The Ridge Historical Society
Fire at the Bretsnyder House
By Carol Flynn
Last night the house at 9706 Longwood Drive was gutted by fire. Fortunately, no one was injured. It was reported that the house was currently unoccupied as it underwent renovation.
This house is the Minnie L. Bretsnyder House, built in 1895. The last name has several different spellings, including Bretshneider, but the family went by Bretsnyder in the years after the house was built, and when Minnie died in 1955, her obituary listed her as Minnie L. Bretsnyder.
The architect of the Norman- or Tudor-style house is not known with complete certainty, but according to Harold Wollf, architecture historian and past RHS registrar, the house is attributed to Harry Hale Waterman (1869 – 1948) based on the style. It was built during 1895-97, a period when Waterman was remiss in publicizing information on his projects.
Waterman was a contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright and George Maher, but while they concentrated on developing distinctive styles, Waterman built in many different styles for a large group of clients. He designed many noteworthy buildings in the Beverly/Morgan Park community. He was affectionately known as "the village architect" in Morgan Park.
His work included the England J. Barker House at 107th Street and Longwood Drive; the Walter R. Barker House, also known as the “Walgreen mansion,” on 116th Street, part of the Mercy Home for Girls; the Morgan Park United Methodist Church at 110th Place and Longwood Drive; the Eugene S. Pike House at 91st Street and Longwood Drive; the Calumet Bank Building at 111th Street and Longwood Drive; and the Harry H. Waterman House at 108th Street and Longwood Drive.
The Bretsnyder family included Minnie, born in 1865 in Germany, and her husband William (1861 – 1942), born in Illinois to parents who came from Germany. William was an artist.
Their son, who lived at the house almost his entire life (he was about 10 when they built the house), was the artist Arno Bretsnyder (1885-1969). Arno studied under John Vanderpoel at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). He exhibited at the AIC in 1939.
The Vanderpoel Art Association has works by Arno in its collection at Ridge Park field house. His impressionistic oil paintings combined color, light, and texture in a dramatic way. He was known for landscapes and for Western paintings that depicted subjects like the Pony Express.
Arno joined the Society for Sanity in Art, a group opposed to modern art, including cubism, surrealism, and abstract expressionism.
Arno was also very active in the Ridge community’s art scene. He formed the Beverly Sketch Club at Ridge Park and was an important member of the Ridge Art Association, where he staged and participated in many exhibits.
Updates on the Bretsnyder House will be posted as RHS does more research on the house’s history and additional details of the current status of the house are reported.
Research assistance by Tim Blackburn, RHS Board member.