Clifton Wheeler House - 5317 Lowell Avenue

Year Built: 1912

Architecture Style: Arts and Crafts

Key Features:

• Large Overhanging Eaves
• Large Windows with Tracing
• Stucco Walls

Built in 1912, George E. Hoagland (1872-1959) designed the house for Clifton and Hilah Drake Wheeler, both renowned local artists. Mr. Wheeler (1883-1953) at the time taught at the John Herron Institute of Art under the direction of another Irvingtonian, William Forsyth.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler studied in Europe under some of the most eminent artists of their day. They actually met and fell in love in Europe while taking a class instructed by William Merritt Chase. Mrs. Wheeler (1878-1970) came from the prominent Drake family, who were also artists and art critics living in New York City.

The Wheelers asked their architect to design a large space to serve as a studio and classroom. Mr. Hoagland placed a tall door on the westside of the house so that large canvases could be easily moved in or out. He also placed four tall windows facing Lowell Avenue so that the artists could receive light from the north.

Wheeler painted the Circle Theatre mural of dancers. Irvington neighbor Carlos Recker was in charge of decorating the theatre and Wheeler may have gotten the commission through Recker. When the mural was restored in the 1980s, experts verified the color palette through paint containers still stored in the Wheeler’s Irvington House.