Dr. L.E. and Lillian Kelsey: Partners in healthcare in Lakeview, part 5

Jul 20, 2023

By The Daily News Staff | on May 06, 2023

2The Kelsey House on the shore of Tamarack Lake with its gorgeous tulip tree in full bloom. — Submitted photo

It seemed an oxymoron in 1933, in the depths of the Great Depression, with unemployment rife, for the city of Chicago to name its World's Fair: "A Century of Progress." However, it was the city's centennial and it had, six decades before risen, like the proverbially Phoenix from the ashes, after its devastating 1871 fire.

Hope springs eternal, and nothing generates more interest than innovation in science and technology. This forward looking theme drew 25 million visitors, among them, the Kelseys from Lakeview. (My mother, who lived in Rockford, Illinois and was 11 at the time attended the fair and kept, among her childhood treasures, souvenirs of her visit.)

The souvenir booklet from the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, featuring the home which Dr. Lee and Lillian Kelsey built on the shore of Tamarack Lake in Lakeview (and which is still there). — Submitted photo

An popular part of the fair was the "Homes of Tomorrow" exhibition. As Lee and Lillian Kelsey strolled the extensive grounds of the fair, they were drawn to this exhibit with its innovative house designs, advanced building materials, and novel gadgetry. Their house back in Lakeview had served the dual purpose of home and hospital long enough. How wonderful it would be to turn it all over to the care of patients and build a new, modern home for their family. I’m sure their two teenage girls agreed. Doc had his eye on a piece of property along Tamarack Lake, just a block from the hospital, and thought it would be a perfect place for their new home.

Among the innovative designs displayed in the "Homes of Tomorrow" exhibition were following: the Florida Tropical House, the Cypress Log Cabin, the Weiboldt Rostone House, the Armco Ferro Enamel Frameless Steel House, the House of Tomorrow, and the Stran-Steel House.

The Florida Tropical House was an airy, terraced, flat roofed house, coated with light weight, concrete stucco and painted pink. The Cypress Log Cabin was a rustic, beamed ceiling cabin constructed entirely of cypress wood and was the only home actually lived in during the fair. The Weiboldt Rostone House was framed with steel and clad in artificial stone called Rostone, an innovative combination of limestone waste, shale and alkali. The Armco Ferro Enamel Frameless Steel House was made of corrugated, enameled steel panels, which were bolted together. This design later inspired the prefab homes of post WWII. The House of Tomorrow was a stupendous, 42-foot high, three-story, codecagon, complete with an airplane hangar on the basement level. The architect, George Fred Keck, was inspired by a famous landmark in his hometown: the 1854 Octagon House in Watertown, Wisconsin.

While all of these houses may have fascinated the Lakeview couple, it was the Stran-Steel House that won them over. Designed by H. Augustus O’Dell and Wirt C. Rowland for the Stran-Steel Corporation of Detroit, this unusual French Art Deco house promoted modern residential architecture in the United States. Stran-Steel partnered with Good Housekeeping to present an entry that showcased new home design, utilizing materials and technology that had not previously been used in residential architecture. (See photo accompanying this article.)

The Kelsey House as it appears today as an Airbnb owned by Paul Mesman. — Submitted photo

The companies set out to produce a house that was fireproof, pre-fabricated and affordable to the average family. The result was a 1,300-square-foot house, constructed of steel and baked iron enamel that started at $7,500. The house had four bedrooms, two baths and a large u-shaped outdoor terrace on the second story. It was touted as being a simple, inexpensive system of steel frames which could be erected by ordinary carpenters with ordinary tools.

The Kelseys bought the design and had the prefab parts delivered, no doubt by train, to the village of Lakeview. As was his practice, he had some of his patients work on the construction as payment of their doctor and hospital bills. Foundation blocks were laid, the steel frame was assembled and the striking enamel panels attached, all the while drawing quite an admiring and curious crowd down at the lakeshore. Among the innovations was an electric garage door openers, without doubt, the first of its kind in Lakeview. The house was and is, without doubt, the most interesting and historic of the homes in Lakeview.

(The Kelsey House is now owned by Paul Mesman who has converted it into a beautiful Airbnb. I’m hopeful that in the future it may become a Michigan Historic Landmark.)

My research led me to wonder what happened to the original Stran-Steel House from the 1933 World's Fair. While numerous copies of the model were built around the country, like the Kelsey house here in Lakeview, research confirmed that there were two original Stran-Steel Houses at the Century of Progress exhibit. One house had been moved to Palos Heights, Illinois, outside Chicago, but, unfortunately, was demolished in the 1990s. What happened to the other?

For years it was a mystery. Then, it was rediscovered when a developer bought a derelict property in Wilmette, a north shore Chicago suburb, in 2017. Upon closer inspection and subsequent research, it was confirmed that it was, indeed, the missing Stran-Steel House from the World's Fair of 1933.

Promotional flyer from the 1933 Chicago World's Fair featuring the Stran-Steel House. — Submitted photo

It had been all but forgotten and, hence, never placed on any historic landmark listing nor properly cared for. The developer was sympathetic but wanted to proceed with his plans. He was willing to give the building to anyone who would relocate it. Landmark Illinois got involved and tried to find someone who would be willing to save this newly rediscovered landmark. Over the course of a year, no one stepped forward, and so, the developer reluctantly disassembled the house, with the parts stored until such time as someone might be found and would, as it were, pick up the pieces, and give it a new lease on life.

Many of the other houses from the "Homes of Tomorrow" exhibition had happier endings. Amazingly, five of these houses, most of those I mentioned above, exist today in a collection called the Century of Progress Architectural District located in Beverly Shores, Indiana, along Lake Shore Drive within the Indiana Dunes National Park. Check it out online and plan a summer visit!

Next Week: The Kelseys’ Final Years

Steve Charnley is a retired pastor from Lakeview. He was pastor of First United Methodist Church in Greenville from 2008 to 2014. He has taught college history courses and has a passion for local history which he enjoys sharing with others.