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NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions.

1. Name of Property Historic name: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House Other names/site number: ______________________________________

Name of related multiple property listing: Residential Planning & Development in Indiana, 1940-1973 (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing ____________________________________________________________________________

2. Location Street & number: 1102 Northwood Drive City or town: Nappanee State: IN County: Elkhart Not For Publication: Vicinity:

____________________________________________________________________________ 3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this x nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property x meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance: ___national ___statewide x local

Applicable National Register Criteria: __A ___B x C ___D

Signature of certifying official/Title: Date Indiana DNR-Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government

In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria.

Signature of commenting official: Date

Title : State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House Elkhart County, IN Name of Property County and State

Sections 1-6 page 2

______________________________________________________________________________

4. National Park Service Certification I hereby certify that this property is: entered in the National Register determined eligible for the National Register determined not eligible for the National Register removed from the National Register other (explain:) _____________________

______________________________________________________________________ Signature of the Keeper Date of Action

____________________________________________________________________________ 5. Classification

Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply.)

Private:

Public – Local

Public – State

Public – Federal

Category of Property (Check only one box.)

Building(s)

District

Site

Structure

Object

x

x


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Number of Resources within Property (Do not include previously listed resources in the count)

Contributing Noncontributing 1 1 buildings

0 0 sites 0 1 structures 0 0 objects 1 2 Total

Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register 0 ____________________________________________________________________________

6. Function or Use Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions.)

DOMESTIC: single family ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________

Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions.)

DOMESTIC: single family ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________


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_____________________________________________________________________________

7. Description

Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions.) OTHER: Contemporary OTHER: Shed Style ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________

Materials: (enter categories from instructions.) foundation: CONCRETE walls: WOOD: Weatherboard STONE: Granite roof: ASPHALT other: ________________________ ________________________

Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style, method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has historic integrity.) ______________________________________________________________________________ Summary Paragraph The Richard and Susan Pletcher House was constructed in 1968 in a rather typical subdivision of the late 1960s on the north edge of Nappanee. The home is atypical of local houses constructed during this time, as it reflects contemporary architecture rather than more common Ranch or modern examples of revival styles. The one-story house features broad, modified salt-box style roofs, large rooms with ample daylight from floor-to-ceiling windows, clerestory windows and skylights, and an unusual installation of wood siding on both interior and exterior walls. The home has an addition, 1974, that was planned as part of the original design. Both were designed by Michigan-based architect, Robert Holdeman, whose design for the home was influenced by the area’s vernacular farm buildings.


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_____________________________________________________________________________ Narrative Description Richard and Susan Pletcher selected a large double-lot location in the newer Northwood Subdivision on the north edge of Nappanee to construct their home. The subdivision was platted over a wooded area in 1965. The Pletcher House occupies two lots on a slight curve in Northwood Drive at its intersection with Arbor Court (a cul-de-sac road). Several mature trees are located on the nicely-landscaped property. The original house was constructed in 1968. A minor remodeling project created a small room in the attic over the garage in about 1972. The house was expanded to the southwest (back) in 1974 using the original drawings. Low walls composed of granite fieldstone create borders for landscaping and walkways around the house and connect the outside with the interior. For example, the master bath features a boulder stone wall that is also visible on the exterior. Large Craftsman/Oriental-style lanterns are atop several corners of the low wall. The Pletchers added an in-ground swimming pool, wood pool house, and concrete terrace off the north side of the house in 1978. These last features are considered non-contributing. The pool area is surrounded by a wood-louvered privacy fence. Worked into the landscape is a pile of fieldstone in the northwest corner of the property. This pile was discarded stone in the corner of a fencerow from a field of the original Stahley Farm from which the subdivision was created (lower left corner of photo 0006). The home and addition were designed by Robert L. Holdeman of Michigan. The home’s foundation and framing were undertaken by Red Pippenger, a local builder. Richard Pletcher acted as the general contractor on the house. The house faces slightly northeast, but for purposes of this nomination, the description of the front façade shall indicate it as facing east, the back as facing west, and the north and south facades facing those cardinal directions. Exterior (photographs 0001-0007) The house is generally composed of three large pavilions with modified salt-box style roofs connected by a central core with a flat roof with skylights. The modified version of the salt-box style roof features a long back slope, seeming to emerge from the ground, and a very short section of what would be the typical front slope of the salt-box roof. These front and back slopes are reversed from typical salt-box roof construction. The pavilions are juxtaposed, which allows the one-story house to have varying gables and a provision for clerestory windows in the tall sides of the pavilions (photo 0001). The house has a concrete and concrete block foundation and the walls are covered with vertical boards. The installation of the siding is akin to clapboards, but vertical, though still overlapping like typical clapboard construction. This unusual design and installation provides for what may appear as nearly a flat surface from one perspective, but then creates a repetition of shadows from another perspective (photo 0003). This feature is carried into the house on select walls. The house has a variety of wood window and door fenestration including large, nearly floor-to-ceiling, sliding patio doors, casement windows, and clerestory windows. The exterior walls are topped by simple cornice and rake boards. The eaves, which have very little overhang, are


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trimmed with tall fascia boards. The pitched roofs are covered with asphalt shingles. Skylights dominate the flat-roofed area over the core of the house (photo 0007). The front façade features a concrete drive at its north end, leading to an attached garage, and a wide sidewalk broken up by a series of three steps, that leads up to the south, then turns toward the west/entry in the south half of the façade (photo 0001). The sidewalk has a low stone wall on its west and south sides. These also form borders for landscaping between the house and sidewalk (photo 0002). The garage steps out to the east and features a wide, deeply-recessed garage door. The door, composed of four horizontal sections, is centered in the wall. Lanterns flank the recessed door opening. The façade south of the garage features two large pairs of casement windows (nearer the garage) and a pair of smaller casement windows (photo 0002). Two square, flat skylights are in the roof above the large casements. The entry is deeply recessed south of the smaller pair of casement windows. It is located in the flat-roofed section that forms the core of the house. It has a wood door with a full window and a side-lite (on its south side). A plastered bulkhead and soffit are above the entry. The remaining front façade south of the entry is the gable-end of one of the salt-box pavilions of the house. Its tall side faces toward the entry; the wall has no fenestration. The south façade features a long, low stone wall that encloses a concrete terrace. The wall encloses the east end of the terrace, then steps out to form a large square planter near its west end before it steps back in toward the house at its west end. The south façade features two pairs of large wood patio doors in its east half (the short wall of the salt-box volume, photo 0003). A flat, rectangular skylight is in the roof between the pairs of doors. A deeply-recessed bay is west of the salt-box section and is covered by a flat roof (seen in the middle of photo 0004). This bay is composed of a pair of wide patio doors with a wide side-lite in its east end. The bay has a tall, plastered bulkhead and soffit. The west end of the south façade is the gable-end of the 1974 addition of the third salt-box volume (left side of photo 0004). Its tall wall faces the recessed bay. Two tall windows are stacked just west of the gable’s peak. The lower window is a casement and the upper window in the gable is fixed. The east-facing wall of this back section (facing into the recessed bay area) also has a casement and upper window stacked above it. The west façade features the back wall of the 1974 addition which is the short wall of the third salt-box volume. The façade features a tall window composed of stained art glass shards in mortar that is centered in its north half (seen in the right side of interior photograph 0021). Centered in the back façade is an atrium-like feature that projects outward (photo 0005). Its north end is covered with fieldstone and features a glass roof (this is the master bath area). The remaining two-thirds of the atrium is divided into wood windows that wrap around its south end. The floor-to-ceiling windows (three facing west and one facing south) are divided into a short sash at the bottom and tall sash on top. This part of the atrium also has a glass roof. No fenestration is located in the back façade south of the atrium (seen in the left side of photo 0004). The north façade features a wide terrace of concrete squares flanked by two of the salt-box pavilions’ gable-ends (garage/front to the east and addition to the west, left and right sides of photo 0006). Centered between, and deeply-recessed, is the flat-roofed core area of the house (photo 0007). The north façade faces the in-pool area, which is partially obscured from view


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inside the home by a low stone wall along the north edge of the original terrace. The gable-end wall of the garage does not have fenestration. The pool’s privacy fence intersects the wall near its high point/ridge line (seen in the left side of photo 0006). The west-facing wall of this section (facing toward the terrace) features a wood door with a full window near its south end. A row of eight casement windows is in the top of this wall and are located in the c. 1972 renovation to add a room in the garage attic space. The gable-end wall of the 1974 addition features two tall windows stacked west of center in the gable’s peak. The lower window is a casement and the upper window in the gable is fixed. The east-facing wall of this back section (facing into the terrace) has a wide pair of sliding patio doors with an equally wide clerestory window in the wall above it. The remaining part of this north façade features two wide, sliding patio doors and three floor-to-ceiling windows across the full-width of the recessed area (photo 0007). A tall, plastered bulkhead and soffit are over the doors. From this view, two gabled skylights are seen located atop the flat-roofed core section. A tall, stone chimney projects up through the flat roof between the skylights. Interior The home’s assembly of three primary pavilions around a central core becomes the main organizing feature of the house. Each of these has been described as a “salt-box” volume and feature raked ceilings covered with clapboards. These pavilions contain the following spaces: the front pavilion contains the kitchen, breakfast room, and garage; the south pavilion contains two bedrooms and baths; the back pavilion (1974 addition) contains a “leisure room” and master suite. All three pavilions’ short wall faces out and the tall wall faces in toward the central core. These tall walls have clerestory windows that provide light back into the pavilions’ living areas. The central core has a flat roof that connects to, and sometimes extends between, these pavilions. The core includes the front entry, dining and living rooms which are divided by a large stone fireplace, and a study in its south end. The front part of the house, which is the pavilion that includes the garage at its north end, is bounded by the recessed entry to its south. The kitchen and a butler’s pantry, which is arranged like a galley kitchen, is in the south end of the pavilion. The butler’s pantry projects into the dining room and has a central hallway through it that leads between the dining room and kitchen. Off the north side of the kitchen is a breakfast room (left side of photo 0011). A laundry closet with wood accordion doors is in the west wall of the breakfast room (photo 0012). A door to the garage is in the north wall of the breakfast room. Because this space is open to the roof pitch, the walls creating the kitchen, pantry and laundry closet are capped with wood. The space above the pantry and laundry closet is covered with a shed roof-like cap that is covered with clapboards. An L-shaped staircase is off the northwest corner of the breakfast room (right side of photo 0012). It was created about 1972 to provide access to a room carved out of the attic of the garage (photo 0013). The room functions as a studio or sitting room with a small alcove seat in its south end. The walls and ceilings in this part of the house are drywall. The south part of the house, which is the pavilion that is perpendicular to the front part, contains two bedrooms and a shared bathroom with a skylight. Bedrooms are in the east and west ends of the pavilion and the bathroom is between. A small alcove is off the main hall of the central core


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and connects to the bathroom and bedrooms. Large wood wardrobe closets are located in the bedrooms, against the bathroom walls (photo 0015). Both bedrooms have sliding patio doors that open to the terrace on the south side of the house (photo 0014). The west bedroom has a wall of mirrors opposite the patio doors. A shed roof-like feature, covered with clapboards, extends across the full-width of the bedrooms’ north wall just below the clerestory area (seen in photo 0015). The clerestory wall and the ceiling are covered with clapboards. The addition created to the back of the house in 1974 continued the theme of the salt-box pavilions. It opens directly off the main hall leading from the entry foyer, past the dining and living rooms, to a passageway at the back of the house (photo 0017). Directly from the passageway, which is composed of custom glass and wood bi-fold doors and side-lites, is an atrium with glass walls and ceiling (left side of photo 0018). The south end of the addition has two steps down into a leisure room (photo 0016, titled per the architect’s drawing). A ledge continues along the east side of this space at the same level (and material) of the floor entering the addition. It is lit from underneath and becomes a floating bench seat for the space. The walls and ceilings of this area are covered with clapboards (vertically installed on the walls). The bulkhead/roof from the central core was left intact when the addition was created and forms a strong horizontal feature, covered with plaster, with soffit lights (photos 0016-0018). Clerestory windows are above it. The master suite features a large bedroom in the north end of the addition with a pair of closets and a dressing table in the south part of the bedroom (photos 0020-0021). The closet walls are capped with wood and do not extend to the raked ceiling. The walls in the bedroom are drywall. A bathroom is centrally located in the addition with a hallway that links the leisure room to the master suite on the east side of the bathroom. The bathroom has entrances from the hallway and master suite. It features a step down tub and a sunken shower with a tile floor. The shower walls are fieldstone and it has a glass ceiling matching that of the atrium (photo 0019). The central core connects each of the three pavilions and while it does not have a raked ceiling, the expansive use of glass patio doors and skylights makes the space feel very light (photos 0009-0010). The walls surrounding the core area are covered with vertical clapboards and the ceiling is drywall. The entry foyer is in the east end of this central core which squeezes between the intersection of the front and south pavilions (background of photo 0008). The foyer contains a coat closet concealed into the wood-planked south wall and its north wall is covered with mirrors which gives the illusion the foyer is double its width. A wide hall extends between the foyer and the back of the house, through a passage into the leisure room of the addition (photos 0008, 0017). The dining and living rooms are off the north side of the hall and a study is off the southwest corner of the hall. Only a large stone fireplace creates definition between the living and dining rooms and forms a narrow wall on the north side of the hall (photo 0009). This narrow wall opens into an alcove of open shelving between two pillars of stone. Custom, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that are open to both sides function as a wall between the study and the hall (right side of photo 0008). Opposite the bookshelves are patio doors to a terrace off the south side of the house. The dining room area features a wide, recessed buffet alcove in its east wall and the back of the stone fireplace (no opening) in its west wall (photo 0010). A large gabled skylight is centered in the space (north-to-south). The living room features a large stone fireplace with a raised concrete hearth and tall concrete lintel at the top of its opening in the


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room’s east side (photo 0009). The fireplace extends up through the ceiling and forms the east end of the gabled skylight which is centered in the room (east-to-west). The living and dining rooms also connect around the north side of the fireplace, which has a matching alcove of open shelving in its north wall. The entire north wall of the living/dining area is composed of glass patio doors that open onto the terrace overlooking the pool area (seen in photos 0007, 0010). The interior’s wall and ceiling finishes have been described previously. The floors are covered with carpet except in the entry foyer, atrium area of the addition, kitchen and breakfast room. These areas have wood parquet floors (photo 0016). Wood trim throughout the house is minimal and blends seamlessly with the clapboard-covered walls and ceilings. Rake boards follow the tops of the walls connected to the vaulted ceilings (see photo 0015). Narrow wood trim is around doors and windows located in walls with drywall finish. Doors are simple, solid flat cathedral-cut mahogany without panels. Custom wood kitchen, bath and dressing room cabinetry features flat drawer and cabinet doors (photo 0011). Original hardware and recessed can lighting are throughout the home.


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_________________________________________________________________ 8. Statement of Significance

Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register listing.)

A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the

broad patterns of our history.

B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.

C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.

D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.

Criteria Considerations (Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)

A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes

B. Removed from its original location

C. A birthplace or grave

D. A cemetery

E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure

F. A commemorative property

G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years

X

X


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Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions.) ARCHITECTURE ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________

Period of Significance 1968-1974 ___________________ ___________________

Significant Dates ___________________ ___________________ ___________________

Significant Person (last name, first name) (Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.) ___________________ ___________________ ___________________

Cultural Affiliation ___________________ ___________________ ___________________

Architect/Builder (last name, first name) Holdeman, Robert L. Pippenger, Red ___________________


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Period of Significance (justification) The period of significance begins when the home was constructed for the Pletcher Family, in 1968. It ends in 1974 when an originally intended portion was constructed on the back of the home. This was a provision in the original drawings and was designed by the same architect as the original house. Criteria Considerations (explanation, if necessary) The house was architecturally distinguished from other recent housing in Nappanee when the Pletchers occupied it in 1968. Its somewhat modular configuration allowed the Pletchers to use the house for several years before the family completed the architect’s intended design by adding a shed-roofed rear wing in 1974. Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any applicable criteria considerations.) The Richard and Susan Pletcher House is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places using criterion C under the area of architecture for significance. The home is an excellent example of contemporary architecture of the 1960s by an architect who used contextual influence of agrarian, vernacular buildings for inspiration. Three “salt-box style” pavilions are rotated around a central core with glass walls and a flat roof. Low terrace and landscape walls composed of fieldstone are carried into the design of the home’s large, central fireplace and master shower wall. The home’s contemporary design in a small, rural, mostly agricultural and manufacturing town, further establishes the home’s architecture as significant in its suburban setting of mostly Ranch houses. The Pletchers completed the originally intended 1968 design by adding a rear wing in 1974. Richard Pletcher is the grandson of Clayton Pletcher, who founded the family’s successful furniture store in Nappanee in 1932. The family operated Pletcher Furniture Store until 1995. The Pletcher House meets the registration requirements established in the MPDF, Residential Planning and Development in Indiana, 1940-1973. In particular, the house meets the registration requirements for property type 2, single-family residential dwelling, subtype, custom house (pp. 278-289 of the MPDF). The house is an architect-designed Shed Style house with all key architectural features intact. ______________________________________________________________________________ Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of significance.) ARCHITECTURE There are several historical architectural precedents and influences at play in the Pletcher House. Originating from the Modern architecture movement as an organizing principle for both plan and


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façade, the house also reflects a contextual relationship to its agrarian community. The evolution of Modern architecture and these other Mid-Century influences that produced the Pletcher House are discussed here. Modern architecture is largely an outgrowth of ideas made popular by Europe’s leading architects of the early to mid-twentieth century. Le Corbusier, Gropius, and Mies van der Rohe were all pioneers and well-known purveyors of Modern architecture, particularly the International Style. The style came to the United States during the 1930’s with practitioners who emigrated to escape turmoil in Europe. In 1932 the Museum of Modern Art in New York City first exhibited the style to the American public. The companion book to the exhibit, The International Style: Architecture Since 1922, was likely the first to coin the style and its features for the U.S. public. The return to construction after World War II and the design influence of the émigrés before, during and shortly after the war fostered the development of Modern architecture in the United States. While Americans were building in styles revived from early European precedents, European architects were experimenting with new and innovative building materials. The structural capabilities of concrete, steel, and glass were tested during this period. This led to the design of buildings with simple skeletal frames and walls that were hung like mere structural skin between the floors.1 Mies van der Rohe was possibly the best known architect to popularize this building technique, particularly related to the glass box appearance of his designs. Mies was one of the primary proponents of the International Style in the United States after his emigration to the country. His design philosophy was largely disseminated during the 1940s and 1950s from the Illinois Institute of Technology campus, which he redesigned to fit this new architectural concepts.2 Modern architecture often celebrated the structural frame and architects paid careful attention to the treatment of windows and the interaction glass walls had with the landscape outside the building. Windows were considered the most conspicuous features of modern exterior design. By treating windows with light, simple frames the window became less “a mere hole in the wall” than a related expression of the structure and wall curtain the style promoted.3 Terraces and roof planes were used to extend the buildings beyond their walled boundaries. Modern architects’ plans often treated interior walls as mere screens to allow the plan to be compliant to the function of the building. The concept of a flowing interior space, versus enclosed singular rooms, was a part of the movement. Separation could be achieved with screening, and the screening, depending on the use of materials or sheer size, could provide a hierarchy for use of the space.4 In the Pletcher House, the use of juxtaposed, enclosed pavilions accentuated by long-sloped salt-box style roofs is a reflection of Neo-Expressionism, particularly as viewed from the home’s north façade (photo 0006). If the house were absent these pavilions, the home would be an example of the International Style with its flat roof, broad floor-to-ceiling glass openings, and the 1 McAlester, pg. 469-470 2 Curtis, pg. 261 3 Hitchcock, pg. 46-47 4 Hitchcock, pg. 87


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use of the central fireplace as a focal point to the whole (photo 0007). The architect’s use of these pavilions, derived from an interpretation of vernacular agricultural buildings, is a form of expressionism. However, the Pletcher House may best be qualified as what Virginia Savage McAlester describes loosely as Contemporary style in A Field Guide to American Houses, second edition. McAlester states that the moving force of the style, particularly its residential expression, can be attributed to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian architecture. Wright’s use of natural materials, in forms built close to the ground, included open floor plans with a free flow of interior space (sans bathrooms and bedrooms). The homes featured important visual interplay between indoor and outdoor spaces.5 Wright promoted the design principles for Contemporary architecture through magazines and books. The development of Usonian architecture, and later “Shed Architecture” originating in California, provided a new way to engage the house in the native landscape. Many critics cite the stir created by designs for houses and a condominium at Sea Ranch, Sonoma County, California as a key influence in the development of the Shed Style. Charles Moore, Joseph Esherick, and others designed buildings at Sea Ranch in the mid-1960s. For the Shed Style, the most important stylistic feature became the large shed roof that offered the opportunity to create bands of clerestory windows at the top of the walls. The shed form itself can be traced to non-residential buildings of farmsteads and western mines, however, the organization of multiple boxes places side-by-side with large planes of angular roofs, was a new interpretation of this vernacular during the 1950s-1960s. By the early 1950s, Wright’s ideas became mainstream in American residential construction. However, these homes were often resisted by lending institutions who preferred the more standardized, but also contemporary, Ranch houses and other traditional designs. Slanted roofs and non-traditional use of glazing through curtain walls or clerestory spaces was seen as risky, particularly with the Federal Housing Authority, who preferred standard features such as double-hung windows with shutters.6 The Pletcher House, through the architect’s use of materials, forms, and fenestration, is at its heart an acknowledgement of the interplay of the naturally-wooded landscape of its suburban lot with the interior of the home. This was accomplished through several means, maybe first of which is the use of the low fieldstone walls that create borders for the entry walk and terraces around the house (photos 0002-0003). This feature allows the house to be grounded to the site with natural stone, and in some respects, emerge from the slightly raised location in which the house is situated. Furthering this concept is the long, extended slope toward the ground around the house from the three enclosed pavilions’ low-walled sides (photo 0001). Where these three pavilions do not touch, the central part of the house opens up to the exterior (photos 0002, 0007). This is done at the entry, study, and across the full-width of the living and dining rooms toward the north terrace. Here the line between interior and exterior is nearly obliterated by the use of glass. This central part of the house features a flat roof with a plastered bulkhead that provides the only definition between indoor and outdoor space due to the expanse of glazing (photo 0007). As a method to connect the exterior stone walls to the interior, the architect selected fieldstone for the home’s main focal point, a massive stone fireplace centered in the core between the living

5 McAlester, pg. 646 6 McAlester, pg. 646


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and dining rooms (photos 0009-0010). This feature’s prominence is noted on the north façade (photo 0007), and in the living room as it extends through the roof and the eye is drawn upward through a skylight (photo 0009). Stone is again repeated in an open, sunken shower in the master suite which is topped by a glass atrium roof (photo 0005, 0019). Maybe one of the more unusual aspects of the house is the use of redwood clapboards. While clapboard siding itself is not unusual, the vertical installation of it, both interior and exterior on the enclosed pavilions, creates an interesting shadowing effect as the siding is overlapped just as it would be in traditional horizontal installation (photos 0001-0003). The interior walls that are covered with the siding often continue to the exterior, breaking through the glass fabric created to link the pavilions together (photos 0008, 0018). Closet doors in the main hall are disguised by their covering of this siding, and its use is repeated atop shed roof-like bulkheads in bedrooms and the laundry closet (photos 0012, 0015). Richard (Dick) Pletcher selected an old childhood friend, Robert (Bob) Holdeman to design the home for him and his wife, Susan. Holdeman is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s School of Architecture and resides in Traverse City, Michigan. Both Pletcher and Holdeman were drawn to the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. Pletcher had an interest in architecture and completed design solutions for some of his family’s properties. Holdeman’s first job was with Hartford Field & Associates in Traverse City. Hartford was from Chicago while his associate, Bob Bell, had practiced out of Alden Dow’s office in Midland, Michigan. Dow, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, designed the William & Helen Koerting House on the Elkhart River, Elkhart County, in 1937. Bell was highly influenced by Dow, who then in turn mentored Holdeman. Pletcher and Holdeman collaborated for the design of the home, following many of Wright’s Usonian principles including the organic, open floor plan, pitched roofs and pitched ceilings. Extensive use of redwood siding, and fieldstone from Pletcher’s grandmother’s barn was used for a grand central fireplace (photo 0009). Contextually, the design mimicked some of the area’s agricultural buildings. Specifically, the salt-box roof form was borrowed from Amish-Mennonite church buggy sheds found throughout Elkhart County. This was balanced with the broad flat-roofed core of the home. The three salt-box forms (pavilions) composing the Pletcher House appear to suspend the core’s flat roof, while the walls below are large expanses of glass (photos 0006-0007). Besides the general composition of the home, and the use of redwood clapboards and fieldstone, several other architectural features are of note. The floor plan’s alignment of the main hall through the house is significant in its connection to the large open rooms of the living and dining areas, while still implying a strong axial relationship from the front entry foyer, through the custom passageway of the addition, and out the atrium (photos 0008, 0017). The original kitchen cabinetry, as well as other custom cabinetry of Coppes Nappanee Kitchen, is architecturally important in its flat/flush construction of drawers and doors (right side of photo 0011). Other custom work throughout the house includes the bookshelves created to form a loose separation between the hall and the study on the south side of the house (right side of photo 0008). The leisure room’s wonderful horizontal lines formed by the sunken living space and bench seat (a


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continuation of the main floor level) and the bulkhead from the penetration of the flat roof of the core, are visually important (photo 0016). The use of clerestory windows and skylights elevate the view to the large mature trees of the lot (photos 0010, 0017). The landscaped terrace includes 4’ x 4’ patio blocks that adhere to an overall grid the house is laid out upon (photo 0007). Richard and Susan Pletcher continue to live at the home they constructed for themselves in 1968 and remain active in their Nappanee community.


Sections 9-end page 17

Comparables The Elkhart County Historic Sites & Structures Inventory (2005) identifies a few examples of mid-20th century architecture in Nappanee and Union and Locke Townships (nearest to the Pletcher House). These are mostly exceptional examples of Ranch houses constructed during the 1950s. Two Ranch homes are identified at 301 Broad Avenue and 151 East Centennial Street in Nappanee. The Nappanee Church of the Brethren at 301 Mack Drive is noted as a good example of Modern Architecture (1959, Alves O’Keefe of Plymouth, IN). These are the only references to post-1950 architecture. The Northwood Subdivision has a wide collection of contemporary Ranch houses, but none that fall into the category of the Pletcher House. One of the best comparable local examples of contemporary architecture is located between Nappanee and Bremen to the west in a wooded subdivision known as Donnybrook (in Marshall County). The former home of Indiana Governor Otis R. Bowen (1972-1980) has some similar use of materials, particularly related to the large fieldstone fireplace, and in its adaptation of vernacular agrarian architecture as the inspiration for its construction. “The Lodge” as it was known, was built c. 1974 and would be considered an example of modern rustic architecture created with old barn beams and board and batten siding. The more urbanized areas of northern Elkhart County, such as the cities of Elkhart and Goshen, would have additional examples of Contemporary architecture of this period. Part of the significance of the Pletcher House’s architecture relies on the rarity of the home’s style and infrequency of architect-created plans in the more rural areas of Elkhart County. Bob Holdeman & Dick Pletcher collaborations in the region Richard and Susan Pletcher are the owners of one of Northern Indiana’s premier tourist attractions and living historical farmsteads. In 1968, Richard joined his father and other investors in the purchase of the Moses Stahley farmstead (1873) west of Nappanee. The farmstead was restored and has been open to the public for 50 years. The original farmstead of this major Midwest tourist attraction was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and Amish Acres has grown to include other historic buildings including the Aker Round Barn (Round Barn Theater). Robert Holdeman was called upon to assist in design of the master plan and other facilities of Amish Acres. Richard Pletcher served on the Nappanee Public Library Board, during which time he brought Holdeman back to Nappanee to design the library’s construction project in the mid-1980s. In 2015, the new library wing was named in Pletcher’s honor. Pletcher and Holdeman also collaborated on the restoration of the National Register-listed YMCA building in downtown Elkhart. The 1933 building was designed by local architect E. Hill Turnock. Pletcher also encouraged officials to consider restoration of the Village at Winona Lake (Indiana) and recommended Bob Holdeman’s services be used again. Holdeman consulted on master planning restoration of the village and designed restoration activity for the large Winona Hotel, part of the National Register-listed Winona Lake Historic District. Developmental History/Additional historic context information



______________________________________________________________________________ 9. Major Bibliographical References

Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)

Curtis, William J. R. Modern Architecture Since 1900. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1982. Hitchcock, Henry-Russell & Johnson, Phillip, The International Style: Architecture Since 1922. New York, NY. W.W. Norton, 1932. Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Inventory. Elkhart County Interim Report. Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, 2005. McAlester, Virginia & Lee. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013. Pletcher, Richard. The Pletcher House Request for Determination of Eligibility. 2018

___________________________________________________________________________ Previous documentation on file (NPS): ____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested ____ previously listed in the National Register ____ previously determined eligible by the National Register ____ designated a National Historic Landmark ____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #____________ ____ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # __________ ____ recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ___________ Primary location of additional data: ____ State Historic Preservation Office ____ Other State agency ____ Federal agency ____ Local government ____ University ____ Other Name of repository: _____________________________________ Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): N/A



______________________________________________________________________________

10. Geographical Data

Acreage of Property Less than one acre

Use the UTM system UTM References Datum (indicated on USGS map):

NAD 1927 or NAD 1983

1. Zone: 16 Easting: 583564 Northing: 4589365

2. Zone: Easting: Northing:

3. Zone: Easting: Northing:

4. Zone: Easting : Northing:

Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.) The property is platted as lots 24 and 25 of Northwood Second Addition to the City of Nappanee. Beginning at the northwest corner of Arbor Court (a short cul-de-sac drive) and Northwood Drive, face southwest and follow the circular right-of-way of Arbor Court approximately 125’ to the southwest corner of 1102 Northwood Drive. Turn northwest and follow the west property line of 1102 Northwood Drive approximately 175’ to its northwest corner. Then turn northeast and follow the north property line approximately 170’ to the northeast corner which is at the west right-of-way line for Northwood Drive. Turn southeast and follow the west right-of-way line approximately 176’ to the intersection with Arbor Court, or the place of beginning. Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)

The boundaries described include the two platted lots purchased by the Pletchers for the construction of their home in 1968. The naturally-landscaped lots provide the context from which the architect created his design for the home.

x



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11. Form Prepared By name/title: Kurt West Garner organization: KW Garner Consulting street & number: 12954 6th Road city or town: Plymouth state: IN zip code: 46563 e-mail: [email protected] telephone: 574-936-0613 date: June 22, 2018 ___________________________________________________________________________

Additional Documentation Submit the following items with the completed form:

• Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's

location.

• Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Key all photographs to this map.

• Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.) Photographs Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 3000x2000 at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every photograph. Photo Log Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018



Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking southwest toward house/garage 1 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking west toward front entry/front facade 2 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking northwest toward front and south facades 3 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking east toward south facade 4 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner



Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking north toward back (west) facade 5 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking southeast toward north facade 6 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking south toward central core/north terrace 7 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking east toward entry foyer from hall near study 8 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana



Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking northeast toward living room/fireplace from hall 9 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking north into dining room from hall 10 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking east into kitchen and breakfast room from pantry 11 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking west toward laundry closet and stairs 12 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee



County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking north in sitting room/studio above garage 13 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking southwest from west bedroom into terrace 14 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking northwest in east bedroom 15 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking northeast in leisure room toward passageway into hall 16 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House



City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking east toward entry foyer from atrium/leisure room 17 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking north toward atrium in leisure room 18 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking west into sunken shower in master suite 19 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking southeast in master bedroom toward dressing area 20 of 21. Name of Property: Pletcher, Richard and Susan, House



City or Vicinity: Nappanee County: Elkhart State: Indiana Photographer: Kurt West Garner Date Photographed: May 10, 2018 Description of Photograph(s) and number, include description of view indicating direction of camera: Looking south in master bedroom toward closets/dressing area 21 of 21.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.). Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.

Richard and Susan Pletcher House, Elkhart County, IN 0001


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