519 Ash

The impressive Prairie style home at 519 Ash was designed by notable architect Dwight Perkins.

Perkins was born in Memphis, TN in 1867 and moved to Chicago when he was four years old. While he only attended three months of high school, he gained architectural experience working at several firms as a teenager and was accepted into MIT to study architecture in 1885.

After graduation, Perkins and his wife moved back to Chicago so he could work for the architectural firm Burnham & Root. After several years of honing his craft and assuming more responsibility, he left to start his own firm in 1893.

While living in Chicago, Perkins developed relationships with several notable architects, including Lawrence Buck and Frank Lloyd Wright, all of whom had offices in Steinway Hall, which Perkins designed. That building was sadly demolished in 1970.

On his own and under several partnerships, Perkins designed several other notable buildings in Chicago. In 1905, he was appointed Chief Architect of the Chicago Board of Education and was charged with designing dozens of public schools, including the Carl Schurz High School in Irving Park, which has been described as Perkins’ “masterpiece.” He also designed the Lincoln Park Zoo’s Lion House, which is a Chicago designated landmark, and several residential structures.

In 1907, Perkins designed the Prairie style house at 519 Ash for William B. and Clara Dale.

William Dale was a successful businessman with a long career at the manufacturing company Street and Kent, which was located in the Fulton Market District in Chicago. In 1900, the couple moved to Winnetka, first living on Elm Street until the house at 519 Ash was completed.

While living at 519 Ash, the Dales were very involved in village life. William was on the village council for four years, one of the original members of the Skokie Country Club, and was secretary of the Winnetka Men’s Club before it became the Winnetka Woman’s Club. Clara was very active in the Winnetka Music Club.

The Dales lived here until the early 1930s, when they moved to a different house on Provident Ave. Despite the fact that the track depression project was completed in 1943, tragically, William Dale was struck and killed by a north-bound train at the Elm Street Station in 1947.

While the house has been updated periodically over time, most of the notable original features still remain. Known as the first truly American style, Prairie architecture is generally easy to distinguish from the popular revival styles that took many cues from European styles. This house maintains several typical Prairie elements, including the wide eaves, emphasis on horizontal lines, stucco walls, minimal ornamentation, irregular shape, and the wooden window trims The wood banding linking the sills of the second floor windows is also very typical of the style.