Andrew O. Anderson House - History

History

The Anderson House was probably designed sometime around 1913 by Oak Park, Illinois native John S. Van Bergen, the house was not built until 1916. The history of the property, on Augusta Avenue in DeKalb, and Prairie style began in 1901 when another Oak Park architect, E.E. Roberts, was commissioned to design a home on the site for A.W. Fisk. Fisk was a business manager for the Ellwood Green Percheron horse business. Local news reports hyped the project, scheduled to be built in 1902, because Roberts was a well-known architect and probably the first of the Prairie School to receive a commission in DeKalb. The project never began, and the property stood empty until 1916.

In 1916 the lot was purchased by a local clothing merchant, Andrew O. Anderson, a Swedish immigrant. Anderson lived in several locations around DeKalb including the Glidden House Hotel before he and his brother Frank decided to build homes for their respective families. Oral tradition has held that the two brothers, and business partners held a friendly wager based on which brother found a better design for their home. Anderson sought out a noted Prairie style architect after being impressed by such a home in Maywood, Illinois. The home in Maywood that had impressed Anderson was designed by Van Bergen who had worked and studied under Solon S. Beman, Roberts, and Frank Lloyd Wright. By 1916, Van Bergen would become the best "imitator" of Wright and was noted for his residential work.