Nomination for Commodore Apartment Building

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

United States Department of the Interior See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms and/or common - not for publication city, town - vicinity of congressional district 21st. (Stokes) _ state county - code 035 - public X occupied - museum X building(s) X private _ commercial - park - structure work in progress - private residence - Site - religious in process -government yes: unrestricted . industrial - transportation X other:multi-family name David J. Kramer state Ohio 44120 5. Location of Legal Description has this property been determined elegible?_ _ federal _ local depository for survey records 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Location both Category residence entertainment Accessible date code educational Status Ownership none National Register of Historic Places district historic object agriculture 1.

Name Cleveland scientific received date entered Inventory-Nomination Form 3. Classification Public Acquisition being considered X yes: restricted 4. Owner of Property Ohio Type all entries-complete applicable sections Present Use The Commodore Apartment Building Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service For HCRS use only military - yes X no FHR-8-300 (11-78) title street & number courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Cuyahoga County Recorder Ontario St. 2879 Ludlow Road 7. Description _moved date containing the Georgian-Revival City Hall and the contemporary Safety Building. Condition ruins garage. pargetting. structure of red tapestry brick with Bedford limestone and precast concrete detailing.

The structure stands two blocks west of the civic center of Shaker Heights, an area tration with wood mutins, stone paneled spandrels and stone Gibbs, surrounds on the street Check one side and rear facades are unenriched.

a windowless third story distinguished from the lower stories by a stone string course and The structure contains 28 units, all of which feature courtyard vistas, woodburning The basement contains an apartment for the building caretaker and an underground parking feature stone-faced parapets broken by gabled window bays featuring multi-lighted fenes- situated among several apartment complexes along the Van Aken Blvd.Rapid Transit line The Commodore Apartment Building is an eclectic 3 1/2 story E-shaped polychromatic of this bay feature triple-tierred fenestration with multiple lights, cross mullions and ondary entries off these courtyards are distinguished from the classical central entry by however, are not affected and remain occupied.The owner plans to restore all of the units.

surmounted by a dentiled spandrel above a paneled stilted arch enriched with foliated retail and Union Station complex.Two recent fires April and September, 1982) have The two flanking bays are Gothic- or Elizabethan-Revival in feeling and -unexposed - - altered X-excellent - original site - good Gibbs surrounds. story suites feature 21/2 story living rooms with indoor balconies and loft bedrooms. deteriorated in an area set aside in the original Van Sweringen plan for Shaker Heights that provided multi-family luxury apartment buildings located adjacent to transportation directly link- roof of grey slate surrounded by a simple cornice with a stone-faced parapet surmounting caused considerable damage to the west wing of the structure.

The central entry is flanked by fluted pilasters with doric capitals and fireplaces with enriched medieval stone mantels, ornate plaster- and wood-work.Third ing the area to downtown Cleveland through the Van Sweringens' own Terminal Tower office, Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance the styles of their stone arches:two are four-centered, two have infilled lunets.The The recessed central bay, which is Georgian-Revival in feeling, features a hipped The central and east wings, -fair Areas of Significance Check and justify below - prehistoric - archeology-historic - conservation - sculpture X architecture - social/ - music exploration/settlement _ - philosophy _theater _ 1900- .transportation community ot Shaker Heights envisioned by the Van Sweringen brothers, a hallmark in the evolution of the comprehensive, planned approach to urban residential development.

Prolific locally and elsewhere in Ohio, he designed, among other structures, a number plants, Metropolitan General Hospital, Karamu House, the Cleveland Post Office, and a number 1800-1899 1500-1599 1600-1699 commerce 1700-1799 politics/government 1400-1499 humanitarian art communications Period engineering industry military agriculture literature Sweringen plan, a residential development on the Portage escarpment southeast of the center law structure; the Van Sweringen manor house represented more stately Tudor- or Elizabethan- _economics The Commodore Apartment Building is significant as an example of the architecture of entire campus of John Carroll University in Shaker Heights.

His residential clients in- Philip Small whose work represents the best in the eclectic architectural tradition of the primary node of the Shaker Heights development from which radiated the two principal ar- exactly what the Van Sweringens required in the way of apartment building design and con- The Commodore was finished the year after the 1929 completion of Shaker Square and, cluded the Van Sweringens themselves whom he remodeled their in-town manor house and the Moreland Courts project, a complex of eclectic, multi-storied apartments due east of education reportedly studied shopping center design prior to his undertaking the project), Shaker /designed and because of the architect's close identification with the developers, represented designed their estate at Daisy Hill Farm),Cyrus Eaton, and the President of the Van Swer- 8.

Significance of non-residential buildings including the Cleveland Playhouse, several water treatment Shaker Square after its original developer, the Cleveland Discount Company, failed to com- practised as Philip Small, Inc.,and for the subsequent 30 years he practised as Small, characteristic of his entire body of plete the project in the mid-20's), the Commodore, by virtue of its being entirely Small- He is nationally recognized for his design of Shaker Square, one axis of the Van of college buildings: four for Western Reserve University, five for Case Institute and the of Cleveland on what had been, in the 19th century, the land belonging to the North Union _invention Statement of Significance

Statement of significance

(in one paragraph) first mayor, William Van Aken), each with its own rapid transit line. teries, Shaker Blvd. and South Moreland Blvd (later named Van Aken Blvd. after Shaker Heights in their 1928 publication "Shaker Village Standards"as standard for apartment buildings: Philip Small (1890-1963) was born in Washington D.C. and moved soon afterward to -science other (specify) - archeology-prehistoric - religion Builder/Architect Philip L. Small, Inc. early 20th century. It is significant, as well, as a distinctive feature of the planned elopment. The eclecticism of the Commodore thus represents what was landscape architecture community planning ingen Company, Ben Jenks. Square's series of 12 Georgian Revival structures stands in four quadrants of what was the struction.It featured, nearly to the letter, what was outlined by the Van Sweringen Company reflected modernist influences.

Cleveland where he was educated at Western Reserve University.He received his SB in in effect, served as a design model for apartment house structures throughout the dev- 10.

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property Quadrangle scale 1:24,000 - state 11. Form Prepared By September, 1982 street & number 2353 Woodmere Drive - local As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89 GPO 938 835 Northing Easting county date code organization national name/title Zone Attest: Cleveland Heights Chief of Registration UMT References Verbal boundary description and justification List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries State Historic Preservation Officer signature city or town Keeper of the National Register less than one telephone 216/932-9794 9. Major Bibliographical References For HCRS use only The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: 12.

State Historic Preservation Officer Certification University of Notre Dame, 1968 according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service. I hereby certify that this property is included in the National Register Quadrangle name Shaker Heights, Ohio "A Message to You Concerning Your Neighbor," Pamphlet, Dunham and Company, agents for the 665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated Van Sweringens, c. 1928 Parcel Nos. 735-15-2 and 735-15-24,City of Shaker Heights 1451901480 "Shaker Village Standards", The Van Sweringen Co., Interest, Monthly publication of the Cleveland Discount Co., August, 1922 Joseph Blake,"The Van Sweringen Developments in Cleveland," Unpublished Senior National Reglatar NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 Exp.

10-31-84 For NPS use only date entered Continuation sheet Shaker Heights, Cuyahoga Co.,Item number 8 development, the placement of the Commodore represented another innovation of the Van along the South Morelan/Van Aken or "South Shaker" spur which, by the late 20's lagged the Shaker Blvd. or "Upper Shaker Heights" spur.

individually significant, however, as a structure pívotal to the evolution of received Page Inventory-Nomination Form National Park Service Ohio In addition to exemplifying the design standards operating in the Van Sweringen Shaker Heights and as a model for subsequent structures of its type.Far from being another of Shaker Heights' pretty buildings, the Commodore is clearly an exemplar of National Register of Historic Places (3-82) Commodore Apartment Building, architects, Bloodgood Tuttle, to design several model single family residences along The Shaker Heights Landmark Commission is studying the nomination of most if not all United States Department of the Interior the South Shaker spur to this same end.

what zoning could accomplish in such a node while at the same time encouraging similar closely the description in Section 7still conforms to these specifications.) adjacent to the Civic node that balanced the Shaker Square commercial node on the west end of South Moreland Blvd. Thus, through Small, the Vans may have meant to suggest of Shaker Heights to the National Register.

construction by other private interests.They commissioned another of their favorite either Bedford limestone or Briar Hill sandstone, was to be used in the construction of Sweringen development--zoning as a stimulus to future development.Furthermore, the The Commodore was a multi-family component in an area zoned for such structures No artificial stone was to be used unless specifically approved (in virtually every case selection of the site may well have been an effort by the Vans to encourage construction No apartments, except for the caretaker's, were to be in the basement.(Note how by President Ben Jenks personally in the early years).The stone of choice was to be PROMINENT PLACEMENT OF Thesis, by Patricia Forgac, Kent State University, May 1981.

COMMODORE CIVIC NODE APARTMENT BUILDING and Multi-Family Housing Larger Estates Used with permission Commodore Apartment Building, Shaker Heights, Cuyahoga County, Ohio found on the throughways. COMMODORE APARTMENT BUILDING SHAKER SQUARE COMMERCIAL NODE From "The Physical Development of Shaker Heights", unpublished Master's MAJOR NODES Fed. Reg. Date: - RETURN REJECT Federal Agency: Reviewer Recom. /Criteria Discipline .se- continuation sheet -substantive reasons discussed below Name 2. Location 3. Classification 5. Location of Legal Description 7. Description Working No. completeness summary paragraph clarity Cuyahoga County nomination by person or local government resubmission owner objection Commodore Apartment Building boundary selection Date 6. Representation in Existing Surveys alterations/integrity Action: Hational Register 4.

Owner of Property Entered in the -appeal ational Park Service Date Due: - sample - technical corrections cited below - original shte - moved .Nomination returned for: IATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES - relating significance to justification of exception - Other 11. Form Prepared By - Photographs Signed context checked clarity Maps completeness Date summary paragraph applicable criteria relationship of integrity justification of areas 9. Major Bibliographical References 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification the resource 10. Geographical Data 8. Significance Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet Shaker Heights, Cuyahoga, Oh Date: 1982 Commodore Apartment Building Cleveland Photo: Dennison Studios, Central Bay Shaker Heights, Cuyahoga, Oh.

Date: 1982 Line Street elevation across Rapid Commodore Apartment Building Photo: Dennison Studios, Cleve. Date: 1982 Streetelevation from Nw corner Commodore Apartment Building Shaker Heights, Cuyahoga, Oh. Photo: Dennison Studios, Cleve. Photo; Dennison Studios, Cleve Date: 1982 Street elevation Commodore Apartment Bldg. Shaker Height, Cuyahoga, Oh. Date: 1982 Courtyard Cleveland Commodore Apartment Building Photo: Dennison Studios, Shaker Heights, Cuyahoga, Oh. Date: 1982 Interior suite detail Cleveland Commodore Apartment Building Photo: Dennison Studios Shaker Heights, Cuyhaoga, Oh. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SHAKER HEIGHTS, OHIO SHAKER HEIGHTS QUADRANGLE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY N4122.5w8130/7.5 CLEVELAND 7.5 MINUTE SERIES (TOPOGRAPHIC) March 14, 1983 Ms. Carol Shull, Chief notification procedures have been followed for the submissions.

Farmers Branch of the State Bank of Ohio Clement, George S. Hruue St. Ann Roman Catholic Church Complex St. Mary Roman Catholic Church Stormont, David, House Please let me know if you have any questions. W. Ray Luce Fulton Sincerely, Montgomery Enclosures Stark Butler Erie Cuyahoga County Paulding Ottawa RECEIVED NATIONAL Lucas Spitzer Building Muskingum REGISTER Mellett/Canton Daily News Building Ohio Historic Preservation Office New Submissions Riverview Apartments Enclosed are fourteen new National Register nominations.All appropriate Brown Department of Registration Paulding County Carnegie Library Superintendent's Residence and Office Catawaba Island Wine Company National Register of Historic Places Dear Carol: Cormodore Apartment Building Stengel, John S., House The Rentschler House State Historic Preservation Officer Oakland Cemetery Chapel and 440 G. Street, N.W. IWRL/DS:vb