sarah| title=The First American Women Architects| date=2008| publisher=Urbana, University of Illinois Press| isbn=978-0-25203-321-6| page=169| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OpY0KmICqKYC| accessdate=21 October 2015}}

Clark's architecture has been described as eclectic, imaginative, traditional, solid, and practical. His buildings reflected a wide range of styles from English Tudor to Mediterranean and Spanish. He designed his buildings to work well for their owners and to last—demolishing one of his buildings has often turned out to be very expensive. He is mainly remembered for his residential buildings, public buildings, schools, zoo designs, and for the Thorne rooms. He also designed some commercial buildings.

He designed numerous luxurious residences, primarily in Winnetka and Lake Forest, Illinois.{{cite journal| last1=Fuller| first1=Cindy| title=Local Architect Leaves Large Legacy| journal=Winnetka Historical Society Gazette| date=2001| volume=Spring| url=http://winnetkahistory.org/gazette/909-mount-pleasant-road/| accessdate=21 October 2015}} However, his most palatial residences were Montejoli, an estate with a {{convert|10000|sqft|adj=on}} mansion, that he designed for the James Ward Thorne family (Montgomery Ward heirs) overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Santa Barbara, California, and Knollwood, a {{convert|15000|sqft|adj=on}} mansion designed for Marjorie Montgomery Ward in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.Los Angeles Times, Sunday Oct. 29, 2006, Real Estate Section, page 1 As an example of his practical innovative design, he designed some of the first houses with zoned heating in order to reduce heating costs."Reminiscent of the California Coast", Chicago Daily Tribune, Dec. 6, 1936, pg. B6.

Aside from his zoos, his best known public buildings are the Winnetka Village Hall and the Lake Forest Library.{{cite journal| last1=Sting| first1=Deborah| title=The Winnetka Village Hall| journal=Winnetka Historical Society Gazette| date=2007| volume=Fall/Winter| url=http://winnetkahistory.org/gazette/the-winnetka-village-hall/| accessdate=23 October 2015}}{{cite web| title=About the Library| url=http://www.lakeforestlibrary.org/about-the-library.html| website=Lake Forest Library| accessdate=23 October 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015062730/http://www.lakeforestlibrary.org/about-the-library.html| archive-date=15 October 2015| url-status=dead}} However, other examples include the Waveland Field House, headquarter offices (now the Cultural Center),"Offices for Lincoln Park", Chicago Daily Tribune, Nov. 28, 1926, pg. B3{{cite web| title=Directions| url=http://newleaftheatre.org/directions.php| website=New Leaf Theater| accessdate=23 October 2015}} and Woolford Tower in Lincoln Park,{{cite web| title=Buildings by Edwin H. Clark| url=http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Architecture/6/3149/Edwin-H-Clark/Architect.php| website=Chicago Architecture Info| accessdate=23 October 2015}} the Hinsdale Memorial Building,{{cite web| title=Hinsdale Historic Landmarked Properties| url=http://www.villageofhinsdale.org/history/Landmarks/19echgo-landmark.php| website=Village of Hinsdale| accessdate=23 October 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812061352/http://www.villageofhinsdale.org/history/Landmarks/19echgo-landmark.php| archive-date=12 August 2014| url-status=dead}} the Chicago Tuberculosis Sanatorium,{{cite journal| last1=Sacks, M.D.| first1=Theodore B.| title=Chicago's Plan for Municipal Control of Tuberculosis| journal=Illinois Medical Journal| volume=27| page=99| date=February 1915}}{{cite journal| journal=The Survey| title = No Title| date=Jan 30, 1915| volume=33| pages=461–462}} a tuberculosis preventorium near Lake Forest,{{cite news| title=Ridge Farm for Sick Children Plans to Expand| agency=Chicago Daily Tribune pg. B2| date=June 23, 1929}}{{cite web| title=Stirling Hall Art Center| url=http://www.cityoflakeforest.com/parks-and-recreation/stirling-hall/| website=City of Lake Forest, IL| accessdate=23 October 2015}} and an Eleanor residential hotel for women in Chicago. During the First World War he was responsible for designing and overseeing the substantial expansion of the Great Lakes Naval Station.

He designed buildings for several schools in Chicago and along the North Shore. These include the Latin School of Chicago,{{cite news| last1=Chase| first1=Al| title=Buys 7 Story Building at Franklin-Elm| issue=36| publisher=Chicago Daily Tribune| date=Oct 31, 1930}}{{cite news| title=Latin School for Girls will be Remodeled| publisher=Chicago Daily Tribune| date=May 19, 1929| page=B2}} the North Shore Country Day School,{{cite journal| last1=Hinchliff| first1=William| title=North Shore Country Day School| journal=Winnetka Historical Society Gazette| date=Fall 1998| url=http://winnetkahistory.org/gazette/north-shore-country-day-school/| accessdate=7 November 2015}} Ferry Hall School (now merged with Lake Forest Academy),{{cite news| last1=Hansen| first1=Phillip| title=Noted Girls' School to Put Up Two Buildings| agency=Chicago Daily Tribune| date=Feb 24, 1929|page=B1}} and the Greeley school in Winnetka. All are still in operation. The Greeley School (designed while he was a partner with William Otis) was innovative in terms of being designed so that it could be easily expanded (which has occurred several times) and is now the oldest public school in Winnetka.{{cite web| url=http://www.winnetka36.org/Greeley/history| website=Greeley School| title= History| accessdate=7 November 2015}}

His major zoo project was the Brookfield Zoo, operated by the Chicago Zoological Society in the suburb of Brookfield. This was the first zoo in the United States to display animals in simulated natural environments rather than behind bars. He traveled to Europe and studied a number of zoos there to gain inspiration and study the practical aspects of this innovative design approach (for instance how deep the moats had to be and what slope had to be applied to the floors of the enclosures to keep the animals from leaping out). He also designed buildings at the National Zoological Park in Washington, DC, and at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.{{cite web| title=Historic American Buildings Survey| url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/dc/dc1000/dc1027/data/dc1027data.pdf| website=Library of Congress| publisher=National Park Service| accessdate=7 November 2015}}{{cite web| title=Then and Now| url=http://www.lpzoo.org/magazine/articles/then-and-now| website=Lincoln Park Zoo| accessdate=7 November 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151220224650/http://www.lpzoo.org/magazine/articles/then-and-now| archive-date=20 December 2015| url-status=dead}}

He did not design many commercial buildings, but one of his most successful projects was the Spanish Court, now called the Plaza del Lago, on the north side of Wilmette, Illinois.{{cite book| last1=Shea| first1=Robert| title=From No Man's Land to Plaza Del Lago| date=1987| publisher=Chicago: American References Pub. Corp.| isbn=0913765082}} This was the second shopping center built in the United States designed for cars, with the shops clustered around compact parking areas. It included an ornate classic movie theater that could seat 1,300 people, with a large organ to accompany silent films.{{cite web| title=Teatro del Lago| url=http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/4494| website=Cinema Treasures| accessdate=7 November 2015}} This theater has since been demolished, but the rest of the plaza has been refurbished and continues to be successful.{{cite web| title=Plaza del Lago| url=http://www.plazadelago.com/| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010305004434/http://www.plazadelago.com/| url-status=usurped| archive-date=March 5, 2001| website=Plaza del Lago| accessdate=7 November 2015}}

He was at loose ends during the 1930s because of the severe downturn in housing and other construction.{{cite journal| last1=Nicholas| first1=Tom| last2=Scherbina| first2=Anna| title=Real Estate Prices During the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression| journal=Real Estate Economics| date=2013| volume=41| issue=2| pages=276–309| doi=10.1111/j.1540-6229.2012.00346.x| s2cid=155387562| url=http://www.people.hbs.edu/tnicholas/anna_tom.pdf| accessdate=7 November 2015}} During this period, Narcissa Niblack Thorne hired him to design some of the original Thorne box rooms, a collection of 68 miniature rooms reflecting a wide range of different architectural styles, that are now on display at the Art Institute of Chicago and several other locations. The rooms and all of their contents were meticulously designed and built at a scale of one inch to one foot.{{cite book| last1=Boyer| first1=Bruce Hatton| title=Miniature Rooms: The Thorne Rooms at the Art Institute of Chicago| date=2004| publisher=Art Institute of Chicago, distributed by Yale University Press| isbn=0865592128}}

Clark died in 1967 at the age of 89. He was remembered for his sense of humor and his quiet, reserved kindness.{{cite web| last1=Lackner| first1=Herman| title=Interview with Herman H. Lackner by Betty J. Blum| url=http://digital-libraries.saic.edu/cdm/search/collection/caohp/searchterm/Lackner,%20Herman%20H./field/creato/mode/all/conn/and/order/intdat| website=Art Institute of Chicago| accessdate=7 November 2015}}

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Category:1878 births

Category:1967 deaths

Category:Architects from Chicago