Moment in Time (December 9, 2021)

A popular architectural style at the turn of the century was the American Craftsman style. It was an offshoot of the 1860s era Arts and Craft movement in England that emphasized social reform, a return to traditional simplicity over gaudy historic styles, and the use of local natural materials. The American architectural adaptation was a response to what was felt was the “over-decorated” Victorian style that had been liberally used in the U.S. at that time.

This home at 1080 Wyandotte Road, on the bluff at Wyandotte and Goodale, was designed by Frank Packard for Eugene Gray and his wife Mabel in 1901. The front of the house (main photo) provided an unobstructed vista because the entry was from Wyandotte to the back of the house (inset photo).

The American Arts and Crafts movement shared many of the same goals as the British movement. The name "Craftsman" was appropriated from furniture maker Gustav Stickley, whose magazine The Craftsman was first published in 1901. The magazine was an important vehicle for promoting Arts and Crafts philosophy, as well as the products of his furniture factory, within the context of articles, reviews, and advertisements for a range of products of interest to the homemaker.

Stickley had an international reputation as an American furniture manufacturer and designer. His furniture reflected his ideals of simplicity, honesty in construction, and truth to materials. Unadorned, plain surfaces were enlivened by the careful application of colorants so as not to obscure the grain of the wood, and mortise-and-tenon joinery was exposed to emphasize the structural qualities of the works. Hammered metal hardware, in polished iron or patinated copper emphasized the handmade qualities of furniture that was fabricated using both hand-working techniques and modern woodworking machinery.

Through his magazine Stickley expressed the importance of "humane design in the industrial age, designs that were utilitarian and organic, using simple materials and construction". A frequent contributor to the magazine from its inception was prolific Columbus architect Frank L. Packard. Stickley called Packard “a friend to the [Arts and Craft] movement” and one of the first architects to incorporate the American taste and integration of the environment to his designs. Stickley described him as “an artistic architect and a pioneer in the building of dwellings from local materials in harmony with the landscape“.

Stickley described the relationship between Packard’s design and his own approach to furniture design. For example, all of the oak and poplar, wood that Stickley commonly used in his furniture, was left unplaned and stained or whitewashed on the exterior, and just stained and finished with a wax coating on the interior. Walls were painted in earth tones, and wood pins and dovetail joints (a common Stickley furniture feature) were often used by Packard for woodwork and doors.

In 1901, Packard designed the stone house at 1080 Wyandotte Road in Grandview on the knoll overlooking the Scioto River. The house was featured, along with several other Packard residential designs, in a 1907 issue of The Craftsman magazine. The home was built by Mr. David Gray, President of the Clinton National Bank, ostensibly for his newly married son Eugene and his bride Mabel Sturgeon, who became the owner of the very exclusive high fashion women’s store, Mrs. Eugene Gray’s, on Broad Street near Third Street in downtown Columbus. The architectural design was originally for a home that was slated to be built at 955 Urlin Ave. for Colonel George Freeman, Quartermaster of the Ohio State Arsenal, but the architectural design was sold to Gray when Freeman delayed his decision to build.

Stickley pointed out that Packard used grey stone that was found nearby in the quarries, but in order to make the house seem more like a natural formation, the mason was not allowed to cut the slabs of stone. Rather, it was laid much like the “dry-laid” stone in the fence walls that were found along Dublin Pike. The mortar was recessed, making the stone stick out in haphazard patterns. This photo of the house shows the creative stonework approach on the first floor walls, the turret, the outside terrace, and the chimneys. The same stone design was used for walls and pathway bridges on the property.

In keeping with the American Craftsman architectural influence, Packard also preferred locally obtained (hollow) brick to back the stone in the walls and to provide insulating capabilities. He liberally used oak, which was plentiful in Ohio, and the use of lines of the house that follow the contour of the property so that it appears to grow out of the ground was a common Packard design element. The second floor walls were plaster with pine timberwork to reinforce the concept of being one with the natural environment. In keeping with Stickley’s furniture design approach, Packard used door straps, hinges, lamps, and other metal ornamentation locally hammered from old wagon wheels or scrap iron. He also featured exposed beams in the ceiling, and very simple mahogany furniture. (See other Craftsman homes on the free History Walks app Eclectic Abodes tour at grandviewhistorywalks.org)