Charles G. Dawes House facts for kids
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Charles G. Dawes House
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The main (south) facade, facing Greenwood St.
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 Location in Illinois
Location in the United States
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| Location | 225 Greenwood Street, Evanston, Illinois |
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| Built | 1894 |
| Architect | H. Edwards Ficken |
| Architectural style | Chateauesque |
| NRHP reference No. | 76000706 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | December 8, 1976 |
| Designated NHL | December 8, 1976 |
The Charles Gates Dawes House is a special historic house museum in Evanston, Illinois. It was built in 1894. This large mansion sits by the lake and was the home of Charles Gates Dawes and his family from 1909 until he passed away.
Charles G. Dawes (1865–1951) was a very important person. He won the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize for his plan to help Germany pay back money after World War I. This plan was called the Dawes Plan. He also served as the United States Vice President under President Calvin Coolidge. During World War I, he was a general. Later, he became the United States Ambassador to Great Britain.
Dawes was a descendant of William Dawes. William Dawes rode with Paul Revere to warn colonists about the British soldiers before the American Revolutionary War began. Today, the Charles G. Dawes House is a National Historic Landmark. The Evanston History Center owns it and offers tours.
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History of the Dawes House
Charles G. Dawes and his family lived in this house from 1909 to 1951. In 1944, he gave the house to Northwestern University. He wanted it to become the home of the Evanston Historical Society, which is now called the Evanston History Center.
The Dawes family continued to live there until Mrs. Caro Blymer Dawes died in 1957. The Historical Society moved into the house in 1960. In 2009, Northwestern University officially gave the house to the Evanston History Center.
Who Designed the House?
The house was built in 1894 for Robert Sheppard. He was the treasurer and business manager for Northwestern University. The house was designed by an architect named H. Edwards Ficken (1844–1929) from New York.
Ficken was born in London and studied in Europe. He came to the United States in 1869. He became known for designing several important buildings. These included projects for the New York Athletic Club and Yale University. For the last 13 years of his life, he worked as the main architect for Woodlawn Cemetery on Long Island.
The House's Style: Chateauesque
The Dawes House is an example of the Chateauesque style of architecture. This style was inspired by the grand castles (chateaux) of France from the 1500s.
A famous American architect named Richard Morris Hunt brought this style to the United States in 1882. He built a large palace in this style in New York City. Architects who used this style often made buildings look like French castles. They used stone and fancy carvings.
A great example of this style in Chicago is the house at 1801 S. Prairie Ave. It was built in 1890 for piano maker William Wallace Kimball. This house cost a lot of money to build. It was designed to look like the Chateau de Josselin in France.
The most famous example of this style in the U.S. is the huge Biltmore Estate in North Carolina. It has 225 rooms and was also designed by Richard Morris Hunt.
The Dawes House has a more rustic, or country-like, French style. It looks a bit like Grey Towers National Historic Site in Pennsylvania. Richard Morris Hunt also worked on Grey Towers, and Ficken helped with some of its details. If you look closely at the Dawes House, Grey Towers, and the John A. McGill house in Chicago, you can see how they are all connected to French castles like the Château de Chambord.
Richard Morris Hunt was a leader in French-inspired architecture after he returned from Europe in 1855. He designed a house in Chicago for the famous store owner Marshall Field in 1873. This house was considered one of the first truly artistic homes in Chicago. Even though the popularity of French-style buildings changed over time, people still find them interesting today.
Gallery
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Detail of the front door
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View of the house from the side yard that overlooks Lake Michigan
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View of the terrace that overlooks Lake Michigan
National Historic Landmark
The Charles G. Dawes House was named a National Historic Landmark in 1976. This means it is a very important historical place in the United States.
Evanston History Center
The Evanston History Center (EHC) has its main office at the Charles Gates Dawes House. You can take tours of the house led by guides. On the tour, you can see the library, dining room, kitchen, and great hall. These rooms are decorated with furniture and art that once belonged to the Dawes family.
The EHC also holds public events, workshops, and lectures. They have a special research room. Here, you can find old documents, books, photos, and maps about the history of Evanston. You can visit their website to learn more.
See also
