|
The Gale Cottages, Whitehall,
Michigan S.088 – Thomas H. Gale Cottage,
5318 S. Shore Drive S.088.1 – Gale rental cottage #1,
5324 S. Shore Drive S.088.2 – Gale rental cottage #2,
5370 S. Shore Drive S.088.3 – Gale rental cottage #3,
5380 S. Shore Drive Wright designed a home for Mr. &
Mrs. Thomas Gale (S.016), and
was later asked to design cottages for property on White Lake, which flows
into Lake Michigan. The first was
built in 1897, the other three in 1909.
All have undergone substantial modifications, leaving little of their
original design visible. Although all
four are relatively close to the public roadway, the forest prevents
unobstructed views of the details.
5318 & 5324 S. Shore Dr. are adjacent to each other, as are 5370
& 5380. A few cottages or houses
are between these two groupings. Also
on this block, within a half mile, are the Gerts
cottages (S.077 & S.078). Mrs. Gale and Mrs. Gerts
were sisters. A small road provides lake access,
allowing some photography from the beach. The four properties can be
distinguished by their colors: S.088 – yellow S.088.1 – green S.088.2 – brown S.088-3 – white Photographed on March 30, 2016 and
April 28, 2016. Project number: Sources differ:
Storrer says T.0521 (S.088.1), T.0522 (S.088.2),
T.0523 (S.088.3), with no number for S.088.
Heinz says T.0522 for S.088, and T.0502 for S.088.1 & S.088.2,
with no number for S.088.3 (which he does not list in the Frank Lloyd Wright
Field Guide) |
S.088
Taliesin has no record of the first
cottage, so it has no Taliesin project
number per Storrer’s tracking. The cottage still shows some of Wright’s classical
training, as it has a hip roof instead of the more flat style found in the
three cottages that followed.
Side view;
the 1897 cottage was originally 9 feet east of here, and was moved in
1966. The side porch was added at that
time,
enlarging a
screened porch (original to the design) that had faced the lake.
View from road
View from beach; the boathouse is not a Wright design
(nor is the small garage in the road-view photo above,
access having been provided by steamship from Chicago –
not from road access).
The porch in these last two photos reflects the original
screened porch in Wright’s design.
S.088.1
Three rental
cottages (S.088.1, .2, and .3) were added in 1909. Taliesin records exist for these units, and they
have been assigned Taliesin project numbers of T.0521, T.0522, and T.0523
respectively, according to Storrer. As noted in the heading, though, Heinz refers
to a different set of numbers. Records
name Mrs. Thomas Gale (Laura Gale) as the owner; her husband died a few years
before these commissions were completed.
View from beach
The room on the right was added later
View from road
S.088.2
The third
cottage, now clad in vertical brown siding, does not bear its original skin –
Wright having selected horizontal board-and-batting for this project.
View from beach
View from road
View from beach access road, with S.088.3’s boathouse in
foreground
S.088.3
View from beach
The boathouse and the extra wing were added later; the fireplace
was also moved to the exterior wall
When originally built, the three added cottages were
essentially identical
View from road
New
04/04/2016 Revised
05/18/2018 |