Dana, Susan Lawrence, House - Springfield, Illinois - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The Dana House is one of Wright's masterworks of his early period--he lavished upon it all of his creative skill--and it still retains a great deal of original glass, tile and furniture, all custom made to the architect's specifications. It was the showplace of Springfield in its day and remains one of the most important examples of early 20th century architecture.

Paul Sprague writes: "One of Frank Lloyd Wright's grandest houses from his Oak Park period was designed in 1902 for the Springfield socialite Susan Lawrence Dana. Of the many rumors about her alleged eccentric personality only one, necessary to understand the"most unusual part of the house, need be cited. It is said that her father, Rheuna Lawrence, willed to her the family home in Springfield but only on the condition that she retain it in any building schemes she might entertain. When the commission came,to Wright his solution to this curious problem was to build the new house around the old, demolishing the latter as he went while preserving from the old house a single room in its original state.

Most writers on the house do not seem to know that the house was designed in 1902, and the library, three years later in 1905. The house originally terminated on the west side of the Lawrence Avenue front probably as an open porch. The library, when added, was connected to it by extending and enclosing the porch. 

Grant Manson in his Frank Lloyd Wright to 1910 has the following to say about the family: "The Lawrences had been pioneers in the settlement of central Illinois, but by the twentieth century they were off the land, living in affluence at the State capital. Only 'Mother Lawrence', kindly remembered in 'An Autobiography' for her home--made blackberry jam and salt-risen bread, retained the simple tastes of pioneer days. Her daughter, Susan Dana, was a woman of ambition and far wider outlook. She came to Wright to place the commission for a new house at Springfield which would be not merely' a residence but a family memorial and a setting for the suitable discharge of her obligations as a social leader of the community."  - National Register Nomination form

"Charles C. Thomas, a successful medical publisher, was the second owner and custodian of the Dana-Thomas House in 1944-1981. He and his wife are credited with maintaining the house's original furnishings and design, and with selling the home and its furnishings as a unit to the state of Illinois in 1981 for $1.0 million, significantly less than could have been earned had the household been broken up" - Wikipedia

The house is now the Dana-Thomas House State Historic Site.

Street address: 301 Lawrence Ave. Springfield, Illinois County / Borough / Parish: Sangamon Year listed: 1974 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1900-1924 Historic function: Domestic Current function: Recreation And Culture - Museum Privately owned?: no Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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