1931
January,
Maybeck begins a general plan for the Elsah site. His architectural
team now includes his partners, John and Mark White; Edward Hussey
and Charles Lundgren, his representatives on site; Henry Dewell,
his structural engineer; and Julia Morgan who provides draftsmen
and offices, gives occasional criticisms, and visits the site
once. Principia is represented by Mary Kimball Morgan, Frederic
Morgan, Thomas Blackwell, and Arthur Dickie, contractor. All are
present in San Francisco for a day-long conference with Maybeck
to discuss plans for the upcoming construction.
January-March,
Frederic Morgan remains in San Francisco to confer with Maybeck.
March 5, Maybeck completes
plans for the first unit buildings.
April
12, Maybeck and wife Annie arrive in Elsah for a two-month
stay. They live at Eliestoun, an estate on the new property overlooking
the river. Maybeck brings the completed general plan for the Elsah
campus as well as a layout of the buildings.
May 4,
a ground-breaking ceremony is held at the Chapel building-site.
May 29-June 10, Edward Hussey,
Henry Dewell, and Charles Lundgren arrive in Elsah.
June, Maybeck designs the Spatz filling station in Elsah
and shows the owners how to build the station using local materials
and methods which will blend with the Village's nineteenth century
neighbors.
Early June, Maybeck, Morgan,
Hussey and Lundgren visit the quarries and mills in Bedford, Indiana,
to study the method of making "shot sawn" stone for the Chapel.
Maybeck insists that filings be left on the stone to rust, simulating
an appearance of age.
June 11, returning to San
Francisco, Maybeck stops in Denver, Colorado, at the Heintz Tile
Company to select roof tile for Anderson Hall.
1932
January,
Julia Morgan briefly visits Elsah to observe construction and
report back to Maybeck.
August, the exteriors of the
Chapel and Howard House Dormitory are completed.
October, Maybeck returns to
Elsah for two weeks. The exterior of Buck House dormitory is finished,
and Anderson Hall and Rackham Court are half-completed.
Late October, construction
is halted for a year due to depleted funds and labor disputes.
