Architects’ Homes I

by Michael Bridgeman

Artists sometimes paint self-portraits, authors occasionally write autobiographies, and architects often design their own houses. This month, I look at houses designed by three Madison architects for their own families. Each architect had a career that spanned decades and did a range of work for a variety of clients. Being their own clients did not eliminate the constraints faced by any project, including deadlines, budget, site, and regulations. Keep in mind that these three men were not solo clients; they had to consider the needs of others in their households, too.

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Ferdinand Kronenberg

The Kronenberg house (1910) [1]

Ferdinand Kronenberg designed the house at 1454 Williamson St. in 1910 for himself, his wife Julia, and their two children, Gertrude and Leo. A second daughter, Helen, was born in 1913. It’s a large house; the current assessment record shows nearly 3,000 square feet divided between two rental units. The house appears as a “flat” on the 1942 Sanborn Fire Insurance map, the earliest one I located after the date of construction. City directories from 1917 and 1919, however, list other residents in addition to the Kronenbergs at this address, apparently single men who worked as machinists and foundry workers. So, the house appears to have been built to combine the family residence with rental space. Despite the updated siding that now covers the house, its Craftsman style “bones” are still evident from its massing, brick porch columns, and wide gable boards on the third-floor dormers that kick out slightly.

Kronenberg in 1908 [2]

Young Fred, as he was called, came to America from Germany with his parents in 1885 when he was eight years old. He learned his trade by apprenticing with local architects. When Kronenberg designed his Williamson Street house, he was about ten years into a four-decade career. His residential output was considerable and embraced progressive styles (Craftsman, Bungalow) as well as period revivals (Colonial, French, Tudor). Kronenberg is better known today for his non-residential work. His commercial buildings include the Badger State Shoe Company, now Das Kronenberg Condominiums (128 N. Blount St.), the Schubert Building (120 W. Mifflin St.), the Gill-Joyce Funeral Home (540 W. Washington Ave.), and the Cardinal Hotel (416 W. Wilson St.), which is seen in the illustration above Kronenberg's left shoulder before the addition of two more stories. Among his institutional projects are Emerson School (2421 E. Johnson St.) and St. James Catholic Church (1130 St. James Court). Kronenberg died at 67 in 1944 and is buried at Resurrection Cemetery.

Philip Homer

Terrace Homes (1928) [5]

Homer in 1927 [6]

In 1928, Philip Homer was the architect for Terrace Homes (114-118 N. Breese Terrace), where he made his own home along with his wife Gladys and their son Robert. The Homers were among the original owners of the 12 apartments which were advertised as “Madison’s First Cooperative Apartment.” The city landmark plaque adds: “Popular in larger cities, the cooperative movement was the precursor of condominium ownership.” Terrace Homes also had an apartment for a maintenance person and garages at the rear of the building. Built in what promoters called “a modified form of English architecture,” Terrace Homes still looks much as it did when built. The most dramatic change is across the street, where the concrete behemoth of Camp Randall Stadium looms to the east.

Philip Homer was born on a farm in eastern Iowa and began his architectural apprenticeship in La Crosse. By 1914, he had come to Madison where he earned his architect’s license and, by 1921, was the architect for the Stark Land Company, a major local developer (which invested in Terrace Homes Apartments). By the late 1930s, he had settled into private practice, designing residential and commercial buildings as well as four Madison fire stations. Among them is Station No. 9 (201 N. Midvale Blvd.), which has a mid-century look that is very much at home on the residential side of the boulevard. One of his larger houses is the Willard R. Denu and Ann Agnes residence (2234 Eton Ridge), where the tall, paired gables facing the street show the influence of the English Arts and Crafts style. Among Homer’s other projects were the 1927 Capital Times Building, now Capital Fitness (302 E. Washington Ave.), the 1930 clubhouse at Nakoma Country Club (4145 Country Club Road), and the original 1942 Streamline Moderne section of the WIBA building (2651 S. Fish Hatchery Road). Philip Homer and his wife Gladys still lived at Terrace Homes Apartments when he died in 1972 at age 79.

Robert Cashin

Robert Cashin took a thoroughly modern approach in 1955 when he designed a house (2838 Regent St.) for his family—he, his wife Suzanne, and their two children. A newspaper article made much of the flat roof ... and the post-and-beam construction, four-foot planning module, and open plan. The newspaper included a floor plan: the entry leads to the living-dining-kitchen area, with three bedrooms up a short flight of stairs, and a utility room, den, and garage (not shown) down a few stairs. The exterior is clad in vertical board siding.

Robert and Suzanne Cashin House (1968) [11]

In 1968, the Cashins built a two-story house nearby (2902 Priscilla Lane) with contemporary-style shed roofs. By this time, there were three children: Catherine, Elizabeth, and Robert. The Cashins lived here until 1974 when Robert took a job in Phoenix, Ariz., as an architect for Sentry Insurance, which is headquartered in Stevens Point.

Robert Cashin [12]

Robert Cashin was born and raised in Stevens Point and earned his architecture degree from the University of Notre Dame. He came to Madison to work for John J. Flad & Associates and in 1952 partnered with Charles Gausewitz. While with Gausewitz & Cashin, he designed the Gerald and Joyce Bartell House (3959 Plymouth Circle), the largest house in the Sunset Hills Historic District and a gem of mid-century residential design. Cashin started his own firm, Cashin & Associates, in 1960 and did contemporary designs for public buildings across the state, including the Commons at UW-Stout in 1968, and commercial buildings like the Associated Physicians Clinic (4410 Regent St.), built in 1963. Cashin finished his career with the Scottsdale Insurance Company in Phoenix, where he died in 2003 at age 76.

This is the first in what I hope to be an occasional series about Madison-area architects who designed their own houses. My list of potential subjects includes Cora Tuttle, James Law, Edward Law, Alvan Small, Doris Baldwin Mohs, and Elizabeth Ranney. I welcome further suggestions.

. . .

Image Credits

[1] Photo by Michael Bridgeman.

[2] Madison Men of Affairs “as we see ‘em.” State Journal Printing Company, Madison, Wis. 1908.

[3] Wisconsin Historical Society Architecture & History Index. AHI #19089.

[4] Postcard. J.A. Fagan Company, Madison Wis. Undated. Collection of author.

[5] Wisconsin Historical Society Architecture & History Index. AHI #75138.

[6] The Capital Times. Oct 28, 1927.

[7] Wisconsin Historical Society Architecture & History Index. AHI #136998.

[8] Wisconsin Historical Society Architecture & History Index. AHI #35669. This photo from 2006 shows an arched dormer at the center of the roof, which does not appear in photos from 30 years earlier.

[10] “Roof Is Key to Floor Plan.” Wisconsin State Journal, March 27, 1955. p. 36.

[11] Photo by Michael Bridgeman.

[12] Robert Cashin obituary. Wisconsin State Journal, August 7, 2003. p.14.

[13] Wisconsin Historical Society Architecture & History Index. AHI #222502.

[14] Wisconsin Historical Society Architecture & History Index. AHI #228721.

Madison Trust