19 May a photographic study of adler and sullivan’s james charnley house interior ornament

the charnley persky house museum is both a historic house museum and headquarters to the society of architectural historians. the charnely is both a pivotal piece of modern architecture and evidence of the creative collaboration between louis sullivan and frank lloyd wright. sullivan rejected the historical details common to victorian architecture of the time in the charnley house’s design in favor of abstract forms that later became the symbols of modern architecture.

in a recent collaboration with the charnley-persky house museum and society of architectural historians, i have begun a weekly process of documenting the house museum’s interior ornament. designed by louis h sullivan and/or his junior draftsman, frank l wright , the house was completed in 1892. the rich ornamentation provides abundant fodder for research on the charnley-persky house, sullivan’s work, and groundbreaking work completed during this time. the ornament throughout the interior and exterior of the building reflects both sullivan’s love of sinuous plant forms intertwined with underlying geometric forms and wright’s variations of these themes. as part of this documentation process, i am also conducting research on the materials, methods and identification of the tradesmen and companies that executed and installed the ornament in the house. this research endeavor will involve multiple methods to demystify any and all facets of the house’s interior ornament.

the following gallery offers a glimpse of interior ornament located primarily in rooms on the first floor, providing crucial detail necessary to address and generate research questions about the materials and methods used. these images will assist in developing a suitable framework to begin researching a greatly overlooked facet of the house.

mosaic fireplace:

leaded glass, yale & towne brass hardware, winslow ornamental ironwork, and hand-carved woodwork (oak and mahogany).

second floor staircase:

further reading: