The Rev Jesse R. and Charlotte E. Ziegler House - Frankfort, Kentucky

The House

Ziegler House - Front Elevation

Question: When you combine "Frank Lloyd Wright" and "Presbyterian Minister", what do you get?  

Yes, I know, you’re tempted to say, “John Dalles”.  So am I. However, long before I happened on the scene, that conjunction of terms brought about a lovely Prairie School house in Kentucky’s capital city, Frankfort. 

The Rev. Jesse R. Zeigler House, as it is best known, is not only a home of great architectural interest, it also has a charming back story. The house is the result of a shipboard meeting in the summer of 1910, between Rev. Jesse R. Ziegler, a young and energetic minister, and Frank Lloyd Wright, who was on his way to Italy in that disruptive chapter of his life when he abandoned his practice and family to run away with his client and neighbor, Mamah Borthwick Cheney. 

Whether Rev. Ziegler knew of or even suspected that Wright was in the midst of the first of his many midlife crises is unknown. But he was literally at sea, and whether Wright or Ziegler initiated the conversation about the house that would result, it began somewhere mid-Atlantic. 

Wright proposed a home for Ziegler and his wife Charlotte and their young family  that was as familiar to him as the back of his hand. It was a concept Wright had developed for the Ladies Home Journal and published in its April 1907 issue under the heading “Fireproof House for $5000".  

Essentially a cube, with an innovative open plan for the first floor, pinwheeling around the big fireplace, the sketch must have appealed to the prospective client. For, the sketch was thereafter fleshed out by Wright’s staff back in Oak Park, and became the landmark house that stands at 509 Shelby Street, Frankfort, Kentucky, today. 

Prairie School in design and concept, the Ziegler residence was thus the output of the staff that Wright left behind in Oak Park. Supervised by Hermann V. Von Holst, Marion Mahoney Griffin was in charge of design, ably assisted by architecturally-trained Isabel Roberts, and John Van Bergen, who learned his architectural gifts (which were many indeed) as an apprentice in the Oak Park Studio. What specific roles each of them played in bringing about the construction drawings is not known. It is highly likely that Isabel Roberts designed all of the beautiful art glass light screen windows, an area of speciality which, as has been well-documented, she is known for producing while in Wright's employ. 

What is known is that Wright was preoccupied with other matters both personal and professional while out of the county. His communication skills while in Europe were not of the best and caused many frustrations for his staff and his clients.  So it is generally accepted that beyond his initial sketch, his involvement in the house’s creation was both literally and figuratively remote.  The house plans were completed by his able staff, mentioned above, and built by Frankfort construction contractor Scott (Scott Brothers Contractors) without any further Wright involvement or supervision. Indeed, Wright did not manage to visit the house in person until the late 1940s. 

Built starting in the winter of 1910, the quintessential "Prairie Style" Zeigler house is situated in a quiet residential neighborhood in the capital region of Frankfort. On each side, and indeed up and down the block, the house is set among other largish middle class homes of the period, which are mainly American Foursquare in style.  Interestingly, some of the American Foursquare concepts derive from ideas conceived by Frank Lloyd Wright and his contemporaries.  So the house, while different from its neighbors, does not look out of place, at all.  It is set slightly further back than the houses on each side, allowing the living room, cantilevered balcony, and front terrace to "borrow" the front yards of the two neighboring homes as part of its view - a common Wright design choice that has been best documented in the Thomas House in Oak Park.

Ziegler House - Street View

Architectural fans will wish to compare the floor plans of the original $5000 house with the realized Kentucky version thereof. Both are shown below. 

Fireproof House - First Floor Plan

Ziegler House - First Floor Plan

Most descriptions of the Ziegler House say that it is based on the Lady's Home Journal house, but with the addition of the entry pergola.  In fact, the opposite is true.  The entry pergola exists in the magazine version of the house, but with the added much longer "trellis terrace", a projecting porch, visually making the house seem more horizontal than it actually is.  Site considerations with regard to the lot sizes on Shelby Street would have made that long projecting porch/pergola physically impossible.  

Instead of the side pergola, the Ziegler House has both front and back terraces for the enjoyment of the outdoors. In this regard it resembles the K. C. DeRhodes House in South Bend, among others.  These terraces provide opportunities to have french doors instead of windows in the living room and the dining room, which can be flung open in fine weather, further blending the indoors and outdoors, one of Wright's goals in his Prairie houses and thereafter.

The Ziegler house is deeper than the $5000 house, providing for a larger dining room and kitchen than in the magazine house.  Also, the side entry incorporates a powder room, where only a coat closet appears on the $5000 house plan.

In both plans, from the entry one enters the living room which is connected to the dining room in an L-shaped floor plan arrangement, screened slightly by the large fireplace hearth.  The work area of the kitchen is more traditionally partitioned off from the living and dining spaces, as was customary for those who wished to entertain guests without having a view into the kitchen.  

The long continuous bank of casement windows stretching on the wall of the living and dining room is exactly as portrayed in the magazine version of the house, complete with exterior planter, to provide some level of privacy from the neighbors.  Of course, the other provision for privacy is that the windows are all leaded glass, custom-designed in a pattern used only in this house.  The smaller than usual panes reflect light and therefore obscure the view looking from exterior to interior, but allow a clear view out from the interior.

The central fireplace is a hallmark of Prairie style design, constructed of long  Roman brick, as was customary of Wright's brick specifications.  Unique to this house is a leaded glass doored set of cabinets that surround the fireplace.  When asked in the 1940s by the then-owner what he had in mind in designing them, Wright said he could not recall (but probably this is because the cabinets were requested by the Zieglers and designed in Oak Park without any input from Wright).  No other Wright home is known to have such cabinets.

Overall, the Ziegler House displays many of the recognizable features for which Wright and his associated architects became justly famous.  The emphasis on the horizontal line of the prairie, the grouping of windows to form a visual continuous band, light screens (leaded glass casement windows in a stylized pattern drawn from nature), broad overhanging eaves making use of the concept of the cantilever, hidden front door, a blending of the interior and exterior spaces, and prominent chimney massing.  The Zieglers ended up with a true Prairie Style gem of a home.

Note that $5000 in 1907 is roughly $150,000 in 2021 dollars. Surely this house cost more than the magazine's somewhat ambitious low price; Wright houses always cost more than estimated.   The Ziegler House last sold in 2000 for upwards of $300,000.

An important note: The Ziegler House is privately owned and beautifully maintained.  If you happen to go to see it, please remain on the public sidewalk in front of the house, and do not impinge upon its residents.

The Clients

The Rev. Jesse Rheinhardt (aka alternate spellings as well as Richard) Ziegler. (March 6, 1877  - December 22, 1920)

When Jesse R. Zeigler was born on 6 March 1877, in Mercer, Pennsylvania, United States, his father, Henry Harrison Ziegler (June 29, 1834-June 16, 1906).  was 27 and his mother, Elizabeth Mason, was 23. Based on their birth years, Ziegler was ten years younger than Frank Lloyd Wright.

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Jesse Ziegler made a public profession of his faith of the age of 13, at his home church, the first Presbyterian Church in Mercer, Pennsylvania. He was a 1894 graduate of Grove City College. And thereafter attended Princeton University as a senior, graduating in the class of 1896.  He then was a teacher at the Mercer High School for one year.

Ziegler entered Princeton Theological Seminary in 1897.  He took the seminary's three years course, as is customary for divinity students, graduating in the class of 1900.

Under the care of Lackawanna Presbytery, he was licensed on May 23, 1900, and ordained on June 19, 1900 at the Stella Presbyterian of Maltby, Pennsylvania, where he served his inaugural pastorate. 

He served the Great Island Presbyterian Church of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, from 1902 through 1906.

Ziegler and Charlotte Calvert Evans were married at the Great Island Presbyterian Church on February 20, 1906. (Princeton Alumni Weekly, 1906). He served the American church in Frankfurt Germany from March to December 1906. Thereafter, Ziegler was a student in the United Free College of Glasgow, Scotland, (now part of the University of Strathclyde), from January to March 1907.

Returning to the United States, Ziegler was called to serve as the pastor the First Presbyterian Church in Frankfort, Kentucky. from January 21, 1907 until being called to First Presbyterian Church of Indiana, Pennsylvania, where he served from October 11, 1915 until March 1, 1918. 

While in Frankfort, he was a commissioner to General Assembly in 1915. (Minutes of the General Assembly, page 362. 1915.)

The Zieglers were to enjoy living in their Frank Lloyd Wright home for only five years before accepting a call elsewhere.  Rev. Ziegler seems to have had itchy-feet with regard to his profession.  Whether this is because he was considered an outstanding pastor, much in demand, or alternatively, restless and ambitious, is hard to know from more than a century's distance.  

It is not yet known how the Zieglers were able to commission and build a Frank Lloyd Wright house on a minister's salary which, then as now, seldom reaches the level of munificent.  Speculation about that includes the possibly that they may have had or come into family money just before embarking on the house building project.  For example, Ziegler's father died in 1906.  Did he receive an inheritance shortly thereafter?  More research is needed.

The Zieglers were the parents of Charlotte Calvert Ziegler (1908-1997), Jesse Reinhardt Ziegler (1910-1984), and Elizabeth Mason Ziegler (1912-2000). Two of the three children had been born by the time of the house's creation in 1910: Charlotte and Jesse Jr. Elizabeth would be born soon thereafter. In later years, Elizabeth published a collection of children's songs, illustrated by a Frothingham relative by marriage.  Jesse Jr was a 1934 graduate of Cornell.

Following his pastorate in Kentucky, Rev. Ziegler was pastor of the Hyde Park Presbyterian Church in Chicago (which was founded in 1914), from April 7, 1918 until his death on December 22, 1920. (Minutes of the Synod of Illinois, page 202.  1918)  and (Herald and Presbyter, Volume 92, page 7. 1921.)  One wonders if the Zieglers, upon relocating to Chicago, considered building another home designed by Wright, or if they were content to live somewhere less innovative.

Sadly, Rev. Ziegler died on 23 December 1920, in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, in St Luke's Hospital, at the age of 43. The cause was erysipelas, a serous infection, not easily treated in those days before antibiotic medication.  His final resting place is in Oakwood Cemetery, Chicago.

Having been widowed at a young age, Charlotte later married Dr. Herbert H. Frothingham (1863-1943), a prominent Chicago physcian. She lived at least until 1957, when she was listed as a resident of Long Beach, California; as a passenger on the RMS Caronia for the Great World Cruise. World Cruise departing from New York on 20 January 1956.  (Caronia world cruise passenger list). 

Closing remarks:

This is the most information about the Ziegler House, and especially the clients, that you will find in one place, anywhere online.  Research is ongoing and the article will be updated from time to time.  If you have information about the family to share, I would enjoy hearing from you.  If you are interested in the house  visit the Instagram account of the current owners, where they share many lovely photos and insights about the architecture.  See Instagram's Flwzieglerhouse

DeRhodes House is Currently For Sale

The K C and Laura DeRhodes House in South Bend is currently for sale. It's a Prairie School gem. 

The house is an outstanding example of the Prairie School aesthetic, and the product of the Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright during his first golden years of success in creating and building a new architecture - mainly in the midwest.  As you see from the photo above, the DeRhodes House displays many of the features for which Wright became famous.  The emphasis on the horizontal line of the prairie, the grouping of windows to form a visual continuous band, light screens (that is, leaded glass casement windows drawing their inspiration from nature), broad overhanging eaves making use of the concept of the cantilever, hidden front door, a blending of interior and exterior spaces, here represented by the front (and rear) terraces, prominent chimney massing, and a use of what today we might call an autumnal color pallet, outside and inside.  The use of a pale buff tone stucco with dark brown wood trim is quite typical of one of the exterior finishes Wright preferred in this period.

The view above is of the entry hall facing toward the reception area at the center of the main living space.  You can see to the right one of the two identical entry doors, the other is to the far left outside the edge of this photo.  The other door faces toward the street, while this door faced toward the back of the property.  Both are graced by elaborate leaded glass designs.  The stairs ascend to the main level of the house.  You can see one of two pairs of leaded glass bookcases, that help to define the three main living spaces.  At the center is the reception room, and to the right between and beyond those two green floor vases is the dining room at the back of the house.  The living room is to the left, to the front of the house.  Together the living room, reception room, and dining room, created one very large continuous rectangular space, perfect for entertaining large groups, as well as serving as the focus of family daily life.

Above is a view of the main features of the living room, including the windows facing the front of the house, and the large fireplace.  Notice the banding of wood both on the walls and on the ceiling.  These serve to tie the space together, with continuous lines.  The radiators are hidden, the fireplace is huge, the windows  are also quite large, providing a sweeping view of the neighborhood, while also limiting the passer-by's view into the space, because it is raised half a story above the level of the sidewalk and street.  The house thus achieves an effect of being in a tree house or raised pavilion.  Some of the furniture in the room is of the period, by Stickley or Limbert or similar Mission Style makers. This is a good alternative for owners of Prairie School Wright houses, if they do not have the furniture Wright designed for the home; indeed, Wright often advised his clients to use Stickley and Limbert furniture for the private rooms in their homes. The original Wright-designed furniture was dispersed upon the sale of the house in the 1950's and its current whereabouts are unknown.  Note also the vintage art pottery on display.  Wright usually specified Teco Pottery for his homes.  

The living room fireplace is shown in the view above.  It has some typical Wrightian features, including bold geometric forms, Roman brick which is longer and lower than standard brick, and a prominent place in the room.  Here you can also see to the left of the fireplace one of the window light screens and discern the geometric detail.  This inverted triangular stylized flower motif is used throughout all of the windows and interior bookcase doors in the house.

The side view of the house gives some idea of the grand horizontal rectangular sweep of the floor plan.  From this angle you can see the entry hall (the one story portion of the house closest to the driveway).  At the far left is the front terrace.  Note the continuous window bands of the second floor bedrooms, sheltered beneath the low hip roof with overhanging eaves.  Most of these design ideas were developed in Wright's Oak Park Studio, and were thereafter used by other Chicagoland architects and other architects throughout the midwest and beyond.  

The K. C. DeRhodes House was built for newlyweds Laura Caskey Bowsher DeRhodes and Kersey C. DeRhodes in 1906 by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is a Prairie style home located at 715 West Washington Street in South Bend, Indiana. The home was carefully restored by its long-time owners over more than four decades and remains in private ownership. It is one of two Wright homes in South Bend, the other being the Herman T. Mossberg Residence. It is one of eight Frank Lloyd Wright designed homes in the state of Indiana.

The DeRhodes house floor plan is nearly identical to -- but a mirror image of -- the 1903-1904 Barton House in Buffalo, New York. Oriented south to north, the main floor is one large rectangular space subdivided by piers and low bookcases with light screens into three spaces: a reception area, a large living room with fireplace toward the south (front) and a large dining room with Wright's customary built-in china cabinets toward the (north) rear. An entry/foyer to the east and the stairway and kitchen wing to the west extend the plan into a cruciform shape. Terraces protected by low walls at the north and south ends of the house extend the living space into the surrounding landscape. The downstairs maid's room in this house has been converted to a half bath.

The celebrated rendering of the DeRhodes house by Wright's assistant Marion Mahony Griffin is considered by scholars to be among the best to emerge from the Oak Park Studio, and was thought so by Wright himself, who inscribed it "Drawn by Mahony after FLLW and Hiroshige"

About the clients:

Laura Caskey Bowsher DeRhodes (November 5, 1864 – May 27, 1952)

Laura Caskey was born in Ligonier, Indiana, the daughter of Lutheran clergyman Curtis Caskey and his wife Margaret. Before her marriage to Kersey C. DeRhodes, Laura Caskey was the second wife of South Bend industrialist-millionaire Nelson Prentice Bowsher (1845-1898), also a native of Ligonier, Indiana. Bowsher rose from being an inventor and master mechanic at the Oliver Chilled Plow Works to the proprietor of his own manufacturing business, N. P. Bowsher. By his first wife, Clarissa C. Hostetter, Bowsher had two sons, Delavan Denis Bowsher and Jay C. Bowsher. Prior to her marriage to DeRhodes, Laura lived in the Bowsher family home at 805 West Washington, South Bend.

Kersey C. DeRhodes (February 7, 1862 – March 25, 1944)

Kersey C. DeRhodes was born in Fairfield, Ohio, the son of farmer David and his wife Madi DeRhodes. After coming to South Bend in 1901, DeRhodes served as the cashier of the Merchant's National Bank (later the National Bank). He also served as the treasurer of the Williams-Forrest Machine Company. From 1923 to 1935, he was president of DeRhodes-Yarrick Motor Co., a Dodge Brothers motor car dealership in South Bend. His residence before his marriage to Laura C. Bowsher was at 329 West Colfax Avenue, now the site of the First Presbyterian Church of South Bend. From a prior marriage, he had one daughter, Hazel M. DeRhodes (July 10, 1888 - January 1975), who lived with Kersey and Laura DeRhodes in their Wright designed home before moving to Detroit, Michigan, as an adult.

In early 1906, Laura C. Bowsher visited with her South Bend friend Isabel Roberts (of the Isabel Roberts House) in Berwyn, Illinois. Isabel was an architectural designer and draughtsman in Wright's Oak Park Studio and through Isabel, Laura met architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who was at the peak of his acclaim with the success of his prairie houses. She commissioned Wright's Oak Park studio to design a house for her to be located at 715 West Washington Street, which was to be completed in time to move into it with her new husband. In her AIA membership application  Isabel Roberts stated that she was the designer of this house, although since it came from Wright's studio when she was an employee and architectural designer there, it has always been attributed to him.

On September 22, 1906, in Berwyn, Illinois, Laura Caskey Bowsher and Kersey C. DeRhodes were married; the officiating minister was Frank Lloyd Wright's uncle, the Rev. Jenkin Lloyd Jones.

Laura and Kersey DeRhodes lived in their Wright-designed house the rest of their lives; they were South Bend social and civic leaders. DeRhodes' later business pursuits included the Vernon Clothing Company, the DeRhodes Motor Company (selling Dodge automobiles and Graham trucks). The DeRhodes were members of the First Methodist Church of South Bend. Laura was a member of the Progress Club.

Laura DeRhodes was still living in the house in 1940 when she was interviewed by Wright researcher Grant Manson, whose notes of the interview are in the Oak Park, Illinois public library. Laura lived in the house for the rest of her life, dying there in May 1952. Both are buried in the Highland Cemetery Mausoleum, South Bend.

"Shortly after Laura Bowsher's death," the current owner says, "Frank Lloyd Wright visited South Bend to deliver a lecture at the University of Notre Dame. He tried to buy back the original items from the home." Instead, contents went to Laura's four principal heirs.

In her will, Laura DeRhodes left the Wright-designed home to the First Methodist Church of South Bend to be used as a parsonage, but it never served that function. The household goods were to be divided among First Methodist Church (who selected only the baby grand piano), the Progress Club (which took only the lawn mower and silver), the YWCA and the Camp Fire Girls (who received about half of the home's furnishings including the fire screen and andirons).

The later whereabouts of the furnishings remain unknown.

In 1954 the Methodist Church sold the house. It was used by a Masonic lodge as the Avalon Grotto clubhouse from 1954 until 1978. During that time, much of the interior was painted and the main fireplace was covered over.

In 1978, Thomas and Suzanne Miller of South Bend bought the home for $67,000, the South Bend Tribune reported, and completed a total restoration over the next several decades. Tom Miller died in 2018 and Suzanne Miller died on May 10, 2021. In the spring of 2021, shortly before Suzanne’s death, the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy recognized the significant work that the Millers did to preserve and restore the DeRhodes House by honoring them with its coveted Wright Spirit Award. The award was introduced in 1991 and recognizes the efforts of extraordinary individuals and organizations that have preserved the legacy of Wright through their tireless dedication and persistent efforts.

The house remained in the Miller family in August 2021, when it was placed on the market with a asking price of $750,000.

North House is for Sale

 North House, in Petworth, West Sussex, is for sale.  

North House, Petworth

I found out about it yesterday, when doing an on line search. It is a special vintage house dating back centuries that looks somewhat like the famous George Wythe House in Williamsburg, Virginia.  

George Wythe House, Williamsburg

All red brick and Sir Christoper Wren Georgian in appearance.  It is the kind of historic home that would be of general interest to anyone who enjoys good architecture.  But it is more so, to me.

In the spring of 1975, I spent a semester abroad as part of my architecture studies at Penn State.  The semester abroad program had been long established by then.  There were locations in Florence and in Darmstadt that provided architectural studies for students who were juniors in the architecture department.  I had been looking forward to going, and had my heart set on going to Florence to study Renaissance architecture first hand.

The early fall of 1974, there was a special called meeting for everyone who had been considering the semester abroad.  I attended, only to learn that there was great doubt as to whether the program in Florence would happen.  Changes there with regard to the professors meant that the folks at Penn State might not be able to put a program together in time for anyone to go and study there.  What a disappointment, to say the least.

However, the faculty told us, there was an alternative we could consider.  For the first time, they would be offering a study option in Britain. Specifically in Petworth, south of London.  The program would be overseen by an architect that our PSU professor had met in a restaurant in London.  The meeting was by happenstance.  The prof had looked over age the adjacent table and seen a man drawing on a napkin, and said to himself, "The only people who draw on napkins are architects!" and went over to introduce himself.  He was correct.  The napkin artist was a London based architect.  They struck up a friendship which led to this proposed new semester abroad.

It was all rather whimsical and poetic.  

I decided to try the new location rather than wait to find out whether Florence was a go or a no-go.  A good decision all around.  From April through June I lived in and studied in North House, the house that is currently for sale.  The architect, John Wingate Davidson, and his wife and fellow architect Janet Davidson were our hosts as well as overseeing our course of study.  

They lived on the middle (main) floor of North House.  For our semester, they opened up the third floor, where each of us had a bedroom to ourselves.  They also opened up the ground floor for ongoing use of a bathroom for us, and occasional use of a big drawing room for receptions and for the presentation of our final projects.  The room was rather grand, with big floor to ceiling windows that could be opened by sliding the lower portion into the floor and the upper portion into the ceiling, to make the kind of openings one usually associated with French doors.  

North House Drawing Room

North House Dining Room

Seeing that the house is for sale brings back many wonderful memories of that time in England.  I suppose the best is that while in England I unexpectedly experienced my call to ministry.  Which I may say more about later.  It also brought about a life-long transatlantic friendship with the Davidsons which has included a visit from Janet to us when we lived in Pittsburgh the first time, and a last moment tour of Fallingwater for her while she was with us.

The Davidsoins left North House some years ago, and relocated to Byworth, a hamlet just outside Petworth.  The current photos of North House show that it has been well cared for all these years.  And decorated in a style which is much more grand that I remember.  There is also now a swimming pool in the garden; not there in my time there.  

North House Garden

The main facade of the house is a challenge to photograph, chiefly since it abuts the North Street and directly across are the high walls of Petworth Park.  When I saw this very fine photo of the front of the house, I thought that the photographer must have risked life and limb by perching on top of those 8 foot high stone walls.  Well, probably not, on second thought.  The photographer probably used a drone.

Something that would have been unheard of in the spring of 1975.

North House's drawing room is where the Davidsons threw a lovely welcoming reception for us in April of that year, which was where we first met Sir Leslie Fry and Lady Penelope Fry (Marian Elizabeth Penelope Bentley), Lord Egremont and Lady Egremont, and Lady Ursula Wyndham (Lord Egremont's aunt), all Petworth notables and most gracious indeed.  About which more later.  

Wishing whomever purchases North House many years of happiness.

More:

About John Wingate Davidson (1923-2015):

John Wingate Davidson was born on 23 July 1923, the son of Walter Henderson Davidson, school teacher and his wife Isabella Drysdale Wingate who was also a teacher. They had married in Edinburgh in 1912. John Davidson was educated at George Heriots School in Edinburgh and Hawick High School.

He studied for the diploma in architecture at Edinburgh College of Art. He was an RIBA probationer from 1940 and elected ARIBA in 1950. From 1950-1952 he worked in the Architects Department of Somerset County Council where he worked on the design of schools, moving in the latter year to Plymouth City Architects Department. He was the design architect for Plymouth Civic Centre and was awarded the Grand Prix d'Honeur (Paris) in 1956 for this design. In that same year, 1956, he moved to a post with the Schools Division of Coventry City Architects Department. He was job architect on Binley Comprehensive School, Coventry which was designed using the CLASP system.

In 1959 he was appointed Group Archiect in the Housing Division of the LCC ( later GLC) under the Principal Housing Architect, Kenneth J. Campbell. He designed the first multi-storey Housing Block in the world to utilise a steel frame and GRP external panels, the SF1 System. Four tower blocks were erected.This led to extensive lecturing engagements while still working at GLC. In 1965 he left the GLC to open business on his own account in Westminster which continued until he retired in 1992. For some time during this period his firm was associated with Alison Hutchison under the style 'Wingate Davidson, Alison Hutchison Partnership'.

During the 1960s Davidson lectured widely on the use of steel in multi-storey housing and reinforced plastics in building - at MIT Boston, Pratt University NY, and Penn State University in the USA, Edinburgh College of Art and Birmingham School of Architecture. He also lectured for the European Iron & Steel Federation and for the Construction Specifications Istitute in Washington DC in 1969. Between 1975 and 1988 as their Professor of Architecture he devised the Course and supervised groups of students on the Foreign Studies Programme of Penn State University. The students were resident at North House, Petworth, the Davidsons' home.

Davidson married twice, first to Marian, by whom he had one son and then to Janet who was an architectural technician with the LCC/GLC and a lecturer in art and architecture. They have one daughter Katrin who is an artist and teacher and a son Maxwell who is an architect.

Outwith his professional life Davidson maintained an interest in the RAF Bomber Command having served as a Pilot from 1942-46, attaining the rank of Flt/Lt. He was also interested in Scottish Rugby Football stemming from his schooldays in Hawick where he was at school with Bill McLaren. 

I did not know, until today, about John's WWII service. He was a Flight Lieutenant in R.A.F.V.R. Bomber Command in the Second World War. He flew Wellingtons and Halifaxes.  He writes: "I flew solo for the first time in a Stearman trainer plane in Ponca City, Oklahoma. I have been recording my memories of my four years in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, including the pilot training I had in America as part of the ‘Lease-lend’ arrangements UK had with USA. Memories are triggered by random contacts with names, places, music, photographs. They are ‘wild echoes flying’." Based on the place and the time, it is highly likely that he and my Dad were at Ponca City at the same time.

About Sir Leslie Fry:

Sir Leslie Fry was Her Majesty's ambassador to a number of nations, chief among them, Hungary during the Hungarian Revolution. Those who wish to know more about that time, or about the inner workings of international statecraft in the mid 1900s, would do well to consult his autobiography, "As Luck Would Have It".

Sir Leslie was a gentleman in every way, and in the time that I knew him in Petworth, a delightful raconteur and host. His wife, Lady Penelope, was likewise charming and kindly, with a serenity and beauty that was a wonder to behold.

The Frys at that time lived in a masterful house by the great British architect Norman Shaw, (designed by Norman Shaw in 1871 for Henry Upton, Solicitor and Agent to Lord Leconfield of Petworth House). Gorehill House was surrounded by century old rhododendrons, with an unparalleled view of the South Downs. Luncheon conversations with them ranged from diplomacy to fine art.

Indeed, they had a wonderful collection of paintings and Sir Leslie was wont to ask visitors to spot the "fake" amid the bona fide Old Masters in their dining room. Guests were usually stumped,  as we Penn State students were. Among Canalettos and Impressionist works, one was, to our eyes, undoubtedly by Rembrandt. And we said so.

Sir Leslie was delighted to have pulled the wool over our eyes with it.

Nope. Not by Rembrandt!

His story of the pseudo Rembrandt (painted in the manner thereof but signed by the actual artist, and so, not a forgery), by a grateful Hungarian whom the Frys had spirited out of the Hungary at the very last moment, is not in his autobiography, but many other equally fascinating tales are.

About Lady Ursula Wyndham:

As someone who got to know Lady Ursula Wyndham before she wrote her two books of memoirs (Astride the Wall, and Laughter and the Love of Friends), I highly recommend them both.

In the 1970s when I knew her, she was a keeper of goats who went round Petworth on her bicycle selling her homemade yogurt. Thin and wind-blown looking, she was perhaps foremost among the many fascinating residents of that charming village, and of undoubted interest since her nephew was and is Lord Egremont. Some of the locals called her "Crazy Auntie" for that reason, and while it was an affectionate nickname; her life story makes it perfectly clear that - eccentric as she undoubtedly was - Lady Ursula was sharp as a tack and bright as a penny.

There are many places in the books where I laughed aloud at her frank and pithy observations about herself and her family. She later admitted that these books helped serve as a way to avenge herself upon her parents' treatment of her, as may be clear in some of these excerpts...

"I do not think that my mother ever fell in love. Any situation involving vulnerability was not for her. Twin brothers, called Bonsor, are reputed to have proposed to her at the same ball. My mother said "No" to the first proposal and "Is this supposed to be funny?" to the second. Throughout her life she made that response to most jokes. There is no reason to suppose that young Bonsor was not serious, but my mother would never have married anybody who made a social gaffe. She was also wooed by an Irish earl, but who wants to fritter their life away on a bog?"

* * *

"My mother had been encouraged to breast feed her first child, but was intensely adverse to the ritual and did not attempt it with any of her other children. To my intense surprise and delight I discovered that, when goaded, I could momentarily even the score by saying, "What do you expect from a child that has never known its mother's milk?"

* * *

About her father: "There is only one thing worse than having no sense of humor," he was wont to proclaim, "and that is thinking things funny that aren't." The latter comprised all witticisms not uttered by himself."

* * *

(And this gem) "I rifled through the pages of the Peerage to find myself a husband and settled on Sir Aymer Maxwell of Monreith; he was a suitable age and of the same family as the notorious Jane, Duchess of Gordon, who raised a regiment. A grander title would have involved one in a tedious lifetime of opening bazaars. My mother, while agreeing with my father that nobody would look twice at their daughter, was on tenterhooks as to what sort of women might snare her sons."

* * *

(And, speaking of her Wyndham grandparents) "The couple's three beautiful daughters (therefore, Lady Ursula's aunts) were painted by Sargent, draped with elegant languor all over a sofa. The picture, known as The Three Graces, now hangs in the largest picture gallery in New York." (The Wyndham Sisters by J S Sargent, 1900, is in the Metropolitan Museum).

In her second book, "Laughter and the Love of Friends" Lady Ursula further displays her natural wit, and great intelligence which she exercised by visiting places of interest and asking sometimes challenging questions. She did this in her friendships as well, which made those close to her love her fiercely and appreciate her eccentricities all the more.

A keeper of goats and purveyor of homemade yogurt, she never married but this did not prevent Lady Ursula from romantic entanglements that were, although complicated, deeply satisfying to her.

One has a sense that had she been born fifty or seventy-five years later, she would have had fewer of the limitations that were inevitable for one who was expected to conform to a particular model (find a husband and marry well).

It is good to know that as a result of these two books, she also had a broadcasting career late in life that was a popular success. Oh and in case you are wondering about her unsuspecting prospective bridegroom: Aymer (Maxwell) Maxwell of Monreith 8th Bt (1911 - 1987).  He was the son of Lt. -Col. Aymer Edward Maxwell and Lady Mary Percy. He died in 1987, unmarried.

Back in Central Florida

I would love to say that all of the moving boxes are unpacked.  But that would not be true.  Many of them are, and we have settled into our new home nicely.  In fact, it truly does feel like home to all of us.

There's more to do.  All of the paintings are still in boxes.  Awaiting our decision about what will go where.  Even so, big things like getting new Florida driver's licenses and car registrations have been checked off the "to-do" list.  

I will not bore you with the trials of the move.  We were totally dissatisfied by the experience.  Long delays and poor communication from the moving company were only part of the problem.  I have never had such a frustrating move - and we are glad to turn the page on that chapter.

We love being back near family.  Which was our eventual intention all along when we went to serve wonderful Shadyside.  As I have said before, I thought there might be another interim or two up there in  Western Pennsylvania, but as that was not materializing, we fast forwarded our return to the Sunshine State, helped considerably by finding our new house on a Friday morning and buying it by that same Monday afternoon, without ever even setting foot in it.

Our family was a big help in that regard.  They checked it out in person and gave it their thumbs up.  Our impression that it would suit us very well has been bourn out in living here.

We were in the house two full weeks before the furniture arrived.  That gave Judy and me plenty of time to paint every room that needed painted - some of the before colors were truly insistent and not in a good way.  Think Masters Tournament Jacket Green, Construction Cone Orange, and Heinz Ketchup Red.  So when at last the movers appeared, they had been neutralized and we were ready.

The newly painted Dining Room looking toward the lanai and spa.

A sunny corner of the Living Room

Having the kids and grandkids only a few miles away brings us back to how we lived before the Pennsylvania sojourn.  We can get together intentionally or impromptu whenever we wish, and could almost walk to each other's houses.  So we are enjoying family night dinners, overnights from the granddaughters, dominoes nights where Mimi is continuing her unbroken winning streak, and so forth, on a weekly basis.

Our front yard.

Judy and Annie with Cami and Taylor in the spa.

Mimi and her Civic out front.

Mimi is back to Wekiva and loving seeing her friends of 15 plus years. As well as worshiping with her grandchildren and great grandchildren.  We are being good Presbyterian pastor and spouse by giving the new pastor there plenty of space to get to know the congregation.  Mom gets asked by many people, each Sunday, "When are John and Judy coming back?" As those of you in the know know, ministers who have concluded their time at a church are to keep their distance, so that the congregation does not inadvertently go to him for pastoral needs.  

We have worshiped with Wekiva remotely and are so thrilled for the church that in Pastor Oscar they have found a fabulous new spiritual leader.  He is truly a blessing to them, and I know that many of the members will be a blessing to him as well.

You may be surprised, as I was, that I continue to be asked, "What are you doing in retirement?" which is a fair question. I looked up retirement in the dictionary and from what I can glean there, retirement is "leaving one's job and ceasing to work".  Well, the first part is true.  After two absolutely wonderful years as the interim senior minster at Shadyside, and 40 years of full time ordained ministry, I am officially "Honorably Retired" as the PC(USA) says.  And the second is sort of true (although moving is a lot of work, believe me).  For now, I am enjoying doing the things that need doing to make the house a home, reconnecting with Florida friends, expanding my attention to my vintage watch collecting, hymn writing, architecture history research, and so forth. I already have a preaching invitation on the calendar for May - at the Alumni Days at Lancaster Theological Seminary.  I may very well decide to do some minister type things with one church or another here, since I do love doing them; but that is yet to come.

I also keep aware of doings of the other churches I love.  I am looking forward to hearing about Austin Crenshaw Shelly's beginnings at Shadyside at the end of September.  I am quite pleased that one former associate with whom I worked there, Todd, is off to a senior ministry position in upstate New York.  (I can almost hear that song, "Shuffle Off to Buffalo...") and wish his family well.  'Glad to know that associate pastor Lynn has reduced her hours to part time as she segues toward retirement.  I am delighted that Pittsburgh Seminary's preaching professor, Dr. Roger Owens, will be the temporary minister at Fox Chapel Presbyterian - he is truly one of the outstanding preachers of our generation - and if you are within driving distance you should go to hear him (and if not, worship remotely). You will be blessed.

What else is new?  Just about everything.  And we feel so very blessed.  God's unfolding plan keeps surprising us in good ways.

"Well, there's lots more to tell but my tail is too long already", as Hattie Wainwright the Church Mouse used to say in the Wekiva "Glad Tidings".

The girls in the hot tub.

Bendix is joining in the fun.

The street where we live.

This week is moving week.

This week is moving week.

In order to be ready for the move. We needed both my car and Judy‘s car to drive those things that are not going on the moving van. Not to mention Bendix, and we ourselves!

The biggest issue with that is that my car was T-boned the first Sunday in May. And has been in the body shop ever since.   Even though I let the people fixing the car understand that I had to have the car back no later than 11 July, the work dragged on and on and on and on.

In fact, we were not able to pick up the car until this Friday at 4:30 in the afternoon. Talk about getting it just under the wire!  We do not seem to do things in simple ways around here.

Those of you who follow me will recall that this is a new car. That is, new to me. It is a 2014 model, that we found in Rochester, New York, with the help of our nephew, from whose car dealership we bought it. We owned it exactly 2 weeks, when the accident occurred.

Here's how it happened...

Mom and I were on our way to worship at Shadyside Presbyterian Church, when as we went through a green light at the intersection of N. Negley Ave. and Stanton Avenue, were T-boned. The other driver had run the red light. We were fortunate that no one was injured. I later learned that this particular model gets a five out of five for crash safety. I believe we would not have fared as well had we been in my old car.

So now, all we have to do is wait for the movers to pack up the house. 

And then we will head for Florida.

Weddings Then and Now...

Now here’s something that doesn’t happen every day. This past weekend I was very honored to officiate at a wedding at Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church. Something I’ve done many times before. But this more than likely is the last time I’ll do that; since we are moving back to Central Florida this week.  (For more about that read my previous post).

Every wedding is special. There’s one particular reason that this one stands out, apart from every other wedding that I’ve done.

The bride is the daughter of a couple whose wedding I did when I was serving Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church in the years 1987 to 1997. I’ve never before had an opportunity to perform a wedding of someone whose parents' wedding I also did. So it makes the moment all that more memorable.

The wedding itself was beautiful. After the postlude, when all of the guest had departed the sanctuary, the parents of the bride, and other members of their wedding party from April 30, 1994, gathered in the chancel to re-create the photograph, so we have a then photo, and a now photo.

Newsy Updates - June 10, 2021

Newsy Updates - June 10, 2021

It has been four months since I last posted, and those of you who follow me have perhaps wondered why.

I completed my time as the Interim Senior Minister of Shadyside Presbyterian Church on February 14 (see previous post for my farewell sermon there).  It was a great experience for me, to serve Shadyside, as you can tell by the posts I have done since beginning there two years before.  I am so grateful for the time with the wonderful people of that fine congregation, and will forever treasure it.  

So then the question becomes, "What next?"

Answering that question, whenever we ask it, requires much thought, prayer, and adaptability.  Which is true in this instance.

When I went to Shadyside, I fully expected to do one or two more interims in Pittsburgh Presbytery following however long I served there.  So, as I finished there, I got word out that I was looking and available to serve in a similar way, in another congregation.  What then emerged is an interesting story if you are looking on from the outside. From the inside it was quite disappointing. 

I then did much soul searching. Yes, there were other opportunities present.  But nothing that seemed to be the right fit.  Yes, I had many gifts in ministry to offer.  But did I have the eagerness to share them in that locale, in those ways?  The inner conviction came from God, in prayer.  It was: "You have your answer, already."

What?  What did that mean?  

When I first heard it, I had no idea.  But that opened the matter to consider in a new light.  What answer did I have?  The answer emerged. Why not retire, and return to Central Florida, to be near our children and grandchildren, whom we had left behind two years before.

So, that is what we agreed we would do...eventually.

Until, Thursday night two weeks ago, when I was looking, as I had begun to do, at the real estate offerings in and around our former Florida neighborhood where we had lived for 23+ years.  And you know what has happened to real estate since Covid.  The market has never been hotter.  So places would be listed, and then go Pending or Contingent in a matter of days, if not hours.  But there was a new listing of a house that had all of the elements of what we were looking for, a scant 2 miles from where we used to live, listed at well below what today's market would normally bear.  It was nearly midnight.  Judy was fast asleep.  So I snapped a photo of the listing and texted it to her phone; so when she awakened in the morning, she could take a look at it herself.

The next morning, Friday, Judy told me that she liked the house very much. Ah! From there, things accelerated.  Anne drove past the house on her lunch hour for us, and reported that she liked what she saw.  John and Tara and their girls went to a scheduled open house the next afternoon, and then Sandy, our fabulous Florida real estate agent, did a face time walk through the house with us in the late afternoon.  We liked what we saw.  Sandy advised us that the seller was accepting offers up until Sunday (the next day).  We put one together, and it was submitted before the deadline.

Late on Sunday we were told that the seller would not make a decision until the next day.  No time was mentioned.  All day long, no word came.  We had already planned dinner in a real resturant, the first time since before the coronavirus precautions with our dear friends Dorothy and John.  When we were in the restaurant and  before we had ordered our dinner, the phone rang.  It was Sandy.  Telling us that our offer had been accepted.  We had just bought a house.

So then, we worked as quickly as possible with our wonderful realtor here, Rob, to get our house listed. Which we did, this past Monday.  As of today - three days later - we have an offer.  Matters are falling in to place.  We anticipate our move will occur in mid July.

Exciting? Yes of course it is.  

I continue to reflect on that message: "You have your answer, already."  Elements of it are a resounding "No!" about staying in Pittsburgh (which we love and would have done wholeheartedly had it unfolded that way).  And a breathtakingly quick and equally reounding  "Yes!" about buying and selling houses with lightening like speed, in order to make the moved to Orlando a reality.  

I will update this story as time progresses.  But for now:

- Huge thanks go to Shadyside Presbyterian Church members for their love and support.

- Huge thanks go to Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church members for their love and support.

- Huge thanks go to Sandy for making things happen so beautifully in Florida.

- Huge thanks go to Rob for making this happen so beautifully in Pennsylvania.

Some final thoughts...

- I am excited for the members of my former congregation, Wekiva Presbyterian Church, for the announcement of their new minister.  I know he will bless them and they will bless him, greatly.

- I am excited for the members of Shadyside Presbyterian Church.  They will know who their next pastor will be, in the very final days of the first half of this year.