John Taylor Snite House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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John Taylor Snite House
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 Location in Illinois
Location in the United States
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| Location | 225 N. Deere Park Ave. E, Highland Park, Illinois |
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| Area | 1.3 acres (0.53 ha) |
| Built | 1937 |
| Architect | Cerny, Jerome, Robert |
| Architectural style | Renaissance, Art Deco |
| MPS | Highland Park MRA |
| NRHP reference No. | 03000790 |
| Added to NRHP | August 19, 2003 |
The John Taylor Snite House is a really cool and important house in Highland Park, Illinois, United States. It was built for a famous businessman and sailor named John Taylor Snite.
Contents
A Home with a Story
The Snite house was built in an area called Braeside. This was one of the last places on the east side of Highland Park, Illinois to be developed. The land used to belong to early settlers. It wasn't sold for building until the 1920s.
In 1924, a company called Baird & Warner was asked to divide the land. This land had belonged to Charles H. Deere. He was the son of John Deere, who invented farm equipment. The new area was called Deere Park Subdivision. It had strict rules about the types of houses that could be built there.
Who Was John Taylor Snite?
John Taylor and Katherine Snite bought Lot 25 in Deere Park on January 6, 1936. John Snite's father started the Imperial Credit Corporation of Chicago. John later became the president of this company.
John Snite loved to sail. He wanted a special "ship room" in his house. This room would hold his yacht, The Bagheera, and his sailing awards. His ship, designed by John Alden, was very successful. It sailed in the Bermuda Race. It also won the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac twice, in 1929 and 1932. During World War II, Snite even taught sailing at Naval Station Great Lakes nearby.
The Architect and Design
The house was designed by Jerome Cerny. He designed over 700 houses during his 35-year career. Cerny learned from another famous architect, David Adler. Cerny was known for designing country houses.
The Snite house was one of Cerny's first homes to use modern design ideas. The house looks mostly like a châteauesque style home. This means it looks like a French castle. But it also has parts of Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles. These styles were very popular in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1940, a magazine called Architectural Record praised the house. They liked how it blended old and new styles.
New Owners and Recognition
Snite sold the house in 1947. He moved to Wilmette and then Winnetka, Illinois. Later, in 1972, he retired to La Jolla, California.
The Harris family bought the Deere Park house in 1947. R. Niesen Harris was a leader at a chemical products company. He was also a well-known socialite. He hosted famous people like Doris Day, Cary Grant, Louis Armstrong, and Debbie Reynolds at the house. In 1956, the Harris family made the property bigger. They also added a few things, including a fallout shelter.
The house was officially recognized by the National Park Service. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 19, 2003. John Snite's ship, The Bagheera, is now in Portland, Maine. It was also recognized as historically important on November 4, 2009.
