Indiana Dunes National Park, IN (7-13-19)
Read MoreCentury of Progress Historic District
After our first hike we decided to drive for a bit along Lake Michigan via West Lake Shore Drive. In addition to some pretty views of the lake the road also passes through the so-called "Century of Progress Historic District". Here are located a small collection of homes that were built for the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago. Each of the homes sport a unique styling which, at the time, seemed very futuristic. The structures were moved to their current location from Chicago in 1935 and are now private residences. As such, unless you are part of an official park tour, please do not trespass and enjoy the homes from your vehicle...
Century of Progress Historic District -- Wieboldt-Rostone House
Official NPS Website Description:
"The Wieboldt-Rostone House is located on the north side of Lake Front Drive, east of Dunbar Avenue. This home was framed in steel and clad in an experimental material called Rostone. Rostone was composed of shale, limestone, and alkali. Its creators advertised that the material could be produced in a variety of colors and forms, including slabs and panels, to exact dimensions. Rostone was not as durable as originally predicted. The material had severely deteriorated by 1950. The residents repaired it by covering the Rostone with another synthetic material, a concrete stucco called Perma-stone. Visitors can still see remnants of the original Rostone surrounding the front door exterior, in the interior entrance area, and around the living room fireplace."Century of Progress Historic District -- Florida Tropical House
Official NPS Website Description:
"The Florida Tropical House lies east of the Wieboldt-Rostone House on Lake Front Drive. Miami architect Robert Law Weed, inspired by the tropical climate of Southern Florida, designed this house. Weed sought to blend the indoor and outdoor environments, bringing together a spacious two-story living room, with overhanging balcony, and large open terraces on the roof. The original specifications called for poured concrete walls, however, to save money, the house was framed in wood, and finished with a lightweight concrete stucco. The bright pink house became a well-known landmark for mariners."Century of Progress Historic District -- Armco Ferro House
Official NPS Website Description:
"The Armco-Ferro House is the only remaining house from the fair that met the Fair Committee's design criteria; a house that could be mass-produced and was affordable for the average American family. This seemingly frameless house boasts a revolutionary construction system: corrugated steel panels that are bolted together. This system resembles a typical cardboard box; it could be placed on its bottom, side, or top without damaging the structure. The corrugated panels are clad with porcelain-enameled steel panels produced by the Ferro Enamel Corporation. This construction system later provided the inspiration for the post World War II prefabricated housing developed by the Lustron Corporation. Several Lustron houses can still be seen in Beverly Shores."Century of Progress Historic District -- House of Tomorrow
Official NPS Website Description:
"West of the Cypress Log Cabin is the House of Tomorrow, creation of Chicago architect George Fred Keck. The first floor was designed as the service area, originally containing the garage and an airplane hangar. World's Fair optimists assumed every future family would own an airplane. The second and third floors were the essence of the house, containing the main living spaces and a solarium. The three-story, steel-framed building was originally clad in glass on the second and third floors. Keck defied mechanical engineers, who said that due to the expansive use of glass the house couldn't be heated, and installed a floor to ceiling "curtain wall system". Instead of heat loss during the winter, the level of solar heat gain actually reduced the need for mechanical heating. During the summer the solar gain was too great for the home's revolutionary air-conditioning system to handle, and it failed. When Robert Bartlett moved the house to Beverly Shores, he replaced the glass walls with operable windows to allow for proper air circulation."Century of Progress Historic District -- Cypress Log Cabin
Official NPS Website Description:
"On the south side of Lake Front Drive sits the Cypress Log Cabin. Architect Murray D. Heatherington designed this building to demonstrate the unique qualities and many uses of cypress. At the fair, the cabin presented a mountain lodge atmosphere with fences, arbors, and bridges decorated with cypress knees, carved to suggest animal heads, reptiles, and fantasy creatures. None of these details were replicated when the house was moved to Beverly Shores."Great Marsh
We decided our final stop for the afternoon would be at Mount Baldy, near the north end of the park. We therefore turned inland where we spent the next while driving alongside the appropriately-named Great Marsh, which runs nearly the entire length of the park just inland from the lakeshore dunes...