VISITORS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF EVANSVILLE MAY NOT REALIZE,
THAT THIS SMALL BUNGALOW TUCKED ON CAMPUS
HAS BEEN NAMED ONE OF INDIANA'S MUST-SEE BUILDINGS.
OF THE PETER MARGANO HOME BUILT BY WES PETER WHO GAINED FAME AS
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S RIGHT-HAND
MAN. >> THE MORE YOU READ AND HEAR
ABOUT WES PETERS, THE MORE YOU APPRECIATE WHAT A BRILLIANT GUY
HE WAS. WES PETER GRADUATED FROM HIGH
SCHOOL AT BOSSY HIGH SCHOOL HERE IN INDIANAPOLIS AND THEN MOVED
ON TO EVANSVILLE COLLEGE FOR ONE YEAR AND TRANSFERRED TO M.I.T.
FOR TWO YEARS, WHERE HE STUDIED ARCHITECTURE.
>> IT WAS AT M.I.T. THAT PETERS FIRST READ THE WRITINGS OF FRANK
LLOYD WRIGHT. INSPIRED, HE DECIDED TO JOIN
WRIGHT'S NEWLY FORM SCHOOL OF DESIGN.
TALISMAN. >> HE WAS THE FIRST FELLOW.
>> THROUGHOUT 1932, PETERS AND HIS FELLOW APPRENTICES STUDIED
UNDER THE TUTELEDGE. PETERS RETURN OF EVANSVILLE,
HOWEVER, DESPITE HAVING NO JOB AND VERY LITTLE MEANS, PETERS
SOON EMPARKED ON HIS FIRST PROJECT.
>> THE STYLE OF THE PETERS HOUSE IS USTONIAN STYLE.
AND WE FEEL THAT THIS IS THE FIRST OF ITS TYPE BECAUSE THE
FIRST OFFICIAL USTONIAN HOME IS THE JACOBS HOUSE BUILT IN 1936.
THIS PREDATES THAT BY TWO YEARS. THE ESTONIAN ARCHITECTURAL
MOVEMENT WAS MEN TO PROVIDE HOUSING FOR THE COMMON MAN,
PEOPLE OF MODEST MEANS. SO IT NEEDED TO BE AFFORDABLE.
IT NEEDED TO BE EFFICIENT IN ITS USE OF MATERIALS AND ITS USE OF
LAND AND IT NEEDED TO BE EASILY CONSTRUCTED OUT OF LOCAL
MATERIALS. >> OAK IS SHOWCASED THROUGHOUT
THE HOME, AS WELL AS MANY OTHER FEATURES CHARACTERISTIC OF THE
USTONIAN STYLE, HIGH-PLACED WINDOWS FOR PRIVACY IN THE FRONT
AND FLOOR-TO-CEILING GLASS PANELS IN THE BACK TO EMPHASIZE
A STRONG CONNECTION BETWEEN THE INTERIOR AND THE EXTERIOR
DESIGN. >> SOME OF THE INNOVATIONS HERE
ARE UNIQUE TO THIS BUILDING, SUCH AS THE SHUTTERS, THE
INTERNAL SHUTTERS FOR CIRCULATION.
THE IDEA OF THE GREAT ROOM WHICH IS VERY COMMON IN THESE DAYS WAS
INNOVATIVE AT THE TIME. AND THIS HAS A VERY GOOD EARLY
EXAMPLE OF A GREAT ROOM, WHICH CAN BE USED FOR FAMILY
GATHERINGS. IT WAS A DINING ROOM.
YOU KNOW, IT WAS A PLACE FOR FAMILIES TO CONGREGATE.
AFTER THIS HOUSE WAS DESIGNED, IT WAS OCCUPIED BY HIS COUSIN,
JAMES MARGADANT WITH THE FOUR
KIDS. AND SO THERE'S SIX PEOPLE LIVING
IN 550 SQUARE FEET. >> PETERS HIMSELF NEVER LIVED IN
THE HOUSE. AFTER SVETLANA, TURNED 18, THEY
MARRIED AND RETURNING TO TALLY TALIESENT.
COMPLETING MANUFACTURE WRIGHT'S PROJECTS AS WELL AS DESIGNING
HIS OWN BUILDINGS. WHILE HIS FIRST DESIGN WAS NOT
FORGOTTEN, IT WAS IN JEOPARDY. LANDING ON INDIANA LANDMARKS 10
MOST ENDANGERED LIST IN 2012. >> ABOUT FOUR YEARS AGO, A GROUP
OF PEOPLE BEING COMMUNITY MEMBERS CAME TOGETHER AND THEY
WERE -- THEY WERE CONCERNED WITH PRESERVING THIS HOUSE BECAUSE IT
HAD BEEN VACATED IN 2012. PEOPLE FROM THAT GROUP INCLUDED
REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE MAYOR'S OFFICE, FROM INDIANA LANDMARKS,
CONCERNED COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND THEN WE WERE BROUGHT INTO THE
DISCUSSION AS A POSSIBLE PLACE FOR THIS HOUSE TO, MOVED TO.
>> AS A PROFESSOR OF ART HISTORY AT THE UNIVERSITY, HEIDI HELPED
TO LEAD THE SEARCH FOR THE NEW LOCATION, SELECTING A SPOT RIGHT
NEXT TO THE VERY ENGINEERING BUILDING PETERS HAD ATTENDED
WHILE THE EVANSVILLE COLLEGE. INDIANA LANDMARKS STEPPED IN TO
PURCHASE THE ABANDONED HOME WITH A GRANT FROM THE CITY AND THE
FRIENDS OF THE HOUSE GROUP RAISED THE MONEY NECESSARY TO
FUND THE HOME'S MOVE AND RESTORATION.
ON AUGUST 22nd, 2016, AFTER TWO YEARS OF METICULOUS
PLANNING, THE HOME WAS CAREFULLY CARRIED ONE AND A HALF MILES TO
ITS NEW LOCATION ON THE UNIVERSITY OF EVANSVILLE CAMPUS.
>> THE REAL INTEGRITY OF HOME WAS IN ITS INTERIOR.
THE FACT THAT THE WOOD WORK HAD NEVER BEEN PAINTED WAS PRETTY
PHENOMENAL. AND WE KNEW THAT BRINGING
TOGETHER THE GROUPS THAT WE DID, THAT WE COULD RECONSTRUCT IT AS
CLOSE TO ITS ORIGINAL CONDITION AS POSSIBLE.
>> ON MARCH 30th, AFTER FOUR MONTHS OF HARD WORK, THE FRIENDS
OF THE PETERS MARGADANT HOUSE GROUP OFFICIALLY DEDICATED THE
HOME. FOR HEIDI, THE HOUSE SERVES AS A
PERFECT EDUCATIONAL TOOL FOR HER MUSEUM AND GALLERY CLASS WHERE
THE STUDENTS CAN LEARN HOW TO LEAD TOURS AND PRESENT EXHIBIT
MATERIALS IN A REAL LIFE ENVIRONMENT.
>> THERE'S A GREAT EXPERIENTIAL SET OF OPPORTUNITIES HERE, BUT
IT'S ALSO A PLACE WHERE STUDENTS FROM AGE 6 TO 96 CAN COME TO
LEARN ABOUT THIS HOUSE AND ITS ROLE AND THE USTONIAN
ARCHITECTURAL MOVEMENT AND FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT AND WES PETERS'
STORY. >> WE OFTEN ASK, YOU KNOW, WHAT
IDEAS DID WES PETERS COME UP WITH INDEPENDENT OF WRIGHT AND
HIS PRACTICE THAT MIGHT BE EVIDENT IN THIS HOUSE OR IN
OTHER WORK THAT CAME OUT OF WRIGHT'S FIRM.
IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO DETERMINE, BUT AS THIS HOUSE AND
THIS PROJECT PROMOTES THE DISCUSSION ABOUT WILLIAM WESLEY
PETERS, WE THINK MORE AND MORE OF HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO MODERN
ARCHITECTURE WILL COME TO LIGHT.