Scope and Content"Raising the Bedrooms: The Alvord-Vosburgh" Cottage Pair by George M. Clark Part One Among the earliest of the Douglas lake shore cottages are those at 310 and 332 Lake Shore Drive with the family labels Clark-Richards and Clark-Fuller. l First owners William R. Vosburgh (310) and John W. Alvord (332) were apparently caught up in the momentum to build "Michigan Cottages" in the dunes a few lots north of a trio of University of Kansas faculty members. But Vosburgh, from Oak Park, and Alvord from Chicago, were less comfortable with the midwestern rural one story open central great room arrangement,2 than the Kansans, and chose instead to erect two-story summer residences on the neighboring 75-foot wide parcels. But neither were they driven to build similarly. Vosburgh turned pragmatically to the Sears Roebuck catalog of stock designs available on a mail order basis, and the Alvords were happy with recognizably Gothic Revival designs then being published by late Victorian architects. The Alvord Schedule There was undoubtedly great optimism as to how rapidly things would proceed once the design had been decided and the orders placed. But transportation to Douglas was then somewhat slow, and shipping materials from Chicago was really only available by steamer across the lake. Thus, although the date of contract between John Alvord and builder A. L. Weed, can be see as June 14, 1900, the project was enough delayed that Alvord's survey of surfaces ready for painting is dated April 28, 1903.3 It is noted that Dr. Edward Bartow (moved from University of Kansas to University of Iowa), one of the earliest Michigan Cottage builders, was a witness to the Alvord-Weed contract signing, but whether Mr. Weed was also his builder is not certain. It seems quite possible that early trial of some of the features of the ordered Alvord blueprints produced rejections (plans as ordered in Figure 1), and thus additional time towards realization (Plans as built in Figure 2). By comparison, first Vosburgh usage (310) is reported as July l, 1900. Indeed, through the minutes of worship services left by Mrs. Annie J. Vosburgh, one can learn of the use of both cottages for Sunday services and meetings. The interior of the Alvord cottage was finished enough to function in this regard although not yet painted. A real chapel was finished in 1904. [figures 1 and 2] The Alvord Plans It is interesting to compare the original blueprint plans, which were the basis of the contract between john Alvord and A. L. Weed, and what was actually built at some point later. One can surmise that reference to "Back P" estimate for paint materials in 1903 means that the two-story back porch 4 had been added during the project, and also the front (lake side) second story bay extension converting a roofed balcony into a third (barely minimum) bedroom with portholes as end windows. Although both cottages have one dimension which subdivides into a shorter kitchen dimension and a longer living room plus stair dimension (extending full width). Alvord's design turns the shorter dimension of the living room towards the lake, and assigned a "verandah" (front entrance) to the north half of the side. Alvord's plan called for both an end window and an ornate plate glass window to the southwest through which one viewed about half of the Vosburgh two-story north side. Apparently to compensate for this limited lake view, an impressively large verandah addition to the north with a trellis-like overhead structure came into being with a width to accommodate a row of west-facing deck chairs, and a length exceeding the 24 foot cottage length. In the overall composition, this long portico became the most attractive architectural element when viewed from the beach, and for visiting guests passing it to the entrance it seemed to promise an equally imposing interior. What one finds insides is the 19 x 14 foot living room, an 8 x 10 foot kitchen, and the first floor of the 10 x 16 foot porch (which became the dining space and game room after it was glassed in). Upstairs, that porch enclosure became a sleeping porch to replace lost area of the original north bedroom due to moving the stair and providing a connecting hallway. Addition of the bathroom (with another porthole window) followed shortly. 5 Planning adjustments notwithstanding, the final architectural effect is consistently charming, suggesting that the Alvords were intent on carrying out the fanciful details of the ordered plans, and adding reminders of a steamer trip abroad where those styles were found. In addition to the round windows, resources were found for stained glass panels as transoms (unfortunately painted over in the kitchen for more than 75 years). A floorless "Juliet" balcony off the peak of the south-facing bedroom, and an awning roof below, are thoughtfully placed. A 1930s era Douglas postcard shows the four parallel foot bridges which cross the ravine between the road and the row of dunes at 296, 310, 332, and 364 Lake Shore Drive. The Alvord bridge is not only a double-cantilever span (like the Firth of Forth bridge) but was (and still should be) constructed of stripped trunks and branches. The bridge is an outstanding candidate for restoration to the Alvord concept. --- Footnotes for Part One: 1 Lane, Kit History of Western Alleges County (Curbs Media) 1988. The Clarks are not related, 310 (and 308) having been acquired by the Dr. George L. Clark family from Urbana, Illinois in 1944, while 332 (and 334) came into the Watt family through Lucy (a faculty member at Miami University in Ohio), who was the niece of John Alvord's second wife. Following Lucy were heiress nieces including Josephine Watt Clark (married to William Clark of St. Louis). "Josie's" grown children Ken Clark and Chris Fuller are the sign-identified owners. 2 Schmiechen, James Raising the Roof' The Architecture of Saugatuck Area... (Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society: Douglas) 1999. It could be argued that 75 feet would be a tight fit for the 60 foot width of the "Michigan Cottage" which is the case study subject of the cited book and 1999 exhibit of the Museum. This fact would not apply in the case of the exclusion of the side porches. In fact, on the lot next south of 310 an exemplary Michigan Cottage was built in about 1901 by Lindsay Woodcock of Chicago (general manager of Marshall Field's). It stands today at 298 and is owned by the daughters of Max and Lela Paris, the last purchasers in the early sixties. (The correct first name of the latest buyer of 298 is Maurice Paris, originally of Saugatuck, now deceased.) 3 Clark Family Archives (unpublished) This listing includes the unusual painting of 1 800 square feet of roof shingles and, mysteriously, also includes a precise date for repainting in 1911 -- eight years ahead. 4 J. Clark, ibid. Alvord lists the porch size as 8 x 12 feet, perhaps denoting a further upward sizing to the existing 10 x 16 feet. The roof pattern of the northeast corner hints at these successive changes. 5 Clark, G. "Re-Raising the Roof: updating the Michigan Cottage" in Raising the Roof, One theory is that the delays allowed John Alvord, a capable engineer by profession, to incorporate the first inside bathroom/septic system into cottage construction of the initial boom years. We know that he and William Vosburgh were instrumental in the establishment and maintenance of the water distribution system during this period. Another clue is his choice of orientation of the 10 x 16 foot dining porch to the east (the probable outhouse location of nearly every preceding cottage). George M. Clark is Professor Emeritus in Architecture from Ohio State University and co-owner of 308 and 310 with brother Ralph and sister Carolyn Richards. A second installment on the Vosburgh plans will appear in the next issue. --------------------- Part Two In an earlier issue, the development of the existing lake shore cottages at numbers 310 and 332 was begun by tracing the schedule of construction of the Alvord cottage at 332 from 1899 through. 1903 and beyond. Due to the rather primitive sanitation conditions at the start of the cottage building "boom" years, alterations would be made after only a few years to bring them to environmental standards which they experienced in their Oak Park, Chicago, and college town homes. such improvements were the basis for updating both the neighboring two-story cottages in this discussion, The Vosburgh Schedule Unlike the Alvord House, the original plans ordered by William R. Vosburgh from the Sears, Roebuck catalogue of pre-cut rural home designs are not available, but reports indicate that Sears was studying the means to market a standard two-story hip-roofed model as a cottage, and offered -- probably through Hines Lumber Co. in Chicago -- to let Vosburgh become "test buyers," perhaps for a price consideration. All this was realized by July l, 1900. It is known that the Vosburgh Cottage was doubling by 1901 as an amazingly crowded Sunday School for the devout Oak Park Presbyterians led by William Vosburgh and his wife, Annie. There is a photo of the north approach to the front porch of their two-story Sears-designed shingled cottage showing 75 students. Given the somehow-seated arrangement of this number of bodies throughout the 22' by 22' main area of the first floor on the bad weather Sundays each person could occupy only seven square feet average and the group supplied a "live load" total of 7500 pounds Significantly, the updating of this cottage has included the rebuilding of the floors after years of excess structural shakiness.3 Temporary relief came in 1904 when the Lake Shore Chapel was built, but the addition of a second full bath in the Vosburgh's southeast second story did nothing to alleviate the need for structural enhancement. As Built Plan and Shortly After Figure 1 shows the simplicity of the original design, which has subsequently received additions. Both front and rear porches have been enclosed as, respectively, living and dining spaces. The original first floor bath was carved out of the south end of the kitchen and was accessible only from the open porch. Until the full-width front porch was screened, the living room had an enviable view of the lake through double-hung windows to the west and four more in a bay window to the north, clear of the Alvords' front due to the slight northeast slope of the lake shore (cottages and lots were aligned east-west). The carefully-crafted bead-board ceiling of the porch remains in as good condition today as it was in the unscreened background of the 1903 Sunday School photo. Another lasting feature of the Vosburgh stock plan is the hip roof peak ventilator cupola -- providing convection cooling by means of inside pulleys and hopper doors on four sides while giving the farmhouse profile an Italianate appearance. Satellites In 1905, reportedly, the Vosburghs decided to add 308, a mere cabin originally, to the dune above and 35 feet behind the main cottage. This move was inspired and made possible by Alvord's probable 1903-04 addition of inside plumbing as part of his delayed cottage completion, including the water and septic systems. Vosburgh apparently matched his neighbor's modernization by including an operating bathroom in the ample basement space under the satellite cottage. It was placed neatly under the 8' by 8' (original) lean-to kitchen on the east on the backside slope of the dune. [Figure 3] As can be seen in Figure 3, the plan of this little house was 16' x 18' (plus kitchen and front porch) divided into a pair of bunk rooms and a living-dining half. The 6 in 12 gabled roof with 2' overhangs on four sides spanned the 16' dimension without ceiling joists (children gleefully still see over the top of the partition from the top bunks). Fortunately the intersecting front porch and rear kitchen roofs supply the lateral stability for the untrussed rafters (which are 2 x 4s at 24" centers). The use of casement windows gives the whole an Arts and Crafts flavor with very little craftsman detail.4 Updating In recent years the front porch has been enclosed under the ample existing roof as a living room, and the former "great" room half has been assigned to dining and larger kitchen space. With reorientation of the "main" entrance to the ravine on the back side of the dunes, a third bedroom has been added to the south. Whether the Vosburghs used this satellite for rental is not clear, but the next owners, the Burns family, certainly did, since they had added an earlier bedroom and half bath (with maid's room underneath) to the north and east in the 1930s. Completion of the full upper bath and modernization of the old lower bath are now realized. An Alvord cottage satellite was added after World War II to provide then-owner Lucy Watt a summer stay while the original cottage was primarily rented out. It bears the number 334 and appears to be a National Homes prefab. Both "compounds" have installed laundries in the available lower levels. [Figure 4] Alvord cottage ----------------- Footnotes for part 2 1 Budd, N. J. Lake Shone Chapel, 1904-197. There were members of other denominations included, such as Congregational minister Harold Sayles of Oak Park. 2 Ibid This photo was taken by 19-year-old Earl Fowler, collected by Lucy Watt, and featured in the cited work, complete with a guide to all persons known to be present. 3 Original floor beams were only 5 1/2" deep for spanning about 14' and were 3 feet apart because of the coffered ceiling effect desired. By today's codes they would be allowed to carry only 20 pounds per square foot. (Residential loading is 35 pounds per square foot for joists 4 There is evidence that in the framing the Vosburghs used preassembled panels for the building of the satellite cottage (ala Sears, Roebuck methods once again). Notes written o; the parts in Dutch were visible for years. 5 The author has asked the KLSWA and Douglas to remove an unsightly and illegal surface storm drain which now ruins the beauty of the ravine view from the new orientation It is on the property of the next lot south (298) and was apparently installed without obtaining an easement from the owner.