1806 Pleasant Circle
Architect: Donald Laz Year Built: 1958 Architectural Style: Mid-Century Modern
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Architectural Description |
| Designed by Donald R. Laz and built for Federal Appellate Court Judge Fred Green and his wife Carolyn in 1958 by Commercial Builders of Urbana, IL, 1806 S. Pleasant is a Mid Century Modern home with strong Prairie style influences. The Laz house is one story and takes the form of a simple ranch house. However, the details are meticulously designed and executed. | |
| The roof line is simple and continuous; it is a low-pitched gable roof with wide, overhanging eaves. Large slits, or skylights, can be found carved into the overhanging eaves which create a space below the roof that is open to the elements. A cutout above the courtyard provides sunlight and rain to a small garden space. The entire roof structure is supported by massive exposed fir beams. There are no interior load-bearing walls. Tall trapezoidal windows make a strong Mid Century statement. The house design evokes the Mid Century Modern and Prairie Style themes of connecting the nature outside with the interior spaces. The current owners added a two-story workshop to the property, which houses a furniture studio on the lower level and a design and glass studio on the second floor. The workshop was designed in a modernist style. Materials, colors and windows were selected to refer to and extend the design of the main house. | |
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Historical Description |
| In addition to being a well known and highly respected Judge, Fred Green was a University of Illinois Law School graduate and was on the basketball team as an undergrad. He was a four year letter winner at UIUC and during his senior year, Illinois won the Big Ten Championship and was nationally ranked and finished third in the NCAA tournament. It was the first time that Illinois reached the Final Four. | |
| Fred graduated from the University of Illinois College of Commerce in 1949 and College of Law in 1951. After practicing law in Urbana for five years as an associate in the office of Henry I. Green, to whom he was not related, he was elected as a County Judge of Champaign County in 1956. He was subsequently elected in 1964 as a Circuit Judge of the 6th Judicial Circuit and in 1974 as a Judge of the 4th District Appellate Court. He was unsuccessful in his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the Illinois Supreme Court in 1984. He served as an Appellate Court Judge until he retired in 1998 at the age of 75. | |
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Map Locations:
1806 Pleasant Street
Urbana, IL 