John Shellette Van Bergen started his architectural career as an apprentice draftsman with W. B. Griffin in 1907. While there, he began studying for the architecture license examination at the Chicago Technical College. After leaving Griffin’s office, he worked for a short while with  E. E. Roberts. He then went to work for F. L. Wright at his Oak Park Studio in 1909 and was the last employee hired there. When Wright closed his office later that year, Van Bergen and I. Roberts stayed to finish Wright’s final projects.

Van Bergen was licensed in 1911 and opened his first office in Oak Park. He served in WWI at Fort Sheridan and afterwards settled in Ravinia (Highland Park), IL around 1919. He married in that year and resumed his practice in Highland Park for the next 26 years. At the end of WWII, the family moved to a rural area in the far NW suburbs of Chicago. As his private architectural practice was slowing considerably, Van Bergen became primarily a small residential developer. They moved to California in the 1950’s and he continued doing a few residential developments. Unfortunately, tragedy struck in 1964 when a wildfire burned through destroying his house & studio. He lost virtually all his drawings and other records of his 44 years as a designer.

The Prairie School is usually thought to have ended before World War 1.  Not true.  Van Bergen continued to design in the Prairie Style throughout the 1920’s and well into the Thirties and he did some of his best work in this period. His own house & studio (in Highland Park – 1920) is a fine example of his approach to the prairie style.  There he was also neighbors with landscape architect Jens Jensen.  They collaborated on several projects, as Van Bergen was inspired by Jensen’s love of the area’s indigenous prairie setting  He created buildings that were harmonious with their natural surroundings. His works combined wonderful and innovative design and showed these can create affordability and livability.

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Sources:

https://highlandparkhistory.com/highland-park-legends-program/john-van-bergen/

http://www.re-building.com/johnvanbergen/title.html.