Wallace Frost

Wallace Frost (1892–1962)[1] was an American architect.

Early life

Frost was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He studied architecture with Paul Cret at the University of Pennsylvania.[1]

World War I

During the war, Frost designed hangars for military installations in Washington, DC at the Naval Air Force. While he was there, he met Detroit architect Albert Kahn. Kahn asked Frost to come to Michigan to work with him and Frost moved there in 1919.[1]

Career

Frost settled in Birmingham, Michigan in 1921 and worked with Albert Kahn. In 1926 he started his own practice and mostly designed homes in the Detroit suburbs. Frost designed 44 houses in or near Birmingham. He is known for midsize cottage houses that are flooded with natural light and that feature woodwork, architectural details and limestone frames around windows and doors.[2] Frost created a Birmingham house for himself at 579 Tooting Lane in 1921.[3] People who lived in houses he built often called them "Wally" houses. A number of them are near Quarton Lake and in the Holy Name neighborhood.[3]

Frost worked in Europe in 1932 and 1933 and then worked from 1933 until 1938 in Southern California. He built his own large home in Montecito, California in 1936. He returned to Birmingham in 1939 and practiced until 1961.[1] In 2005, basketball star Chris Webber purchased a 1927 Wallace Frost mansion in Grosse Pointe Park. As Webber said about the purchase, "I'm a lover of history and a Wallace Frost fan and I was completely blown away by this house."[4]

Family life

Frost married Grace Bierer in 1917. They had one son, Jon, born in 1920 (d. 2002). Wallace Frost died in 1962, of a heart attack at the age of 70.[1]

References
  1. "Wallace Frost papers". Bentley Historical Library. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  2. Rose, Judy. "Michigan House Envy: At $15M, state's most expensive listing is mysterious mansion". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  3. Stamm, Alan. "Top 10: Buildings with Colorful Roles in Birmingham's Saga". Birmingham Patch. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  4. Colborn, Marge. "Former Detroiter and NBA star Chris Webber sells his dream home". Detroit News. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
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