Champlin, H. H., House

The H. H. Champlin House, completed in 1939, is significant within the architectural context of Enid, Oklahoma, because the building is the best preserved and most elaborate example of Tudor Revival residences in Enid. In design, appearance, and feeling the house embodies the distinctive characteristics of the Tudor Revival style, which was popular nationally from the 1890s and in Enid in the 1920s and 1930s. Virtually all of the Tudor Revival residences built in Enid are of the 1920s one-story "cottage" type; many are tract homes built on speculation by developers. In Kisner Heights, only one other Tudor Revival residence, the much less elaborate Lamerton house, is distinctive in design and materials. The Champlin House is unaltered from its 1939 appearance and retains all elements of integrity necessary to convey its architectural significance.

In September of 1893 a "land run" opened a portion of north-central Oklahoma Territory known as the Cherokee Strip. Enid was established and platted as the first town (and as the location of the land office) and was settled on September 16, the day of the run. Named the seat of Garfield County, the town quickly transformed from a tent city to a community of small frame houses and stately Victorian vernacular homes in residential areas east, west, and north of a central business district.

In the mid-1910s an oil discovery called the Garber Pool brought boom times to Enid. Prosperity soon brought about a spate of new construction in the existing western residential district, bounded generally by Van Buren Street on the east, Lincoln on the west, and Lahoma (now called Owen Garriott Road) on the south. In this area, homes were constructed from the 1900s through the 1930s. Residential styles vary, but two-story Colonial Revivals predominate, with perhaps fifteen percent of the homes being small one- and two-story Tudor Revival cottages built in the 1920s, many as part of development tracts. Two distinctive homes in this area are listed on the National Register: The Kaufman house (NR 1985), built in the 1910s in Spanish Eclectic style at 1708 W. Maine; and the T. T. Eason house (NR 1987), built in 1923 in Prairie style at 1305 W. Broadway. Other historic and architecturally unique homes in the area include:
the Knox-McCristy mansion, built in 1904 in the Neoclassical Revival style at 1323 W. Broadway; the Ehly house, a Mission Revival style house built in the 1920s at 524 S. Hayes; and the Alton house, built in the 1920s at 1214 W. Broadway in the Craftsman style. The Tudor Revival style homes in this area are uniformly small to medium size one- and two-story brick-veneer buildings.

In 1928 a new addition called Kisner Heights was developed south of Lahoma Avenue/Owen Garriott Road/US 60 and west of Van Buren Street/US81. The main entrance to this subdivision lies on Owen Garriott Road. Two streets provide entry: South Tyler, and South Sequoyah, which flank a small park directly east of the H. H. Champlin House. Most of the homes in Kisner Heights were constructed in the 1930s. The area is dominated by the Kisner home, a very large Neoclassical Revival house built c. 1928-1932 at 1111 Wynona, and the Champlin home. The majority of houses in Kisner Heights are of the Colonial Revival style. Historic and unique homes in this area include three French Eclectic homes, at 1302 Vinita, 1106 W. Wynona, and 1017 W. Wynona; and two Spanish Eclectic residences, at 1201 S. Sequoyah and 1120 W. Wynona. The Tudor Revival style is also well represented in Kisner, with most examples being the one-story brick-veneer cottage variety popular in the 1920s. Many of these are tract homes built five or six in a row, all similar in small size and in the plan. The two exceptions to this are the Champlin House and the Lamerton home, at 1420 W. Indian. The Lamerton house is a two-story brick-veneer Tudor Revival-style building. It is characterized mainly by its stone fireplaces, which contrast with red-brown brick walls that have an inlaid multicolored diamond pattern from the ground to the gables. Otherwise, the Lamerton house is fairly undistinguished; it was built c. 1928-1932.

The Champlin House embodies many of the characteristics of the Tudor Revival residential style. This style became popular in the United States in the late nineteenth century and waned in popularity in the 1930s. Though built in 1938, Champlin House's masonry walls identify it more with landmark-type Tudors of stone wall cladding built before 1920. The Champlin House typifies the Tudor Revival style with its side-gabled roof, its steeply pitched dominant cross gables in front and rear, and its varying roof line and eave heights. Windows in the Champlin House are typical, ranging from Tudor arches with a diamond-pane glazing pattern, to oriels, one-story semi-hexagonal bays, gable dormers, and contemporary arrangements of triplets. The elaborate front door surround with quoin-like stone trim, arched doorway, and heavy oak door are also typical, as are the porte-cochere, the one-story tower, and the one-story loggia, all with castellated parapets. Also typical are ornately carved vergeboards in the gables and tall internal and external chimneys with multiple pots.

In terms of design, materials, and workmanship the two-and-one-half-story, architect-designed Champlin House is the most significant Tudor Revival-style building in Enid. In 1938 H. H. Champlin, bank president and oil developer, contracted with Enid architects Roy Shaw and Norris Wheeler to design his new home. Stipulating only that the home be large, be in the Tudor Revival style, and use only first-quality materials, Champlin gave the architects virtual carte blanche. The resulting plans incorporated traditional building and ornamentation techniques with state-of-the-art technology. Two years were required by D. C. Bass Construction Company to complete the work.

Instead of framed walls with brick or stone veneer, the architects chose to build load-bearing masonry walls of Briar Hill sandstone. Windows ordered from the Kawneer Company, of Niles, Michigan, was a new and costly style of cast bronze, double-hung sash variety, only a few of which had ever been manufactured. Roofing and terracing materials consisted of extra-heavy Vermont slate. The dewatering system--flashings, gutters, downspouts--was created from lead-coated copper, as is the iron grillework for the front screen door.

Eleven windows in the sun parlor were specially designed by the Jacoby Art Glass Company, of St. Louis. Each of these unique lattice-pattern lights features a central colored-glass inset depicting a scene from Oklahoma history.

Interior design specifications also incorporated unusual elements. heating and cooling systems included all-copper ducts, and the system was designed to incorporate an individual thermostatic control in each room. the kitchen, specially designed by Hotpoint, all fixtures and cabinetry were constructed of Monel metal, and despite a small alteration in one corner, all of these fixtures remain. The interior woodwork was created from walnut, oak, and other hardwoods, some personally selected at the mill by the architects. Friezes, moldings, beams, and doors were hand-carved by artisans in Kansas City and in Enid.

In addition to maintaining the integrity of its architectural design, materials, and workmanship since 1939, the Champlin House has also retained its integrity of location and setting. Kisner Heights addition was developed after 1928 when R. H. Kisner subdivided and sold most of his farm. Lots in Block 2, where the Champlin House is located, were sold to individuals, but no structures were ever built. Mr. Champlin subsequently acquired virtually all of Block 2 by 1938. Block 1, which lies east of the house, across Tyler Street, never developed and was made into a city park. Nearby--south across Wynona Street and east across Sequoyah Street--large homes were built in the 1920s. The setting into which the Champlin House was introduced in 1938-1939 has since remained the same, with the view from the front of the house, across a broad, deep expanse of landscaped lawn, consisting of a large park and large Spanish Eclectic homes. Thus, by definition, the criteria of feeling and association have also retained their integrity. The Kisner addition remains an area of stately homes built primarily in the 1920s and 1930s.

The Champlin House's quality of materials and the high caliber of artisanship of its exterior and interior finishes and elaborations are unrivaled in Enid to this day. Pictured in Oklahoma Homes (1980), it is described as "one of the best-constructed dwellings in Oklahoma." It is a landmark of residential architecture in this locality. It has retained its integrity of design, materials, workmanship, location, setting, feeling, and association to the present time.