Close Associates papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: N78

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

The collection contains working drawings, correspondence, contracts, cost estimates, and specifications for hundreds of structures, the majority of which are residences in Minneapolis, St. Paul and the surrounding suburbs. Among the buildings documented in the collection are the old Gillette Hospital (St. Paul); residences for Bruce Dayton (1949-1950), Lyndon King (1951), Bruce Atwater (1970) and 14 houses in the University Grove area near the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota.

Dates

Creation: 1938-1980

Creator

Close, Elizabeth S., 1912- (Person)
Close, Winston A. (Winston Arthur) (1906-1997) (Person)

Language of Materials

English

Restrictions on Access

Permission required of the donor to photocopy drawings in the collection.

Restrictions on Use

There are no restrictions on the use of materials in this collection. Copies can be requested, with permission of the donor, if the condition of the originals warrants it.

Biographical Note

Winston Close was a native of Appleton, Minnesota, and was graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He worked as a draftsman for several Minneapolis firms from 1927 until 1938 when he and Elizabeth Scheu married and began their partnership. Winston Close died in Minneapolis on June 15, 1997.

Elizabeth Scheu was born in Vienna in 1912 and studied at the Wiener (Vienna) Technische Hochschule (1930) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1934-1935), where she earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture. Following graduation, she was employed by Oskar Stonorov in 1935-1936 to design public housing in Philadelphia. Scheu later was a designer for Magney and Tusler of Minneapolis, 1936-1938.

In 1938, Winston and Elizabeth Close began their own firm, Close Associates. From 1943 to 1946, the Close practice temporarily halted while Winston served in the U.S. Naval Reserve. Upon their return to Minneapolis, the Closes were employed by the Page and Hill Company for 15 years in the design of prefabricated housing. Concurrently, Winston was a professor of architecture at the University of Minnesota and campus advisory architect from 1950 to 1971, overseeing planning of the Morris campus and the West Bank campus in Minneapolis. Elizabeth also taught interior design at the Minneapolis School of Art. The husband and wife team is most noted for their residential designs which are custom made for the client and are created to blend with the environment. In addition to residential architecture, they have designed public and private housing projects, medical facilities, and the Gray Freshwater Biological Institute on Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota. They were both elected Fellows of the AIA in 1969.

Extent

250 Cubic Feet

Additional Description

Abstract

Collection contains working drawings, correspondence, contracts, cost estimates and specifications for hundreds of structures, mostly residences, designed by the Close Associates architectural firm.