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Historical Photo Guessing Game: Lake Forest Gem Is Ragdale

Weekly photo posting celebrates Lake Forest's150th anniversary.

 
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When Howard Van Doren Shaw bought the property now known as Ragdale in 1897, it was originally a working farm, and later divided into three parcels in the 1930s.

The photograph was taken from the Witness Tree Book, which has been produced during Lake Forest's 150th anniversary. The book is available online at www.lf150.com, the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Historical Society, the Lake Forest Library, or the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Senior Center.

According to the book, the Ragdale Foundation was formed in 1976 by Alice Judson Hayes, Shaw’s granddaughter, to preserve this special artist sanctuary for succeeding generations. Ragdale is a part of the National Register of Historic Places. In 2001, the Foundation received a 99-year lease from the City of Lake Forest to ensure the long-term future of Ragdale as an art community.

Thanks for your continued participation and feedback.

We'll be back with another posting next weekend.

About this column: A weekly column devoted to celebrating Lake Forest's 150th anniversary in 2011. Related Topics: Lake Forest 150th Anniversary, Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Historical Society, and Ragdale

Alice Moulton-Ely

6:46 am on Sunday, August 14, 2011

Ragdale? (I'm submitting this for the third time because it's not clear my guess registered the first two.)

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Alice Moulton-Ely

7:10 am on Sunday, August 14, 2011

Hint for any iPad users: because the historical photo disappears after a few seconds (the iPad doesn't support Flash Player) if you place your finger on the image and jiggle it slightly, it remains on the screen as long as you like.

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Susan Tillett

9:00 am on Sunday, August 14, 2011

This is the Ragdale Barnhouse seen from the west looking east. When the Shaw's bought the farm in 1897 the brick house was already there. He added the barn and the wagon shed, forming what is today the courtyard. In the 1930s, when Ragdale was divided among the Shaw daughters, this parcel went to the youngest, Theodora. Her architect-husband converted the compex into the barnhouse. Today it houses 6 residents, the dining and living rooms and the staff offices.

Susan Tillett, Executive Director, Ragdale Foundation

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Gail Hodges

10:43 am on Sunday, August 14, 2011

This is the red-brick farmhouse (shown with connection to the barn and later additions and known as the "barnhouse") that was the only building on the 75 acres of the Swanton Farm purchased by architect Howard Van Doren Shaw in 1894 to build "Ragdale." Today the building houses offices and conference rooms for the Ragdale Foundation. The entire property later was divided into three parcels for Shaw's three daughters. The Ragdale house and the farmhouse, which was connected to the barn, comprised two of the parcels.

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