LFLB History Museum

Ragdale was the beloved country estate of one of the Chicago area’s greatest residential architects, Howard Van Doren Shaw. In 1897, on 33 acres just west of Green Bay Road, Shaw created a relaxed, summer retreat for his creative family.

The property included an Arts and Crafts style home and barn amidst gardens and cultivated fields with a view to the west toward the Skokie River of virgin prairie and wetlands. Shaw named his country home ‘Ragdale’ after an old Tudor house in Leicestershire, England – mostly because he liked the name. He was aiming for informal country surroundings for his house, not a well-groomed manor. The house was the center of a farm-estate that grew to more than 50 acres.

Evelyn, Frances, Howard, and Sylvia Shaw, c. 1907. Photograph courtesy of Shaw Family Ragdale Collection, Lake Forest College Library Special Collections.

In 1893, Howard Van Doren Shaw had married poet and playwright Frances Wells. They had three daughters—Evelyn, Sylvia and Theodora. Frances Shaw and the children lived at Ragdale six months of the year while the children were growing up. The Shaw children continued to be involved with art. Evelyn Shaw McCutcheon (1894-1977) married noted Chicago Tribune cartoonist John T. McCutcheon. Sylvia Shaw Judson (1897-1978) was an accomplished sculptor, especially of garden statues and commissioned work of public spaces. Theodora Shaw King (1912-1996) married architect John Lord King and was a weaver.

Photograph courtesy of Shaw Family Ragdale Collection, Lake Forest College Library Special Collections.

Ragdale is a fine example of the Arts and Crafts style of architecture. The home’s simple lines and historical references fit perfectly in its rustic setting. The use of natural materials, such as stucco and timber, and hand-crafted decoration are hallmarks of this type of architecture.

Living room and entryway at Ragdale c. 1905.

The interior boasts a barrel ceiling entry hall with more casual built-in benches. Both the living room and the dining room have fireplaces and views of the prairie beyond. Shaw used cut-glass windows in the dining room to let more light into the entryway and designed much of the furniture himself.

Garden gates. Photograph courtesy of Shaw Family Ragdale Collection, Lake Forest College Library Special Collections.

Shaw's intent was that the grounds remain informal and low so as not to interfere with the views. Northwest of the house, he created a medieval-style garden complete with a dovecote, benches and tables of his own design. In 1912, he added an outdoor theater for his wife, Frances, known as the Ragdale Ring.

Photograph courtesy of Shaw Family Ragdale Collection, Lake Forest College Library Special Collections.

The fountain at Ragdale was built in 1905. Frances Shaw composed the verse on the terra cotta basin. It reads “Purling fountain cool and gray, Tinkling music in the spray, Singing of a summer day.” Since Ragdale never had a swimming pool, the fountain often served as a wading pool. Pictured above, c. 1905, are Sylvia, Evelyn and her dog Tuppence Ha’penny, with their grandfather, Theodore Shaw, in the rocking chair on the porch.

Alice Judson Hayes. Image courtesy of the Ragdale Foundation.

Alice Judson Hayes, Shaw’s granddaughter, founded the Ragdale Foundation in 1976. In 1986, she gave the house, barn house plus five acres to the City of Lake Forest. Ragdale Foundation today is now one of the largest interdisciplinary artists communities in the country.

Video by Colin Kingsley, 2019.

Lake Forest High School student Colin Kingsley traces the history of Ragdale in the above video.

Video by Charlotte Hart, 2019. World Civilizations 2, Lake Forest High School Social Studies Department.

Above, Lake Forest High School student Charlotte Hart discusses Ragdale's legacy and some of the estate's outbuildings.

Ragdale: Where Art Meets Prairie