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National and State Registers of Historic Places

Beal House

Picture of property 1624 Indiana St.
Lawrence (Douglas County)
Listed in National Register Dec 29, 2015

Architect: George Malcolm Beal
Category: domestic; single dwelling
Thematic Nomination: Historic Resources of Lawrence (2014 post-WWII resources)

The 1950 Beal House is an outstanding local example of Usonian organic architecture. KU Architecture professor George Malcolm Beal expanded upon Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian design principles by calculating site-specific sun angles using an original heliodon instrument he designed and built for early sustainable design classes at KU. As a result of these calculations, the roof overhangs the nearly all-glass south elevation to take full advantage of solar gain in winter and shade in summer. The house's period of significance spans from 1950 to 1968, when George and Helen Beal moved. The house and site are nominated as part of the "Historic Resources of Lawrence" under Criterion B for its local association with George Beal, who designed and resided here while shaping the transition of the University of Kansas's architecture program from classical to modern and under Criterion C for its architecture and engineering. Though her association is outside the period of significance, State Representative Betty Jo Charlton resided here from 1971 to 2014; she was the first woman legislator from Lawrence, serving from 1979 until 1994.



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