John S. Van Bergen - Career

Career

John Van Bergen began his career as an apprentice draftsman working with Walter Burley Griffin in 1907. Van Bergen's father has been friends with Griffin's father for many years and when the young architect needed a draftsman in his office, in January 1907, he took on Van Bergen as an apprentice. Late in his life Van Bergen recalled Griffin as "not only a skillfully trained architect but also a great teacher for me. He had no end of patience for a very poor draftsman." Van Bergen also found the training he received under Griffin useful, recounting in 1966:

Training I had with Walter couldn't have been better for me as I was the only one in his office and I had to do something of everything. Walter took great pains in explaining things to me - pains that no other architect ever took.

Van Bergen remained with Griffin as his only apprentice until October 1908. After he left Griffin's office Van Bergen enrolled in Chicago Technical College to work toward his architectural license, at the same time he went to work for E.E. Roberts, an architect closely associated with the Prairie School. In 1909 he left Chicago Technical College and began working with architect Frank Lloyd Wright. He joined Wright before he was a licensed architect and went to work in his studio. Van Bergen was the last architect added to Wright's studio and while there he was put in charge of finishing many Frank Lloyd Wright projects. Working for Wright he did working drawings and was supervisor for the Robie House and the Mrs. Thomas Gale House. Van Bergen designed many Prairie style residences in and around Chicago, especially in the suburbs of Oak Park and River Forest. Of the architects closely associated with Wright, Van Bergen and Francis Conroy Sullivan were the two least known. Van Bergen's work was very much cast in a similar manner to that of Wright's early Prairie work and some of Van Bergen's designs are among the most striking within the school. When Wright left for Europe in late 1909 Van Bergen, along with Isabel Roberts, remained behind to close Wright's studio and help end the Oak Park, Illinois phase of Wright's career. After Van Bergen left Wright's studio he briefly worked for another former Wright employee, William Eugene Drummond.

He received his architect's license in 1911, left Drummond's practice, and started his own practice. Van Bergen's first design commission was for the Elizabeth Manson House in Oak Park. The permit for the home was dated August 9, 1911, and the permit for the garage, which Van Bergen also designed was dated December 30, 1911. The original garage has since been replaced. While the interior design is still immature the home's massing and flow already have the unique subtlety characteristic of Van Bergen's work.

Little research has been done on Van Bergen's career because a 1964 fire destroyed his Santa Barbara, California home along with many of his architectural drawings and records. For many years the assumption by those who studied the Prairie School was that there were few records of Van Bergen's work thus the search would be fruitless. Despite this fire, researchers are rediscovering Van Bergen's work, much of which still remains standing.