Mix’s architecture was significant because it brought cosmopolitan influences to the midwest. Seeing Villa Louis in its midwest setting is surreal as it is so far temporally and physically from European intellect.
Born in New Haven, Connecticut May 13, 1831. -New Haven Connecticut is a literary and architectural center. Mix had a literary, printing press and naval family background.
Worked as a draftsperson for Sidney Mason Stone 1848
Married Mary B. Hayes on 7 May 1854,
Moved to Chicago in 1855 – worked with William W. Boyington briefly
Arrived in Milwaukee in 1856
Solo practice began in 1857
Mix learned architecture through books:
“he used his books extensively in his practice” (Wood, 1999)
+Robert W. Billings, Illustrations of the Architectural Antiquities of the County of Durham (1846)
+Cesar Daly’s L’architecture prive au XIXme siecle sous Napoleon III
+Cesar Daly’s Motifs historiques d’architecture et de sculpture d’ornement V 1& 2
Mix’s style of architecture revolved around the clients needs. It was a Mix of styles catering to the customers aesthetic wishes. An architect that understood service to the client as the focus.
Styles included: Italianate, Queen Anne, Gothic Revival, Second Empire, and Richardsonian Romanesque.
Technological progress was also part of Mix’s influence on a building. At Villa Louis, indoor plumbing was installed and some electrical service.
Builder of Villa Louis was Bentley & Sons – from Milwaukee
- Mix bridged the world of architects as journeyman to architects as white collar professional men separated from the trades who built the buildings.
- Incorporation of Milwaukee as a city
- Connection to the fur trade.
- Yankee architect for Yankee Clients (the Dousman’s)
References:
Mary N. Woods. From Craft to Profession (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999)
John R. Burrows. “The Work of E. Townsend Mix from 1856-1890: A Study of
Carlen (M.A. Thesis, University of Virginia, 1980). A second extensive paper, unpublished, challenging some of the ideas put forth in Burrows thesis exists.
Hatala, “Edward Townsend Mix and Alexander Mitchell Four Commissions.” (March 1982).