7121 S Paxton Ave
Chicago, IL 60649, USA

Allan Miller House - National Register of Historic Places

Statement of Significance:

The Allan Miller House is significant under Criterion C both as a work of noted architect John Van Bergen, and as an excellent example of Prairie School residential architecture.

By the time construction began on the Miller House in May 1915, the South Shore neighborhood was in the midst of great expansion. While the first settlement of South Shore began with an influx of German farmers in the 1860's, the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad station at 71st and Jeffery Boulevard in 1881 (4 blocks from the Miller House) opened the area to concerted development. The real building boom in South Shore, however, began shortly after the turn of the century. Between 1905 and 1929, 24,193 of area's 26,708 dwelling units were constructed.1 The Bryn Mawr section of South Shore, in which the Miller House stands, was developed as an enclave of single-family residences and small apartment buildings amid a neighborhood dominated by mid-size apartment buildings.

The building permit for the Miller House lists John Van Bergen as the architect, N.A. Fellinger as the builder, and notes that the house was completed on January 22, 1916 at a cost of $5,000. 2 Little is known about Van Bergen's client, Allan Miller. In 1911 and 1912 he worked as an independent advertising agent in Chicago and lived on Chicago's South Side. Miller joined the Meyer & Both Company, a local engraving and advertising publishing firm, as director and Secretary in 1914. That same year he moved to the South Shore neighborhood, a few blocks from 7121 Paxton. Miller continued at Meyer & Both during his residence in the Van Bergen designed house (1916-1923). Miller's whereabouts after 1923 are not known.

Van Bergen's commission to design the Miller House came in the early years of his independent architectural career. John S. Van Bergen (1885-1969) was a native of Oak Park, lllinois. His architectural career began with an apprenticeship under Walter Burley Griffin, who had earlier served as Frank Lloyd Wright's chief draftsman. In 1909 Van Bergen joined Wright's studio in Oak Park and oversaw many of the Wright Studio's last commissions. For example, Van Bergen supervised completion of the Mrs. Thomas H. Gale House (Oak Park, 1909), the rectilinear geometry of which seems to have influenced Van Bergen's later independent work.4 After Wright closed his studio that fall, Van Bergen went to work for William Drummond (who had himself spent many years in the Wright Studio). Van Bergen stayed with Drummond until he got his license in the summer of 1911, and opened an office of his own in Oak Park.

In the early years of Van Bergen's solo practice the influence of his teachers, particularly Wright, is readily apparent. Many of Van Bergen's designs between 1911 and 1930 were based on Wright's design for "A Fireproof House for $5000", which appeared in the Ladies Home Journal in 1907 5 • The "Fireproof House" is a two-story cube with cantilevered slab roof. A small entry porch extends out from the cube on the left. In the original design a long-trellised walkway further extends the entry area. The first-floor interior plan is a series of open rooms which revolve around a central hearth. Among Van Bergen's modifications to Wright's basic design were the elimination of the long-trellised entry way, and the addition of a porch opposite the entry to "provide useful living space which functionally enlarges and breaks the confines of the cube" 6. These design features as well as the use of stucco e:1eriors and contrasting wood banding as trim, which Muggenberg notes in relation to Van Bergen's designs for Mrs. Charles Yerkes House (Oak Park, 1912) and the Robert N. Erskine House (Oak Park, 1913), are also features of the Miller House. Other Van Bergen designs of the same period which derive from the Fireproof House include the Albert H. and Mrs. R.D. Manson Houses (Oak Park, 1913) and the Philip Greiss House (Oak Park, 1914).

Another feature of the Miller house which illustrates its similarity to Van Bergen's other designs of the period is its staircase. Muggenberg notes that "[t)he stairs in Van Bergen houses were always more than just vertical connections between floors. They became important design features, quite wide and formal with large windows often introduced at the intermediate landing" (p.11). This description seems to fit the design of the Miller House staircase well.

In addition to the lineage of the Miller House in Wright's "Fireproof House", certain elements of the Miller House may have been influenced by Van Bergen's other teachers as well. The hearth in the Miller House is almost identical in design and materials to Walter Burley Griffin's hearth design for the Frederick B. Carter House of Evanston, Illinois (1909).8 During Van Bergen's stint with Drummond, Drummond was building his own River Forest house also based on Wright's "Fireproof House" design (Drummond House, River Forest, 1910). The placement and height of the fireside bench in the Drummond House is highly reminiscent of that which appeared later in Van Bergen's commission for Allan Miller.

Overall, the Allan Miller House seems both in keeping with Van Bergen's other designs of the period, and a record of the architect's professional heritage and future development.

When the Miller house was constructed in 1915, the Prairie School architectural movement was at it zenith. In addition to its direct connection to the "Fireproof House" design, the Miller House also exemplifies the basic design features of the Prairie School in general. Prairie School architecture, which had been inspired by Louis B. Sullivan, but carried to its height by his proteges, (Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Burley Griffin, William Drummond, and John Van Bergen among them) was characterized by strong horizontal lines, simplicity of decoration, a sense of open space, and a preference for natural materials and colors.

In its e: 1erior, the Miller House incorporates the design features commonly used by the Prairie school to accomplish these objectives: cantilevered slab roof, banded windows, lateral porches, rough-sawn stained wood trim and tinted stucco. The Miller House also includes the single ornamental feature of Prairie School design - leaded glass windows.

Common interior design elements of the Prairie School are also evident in the Miller House. The interior first floor plan is a series of open rooms which revolve around a central hearth. The screened porch is accessed by French doors from both the living and dining rooms, opening the interior to exterior space. In order to economize on the limited interior space, Van Bergen included built-in furniture (a fireside bench and bookcase, China closets in the dining room, an armoire in the master bedroom). Dark birch-wood trim which runs throughout every room a foot down from the ceiling reinforces the horizontal dimension and accentuates the continuity of the interior space. The rough sand plaster of the interior walls carries out the theme of naturalistic materials.

The Miller House today stands virtually as it did upon its completion in 1916. There have been no modifications to the exterior. The original tinted stucco has never been painted, and the wood trim remains stained dark brown. On the interior, the only modifications have been to the kitchen, which had been remodeled on three occasions. However, three of the original kitchen cabinets remain intact. The house still contains its original lighting and plumbing fixtures.

In addition to its near mint condition, the Miller house is the only Van Bergen building known to exist in Chicago. Most of Van Bergen's residential commissions of the period are located in the suburbs North and West of Chicago (such as Oak Park, River Forest, Winnetka, Wilmette and Highland Park). The Miller House is one of only two known Van Bergen residences in Chicago. The other Van Bergen designed residence in Chicago was the William M. Webster House (5730 North Sheridan, 1913), which has been demolished. Van Bergen was also commissioned to design two other structures in Chicago, the Columbus Park Pavilion and Boathouse (1920) which was never constructed, and the Chicago Monroe St. Yacht Club (c. 1930-1940). The original Yacht Club building had been totally obscured by remodeling.