Despite C. Emlen Urban’s rising success in designing large scale and significant commercial, retail, and civic structures, he still made house calls.
Residential design is often where architects learn the trade and begin understanding how buildings are constructed. Although smaller in scale, a private residence is just as complex, and often demands more skill, patience, time and knowledge than the larger public structures. Urban’s reputation for producing quality and innovative designs at all levels and styles resulted in residential commissions in Lancaster city, Lititz, Millersville, Manheim, Marietta, Strasburg, Gap, Annville, and Hershey.
His residential design styles were as varied and unique as his clients and included: Queen Anne, Chauteauesque, Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival, Italian Renaissance Revival, Shingle Style, Beaux Arts, and Georgian Revival. Each architectural style has its own vocabulary of details, proportions, materials and overall character that must be taken into account when developing the plans and elevations.
For example, the Paired Mansions at 623-625 W. Chestnut St. are designed in the Italian Renaissance Style and incorporate terra cotta ornamentation, low projecting tile roof overhangs with exposed rafter tails and distinctive, recessed third- floor balconies. His design solution for these companion homes was so well received that he was commissioned to replicate them in New York City.
Whether his residential commissions were extraordinary or ordinary, Urban would calibrate his approach to meet the program and design objectives of each client; from a 10,000-square-foot mansion to a 1,000-square-foot townhome, each was special in its own way. He designed numerous residences in our community that would be considered ordinary by many standards — but with a flair. Two such examples include the Keiper Apartments on East Lemon Street and the Shingle Style row houses on College Avenue circa 1892. Both examples represent Urban’s ability to fit in with the surrounding neighborhood while adding a special or distinct feature to set them apart.
The four-story Keiper Apartments circa 1914 served as an opportunity for Urban to test the future of modern design, while the College Avenue row homes provided him with an opportunity to experiment with a new and unusual style typically reserved for New England.
Many of Urban’s residences have been well-documented and survive today but, interestingly, a fair number are still being discovered through research and by accident. You can check out more than a dozen examples from Urban's portfolio below:
Did C. Emlen Urban have one residential architectural style that he preferred over others?
Design professionals with Urban’s talent rarely “cookie-cutter” their designs. For Urban, each commission was an opportunity to experiment with new ideas, styles and materials.
What architectural style did Urban choose for his personal residences?
Surprisingly, for all the innovation and experimentation that Urban exercised in his business commissions, two of his private residences (1914 and 1927) were of the Colonial Revival style.
When is a residence considered a mansion?
Typically, a residence in excess of 6,000 square feet is considered a mansion. The definition is based on area and amenities rather than the number of rooms.
Tour C. Emlen Urban's portfolio of local private homes
The residence C. Emlen Urban designed for himself in 1914, at 1009 Buchanan Ave., was in the Colonial Revival style he preferred for his own homes.
One of the residences C. Emlen Urban designed for himself, at 1009 Buchanan Ave., was in the Colonial Revival style.
Later in life, architect C. Emlen Urban designed another home for himself just down the street, also on Buchanan Avenue and also in the Colonial Revival style. It was built in 1926.
The David Rose Mansion at 535 W. Chestnut St. was one of architect C. Emlen Urban's early residential commissions. He designed this 1891 home after the Queen Anne style.
The David Rose Mansion, built in 1891, still stands across from the Unitarian Universalist Church of Lancaster and the Chestnut Hill Cafe.
240 N. Duke St. is the site of the 1892 Rathfon houses, designed by C. Emlen Urban in the Queen Anne style. They're shown here in an 1898 directory photo.
A detail from the 1892 Rathfon houses, still standing at 238 N. Duke St.
The 1893 William Wohlsen house, a Queen Anne-style home at 537 W. Chestnut St., shown here in a period photo from an 1898 directory.
A detail of the 1893 William Wohlsen house today, at 537 W. Chestnut St.
In 1894, the Chateauesque Menno Fry Mansion was built according to C. Emlen Urban's design. It's shown here in a photo from an 1898 directory.
The 1894 Menno Fry Mansion still stands at 624 W. Chestnut St.
A period photo of the Neoclassical mansion designed by C. Emlen Urban in 1894 for John Oblinger, 342 N. Duke St.
1894 was a prolific year for architect C. Emlen Urban, who designed the Chateauesque home at 632 W. Chestnut St. for Elmer Stiegerwalt.
Roslyn, the well-known home of the Watt family, is a Chateauesque-style mansion on President Avenue. It's shown here in a period photo.
Roslyn currently is undergoing significant renovation.
The same year as Lancaster Township mansion Roslyn was designed by C. Emlen Urban, the architect designed the B.F. Heistand home at 722 E. Market St. Marietta, in the Queen Anne style. It's shown here in a period photo.
The same year as Lancaster Township mansion Roslyn was designed by C. Emlen Urban, the architect designed the B.F. Heistand home at 722 E. Market St. Marietta, in the Queen Anne style.
A detail of Marietta's B.F. Heistand home.
Sunnybank Mansion, the 1896 home C. Emlen Urban designed for Henry Heistand, is at 712 E. Market St., Marietta.
A porch detail from Sunnybank Mansion, the 1896 home C. Emlen Urban designed for Henry Heistand at 712 E. Market St., Marietta.
A interior detail from Sunnybank Mansion, the 1896 home C. Emlen Urban designed for Henry Heistand at 712 E. Market St., Marietta.
A pair of 1898 C. Emlen Urban-designed homes still stands at 623 W. Chestnut St.
Detailing at a pair of Italian Renaissance-style homes designed in 1898 by C. Emlen Urban, at 623 W. Chestnut St.
The Herman Wohlsen residence, a Colonial Revival home designed by C. Emlen Urban in 1902, still stands at 430 W. Orange St.
Upper-story detailing on the 1902 Herman Wohlsen residence, on West Orange Street.
The Colonial Revival parish house for St. James Episcopal Church, at 119 N. Duke St., was designed by C. Emlen Urban in 1903.
A window detail in the Colonial Revival parish house for St. James Episcopal Church, 119 N. Duke St., designed by C. Emlen Urban in 1903.
Architect C. Emlen Urban chose an unusual Edwardian Eclecticism style for his 1906 J. Calvin Shutte residence, at 1025 Marietta Ave.
Architect C. Emlen Urban, who formed a friendship with chocolate magnate Milton S. Hershey, also designed homes for home of Hershey's prominent citizens. Here, a Tudor Revival mansion designed in 1909 for the Murrie family at 256 E. Chocolate Ave., Hershey.
That same year, 1909, C. Emlen Urban designed the Leitheiser Mansion, at 238 E. Chocolate Ave., Hershey, in the Queen Anne style.
C. Emlen Urban chose the Italian Renaissance style as inspiration for the Keiper Apartments, 129 E. Lemon St., designed in 1914.
The imposing Herman A. Wohlsen mansion at 930 Buchanan Ave., designed in 1922 by C. Emlen Urban in the Tudor Revival style.
The Dr. Clarence Farmer residence, 1022 Buchanan Ave., designed in the Colonial Revival style by C. Emlen Urban in 1929.
This column is contributed by Gregory J. Scott, FAIA, a local architect with more than four decades of national experience in innovation and design. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows. Email GScott@rlps.com.
