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STAFF REPORT: Proposed Local Historic Landmark Status for 514 East Indiana Avenue -- The Samuel W. Studebaker House At the September, 1992 regular monthly meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission, you will be asked to consider the recommendation of the Samuel W. Studebaker House at 514 East Indiana as a Local Historic Landmark. The present owner, Mrs. Gervae James, has requested this action and has provided the HPC with a signed approval form. The structure has been rated as Significant (S-11) on the Indiana Sites and Structures Inventory. Architecturally, the structure is best described as a variant of the late Queen Anne Style -- it is essentially an early American Four -Square with a large polygonal bay window on its west facade, two additional smaller bays and a wide dentilled entablature under the eaves and dormer roof lines. The house has undergone major exterior alterations. The structure has been sided with aluminum and has had aluminum storms installed -- most of the window and door surrounds have been removed to accommodate the siding. The front porch has been altered -- brick supports were added -- probably in rhe 1920's. Several exterior doors have been removed and replaced. No riginal outbuildings remain. The exterior of the house has significant maintenance problems: 1. all wood surfaces are in dire need of paint (eaves, remaining window trim, side porch supports, etc.); these surfaces are deteriorating rapidly; the east side -entry canopy, especially, is in an advanced state of deterioration. 2. several areas of the ahistoric (aluminum) siding is deteriorating, is discolored and, strangely enough, shows evidence of rust. RECOMMENDATION The Samuel Studebaker House (1902) was judged to be both architecturally and historically significant on the city survey. Although altered, it was designed by architect Walter W. Schneider (1868-1957), an important South Bend architect who was responsible for the design of the River Park Theater and the Natatorium, as well as numerous residences and other structures in the region. The structure remains as a fine example of Schneider's residential design and as a transitional vernacular form bridging the ornate houses of the nineteenth-century and the more austere twentieth- century styles. Historically, the structure remains as material evidence of one of the city's important industrial families -- the Studebakers. The house was �uilt for Samuel W. Studebaker, the son of Henry, the elder brother of the iblings responsible for the founding of the famous auto -manufacturing oncern. In addition, the house was later owned and lived in by two other South Bend businessmen of note and their families -- Clifford M. Lontz, president of Lontz Brothers and E. Glenmore Wells, president •of the Wells Manufacturing Company. The structure fulfills the criteria necessary for designation; the HPC has