Perkins, Dwight, House - Evanston, IL
Posted by: 
adgorn
N 42° 03.732 W 087° 42.336
16T E 441620 N 4656923
Prairie style architect Dwight Perkins designed and built his own home in 1904.
Waymark Code: WM6C5C
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 05/12/2009
Views: 2
Perkins had a great impact on the Chicago area.
From (
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"Based on an open space plan prepared by Perkins and noted prairie landscape architect Jens Jensen in 1903, the groundwork was laid for the formation of the Chicago Park District and the Cook County Forest Preserves.
Perkins’ involvement in the social issues of housing for the poor and his desire to increase the amount of public parks and playgrounds for use by them led to his designs of plans for settlement buildings on the campuses of both the University of Chicago and Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
In 1905, after scoring 99 on a civil service exam, Perkins was appointed as the chief architect for the Chicago Board of Education. During his tenure he designed more than 40 schools for the board, with Carl Schurz High School being the most famous of his Prairie School designs. Schurz High School has been designated as a landmark by the Chicago Landmark Council. In 1910 Perkins was brought before the Board of Education, accused of being incompetent, extravagant and insubordinate, and he demanded that he be given a public trial. He was exonerated on the charges of incompetence and extravagance, but found to have been insubordinate and was removed as the Board of Education Chief Architect in 1910.
In later years, he and a partner also designed numerous park buildings including the Lion House and refectory (now Cafe Brauer) at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo and the Hamlin Park Fieldhouse. Perkins won the AIA Gold Medal for the 1912 Lion House design.
By 1925 Perkins was almost totally deaf, making it extremely hard to continue in his practice. This led to the dissolution of the firm of Perkins, Fellows & Hamilton in 1927. Perkins continued to sit on the Park District and Forest Preserve boards and in 1930 he became a consultant for the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition. His son Lawrence followed in his father's footsteps as a famous architect and co-founded the firm of Perkins Wheeler & Will, which still operates today as the firm of Perkins & Will. Dwight retired to Pasadena, California and later died on November 2, 1941 in Lordsburg, New Mexico while traveling on vacation. He is buried in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago."