Lecture June 6 on architect’s local work

TORRINGTON — The Torrington Historical Society will host a presentation about noted architect E.G.W. Dietrich, designer of the Luther G. Turner House, on June 6.

“Architect E.G.W. Dietrich: Bringing the Arts and Crafts Style to Torrington” will be presented by Dietrich scholar Christopher Jend and will feature information about Dietrich and his design for the Turner House, one of the city’s most prominent historic homes.

The presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the society’s Carriage House Gallery, 192 Main St. Free to the public, it is sponsored by the Torrington Chapter of UNICO National.

Dietrich (1857-1924) was a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., and came to prominence in the 1880s for his eye-catching designs of shingle-style country residences. Finding success on the East Coast, he relocated to New York City, where he would practice for nearly 40 years. He was an early proponent of the Colonial Revival and Arts and Crafts styles.

Through his collaboration with furniture designer Gustav Stickley, Dietrich is recognized as designing the first “Craftsman” house published in Stickley’s Craftsman Magazine in May 1903.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Dietrich was hired to design a house for Luther G. Turner (18451924), one of Torrington’s most prominent citizens.

Turner made his career with one of Torrington’s largest industries, the Turner & Seymour Manufacturing Co., eventually serving as president of the firm prior to his retirement in 1915.

The house, circa 1904 and located on a prominent lot at the corner of Migeon Avenue and Gleason Street, went through several design iterations. Coinciding with Dietrich’s design of the first Craftsman house, the Turner residence is an outstanding example of Dietrich’s work in the Arts and Crafts style.

Jend began researching Dietrich seven years ago. He has documented more than 350 of Dietrich’s designs and visited Dietrich projects in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Indiana.

Jend researched and wrote the successful nomination of the John Mollenhauer House in Bay Shore, N.Y., to the National Register of Historic Places. He has presented his research on Dietrich at the Bay Shore Historical Society and the Warwick Historical Society in Orange County, N.Y.

The latter was part of the Warwick Village Sesquicentennial and included an exhibition of drawings, renderings and photographs of Dietrich designs.

For more information, contact the Torrington Historical Society at torringtonhistorical@snet.net.

Contributed photos Architect E.G.W. Dietrich, who designed the Luther Turner house in Torrington — shown in earlier days at left, and recent times, above — will be the subject of a free talk June 6 in the Torrington Historical Society’s Carriage House Gallery.