The Solomon Enclave: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
Regions 3, 4, & 5 Park Cultural Landscapes Program. 2003. The Solomon Enclave: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 500186. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. NPS Midwest Regional Office, Omaha, Nebraska / CRIS-CL Database
The Solomon Enclave, formerly documented as part of the East Lakefront Drive Historic District (DOE), is located in the town of Beverly Shores, Indiana, about sixty miles east of Chicago, Illinois. The Solomon Enclave consists of three sites now listed on the National Register. The Solomon Enclave is located at the southeast corner of Drake Avenue and East Lake Front Drive in the town of Beverly Shores, a small suburban resort community situated along five miles of Lake Michigan shoreline. The community is located within the boundaries of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Many of the homes within the area serve as seasonal or vacation cottages, while others provide year-round residences for their occupants. Numerous highways provide vehicular access to the site from the south, east, and west. The South Shore Railroad provides a direct connection to Chicago via rail. The Calumet Bike Trail parallels U.S. Highway 12, and serves as an alternate transportation route through the area. The natural environment in the region is dominated by towering sand dunes, beaches, marshes, oak and maple forests, and Lake Michigan. The Solomon Enclave is comprised of three nearly identical two-story flat roof International Style houses built by Chicago architect Louis Solomon in 1948. The three houses are examples of American homes built in this style and are representative of post World War II recreational development in the Indiana Dunes. Each house is rectangular in plan and built into the side of a sand dune so that the upper level is accessed from ground level in the rear (south). The orientation of the residences responds directly to the topography at the site and at surrounding properties. A small shift in each footprint provides privacy in each building and porch, and maximizes views of Lake Michigan. The topography at and around the site helped to dictate the setback of the buildings. The topography at the site rises from the north to the south. Drake Avenue rises in elevation as it travels south along the property boundary and the dune on the west side of Drake climbs steeply. The CLI was updated from E. Lakefront Drive Historic District to Solomon Enclave in 2016.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Regions 3, 4, & 5 Park Cultural Landscapes Program
- Date of Issue
- 2003-09-11
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- INDU , MWR
- Keywords
- Architecture, Architecture - International (1915-1945), Architecture - Period Revivals (1870-1940), Beverly Shores, Clements House, Drake Avenue, East Lake Front Drive, Frederick Bartlett, Indiana, International Style, Lake Michigan, lakeshore, Landscape architecture, Louis Solomon, Pascale house, Porter County, Recreation, Resort Community, Sand dune, Spanish Colonial Revial, Suburban Life, swimming pool, Tudor Revival, Vacation Home, Vernacular Landscape, Ways of Life