Jan 18, 1978
National Register of Historic Places - Bernard Corrigan House (Corrigan, Bernard, Residence /Sutherland, Robert, Residence)
Statement of Significant: The Kansas City residence which Louis S. Curtiss designed for Bernard Corrigan is both architecturally and structurally noteworthy. Curtiss, a major figure among Kansas City architects from the 1890's until the First World War, was at the peak of his career when chosen by Corrigan, a prominent and wealthy business- man, as the architect for his home. Erected in 1912-13, the Corrigan Residence is located in an area which would soon become one of the most prestigious residential districts of the city. The Corrigan Residence is generally considered Curtiss' residential masterpiece. An amalgamation of styles, it effectively recapitulates many of the themes of architectural thought current at the time. The impression of horizontality, given by long rows of windows set in stone facades, by low-pitched hip roofs with over- hanging eaves, by terraces and balconies juxtaposed on primary exteriors reflects the influences of Frank Lloyd Wright and other Prairie School architects. In addition, the increasing interest in Japanese forms and styles, intensified as in- formation about Japan became more abundant in the West during the last quarter of the nineteenth century, seems to have affected Curtiss' design: the strong muntin’s and vertical stripping framing the horizontal configuration of the windows, the shape of the concrete brackets supporting the roof eaves, and, especially, the pergolalike structures, suggestive of a Japanese torii, attached to the east wing. The rectangular massing of the Corrigan Residence, cleanly proportioned and geo- metrically austere, is lightened by the ornate and fanciful stained glass of the windows and is tempered by the carved masonry ornamentation of the facades. The wisteria motif of the stained glass and the stylized facsimile of the plant in stone epitomize Art Nouveau's emphasis on dynamic, curvilinear movement, fluid and sinuous like Nature herself, and illustrate the inspiration which the Art Nouveau movement gave Curtiss, both directly and as filtered through the works of others, especially Sullivan, Wright, and Louis Comfort Tiffany. More reminiscent of the work of Mackintosh in Scotland and Hoffman and Loos on the Continent is the wrought iron grillwork of stairways, terraces, and balconies and the incised stonework unframing windows and ornamenting piers and spandrels. Structurally significant also, the Corrigan Residence was one of the earliest residential buildings in Kansas City to make extensive use of reinforced concrete; contemporary newspaper accounts emphasize that both material and construction made the house virtually fireproof.
National Register of Historic Places - Bernard Corrigan House (Corrigan, Bernard, Residence /Sutherland, Robert, Residence)
Statement of Significant: The Kansas City residence which Louis S. Curtiss designed for Bernard Corrigan is both architecturally and structurally noteworthy. Curtiss, a major figure among Kansas City architects from the 1890's until the First World War, was at the peak of his career when chosen by Corrigan, a prominent and wealthy business- man, as the architect for his home. Erected in 1912-13, the Corrigan Residence is located in an area which would soon become one of the most prestigious residential districts of the city. The Corrigan Residence is generally considered Curtiss' residential masterpiece. An amalgamation of styles, it effectively recapitulates many of the themes of architectural thought current at the time. The impression of horizontality, given by long rows of windows set in stone facades, by low-pitched hip roofs with over- hanging eaves, by terraces and balconies juxtaposed on primary exteriors reflects the influences of Frank Lloyd Wright and other Prairie School architects. In addition, the increasing interest in Japanese forms and styles, intensified as in- formation about Japan became more abundant in the West during the last quarter of the nineteenth century, seems to have affected Curtiss' design: the strong muntin’s and vertical stripping framing the horizontal configuration of the windows, the shape of the concrete brackets supporting the roof eaves, and, especially, the pergolalike structures, suggestive of a Japanese torii, attached to the east wing. The rectangular massing of the Corrigan Residence, cleanly proportioned and geo- metrically austere, is lightened by the ornate and fanciful stained glass of the windows and is tempered by the carved masonry ornamentation of the facades. The wisteria motif of the stained glass and the stylized facsimile of the plant in stone epitomize Art Nouveau's emphasis on dynamic, curvilinear movement, fluid and sinuous like Nature herself, and illustrate the inspiration which the Art Nouveau movement gave Curtiss, both directly and as filtered through the works of others, especially Sullivan, Wright, and Louis Comfort Tiffany. More reminiscent of the work of Mackintosh in Scotland and Hoffman and Loos on the Continent is the wrought iron grillwork of stairways, terraces, and balconies and the incised stonework unframing windows and ornamenting piers and spandrels. Structurally significant also, the Corrigan Residence was one of the earliest residential buildings in Kansas City to make extensive use of reinforced concrete; contemporary newspaper accounts emphasize that both material and construction made the house virtually fireproof.
Jan 18, 1978
Posted Date
Aug 17, 2023
Historical Record Date
Jan 18, 1978
Source Name
National Register of Historic Places
