Inventing the New American House: Howard Van Doren Shaw, Architect

A timely reappraisal of the importance of Howard Van Doren Shaw, a country house architect better known in his day than Frank Lloyd Wright but now an obscure figure.

Born in 1869, Shaw practiced in and around Chicago in the first three decades of the twentieth century, working for the leading industrialists of that period, including Reuben H. Donnelley of printing fame, newspaper giant Joseph Medill Patterson, Edward Foster Swift, the meat king, and Edward L. Ryerson of Ryerson Steel. Working in a traditional mode based on English and Italian precedents, Shaw designed substantial houses in prosperous communities, including Lake Geneva and Highland Park. He was principally responsible for the development of the new and fashionable suburb of Lake Forest. Like many traditional architects practicing today, Shaw was especially skilled at adapting historic precedents to suit contemporary living, in particular the easy flow of interior space that became a design hallmark of the period for traditionalists and modernists alike.