The architectural design of the Ewing Manor in Bloomington, Illinois, was patterned after the Channel-Norman style seen primarily in England and France. The Ewings brought many sketches and ideas back from their world tour and hired architect Phil Hooton to design the manor in the historical style that they loved.
Although the Ewing Manor was built between 1927 and 1929, the Norman style of architecture is actually much older. Dating back to the period just before the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 A.D., buildings in this style are typically built of stone and have multiple towers.
The general long shape of the Ewing Manor is characteristic of buildings designed both before and after the Norman Conquest. This design allowed windows to be placed on both sides of the building to maximize light inside. Because of this practice, buildings designed in this style often look grander on the outside than they are on the inside. This is true of the Ewing Manor as well, which has a smaller and warmer feel to the interior than would be supposed by the grandiose exterior.
One unique element included in the Ewing Manor, often seen in Norman churches, is the use of open timber roofs. The Ewings took this idea and modified it in their own home, including highly unusual concrete beams in the ceiling of their main living room. Because Mr. Ewing was the head of the concrete company in Bloomington at the time, this choice of materials seems fitting. Wooden beams were used in the top levels of the residential and stable wings of the house, and they were left exposed in these rooms.
Staircases in Norman times were either built as one straight flight between two walls or as a continuous spiral within a circular tower. The spiral form of the staircases can either wind around the outside edge of a tower leaving space in the center or have a tighter rotation around a central newel. The Ewing Manor has examples of each of these staircase designs. The east turret, which holds the main entrance to the manor, holds the wide spiral staircase that extends from the basement to the third floor of the house. The west turret, which is in the stable portion of the manor, has a tightly wound spiral staircase that is also characteristic of the late Gothic and early Tudor architectural periods.
The main material used in building the Ewing Manor was limestone, which the Ewings purchased from both Wisconsin and Joliet. Using materials native to the area was a way designers achieved the goal of creating a structure that fit well with its environment. Although the Ewing Manor is made primarily of limestone, it is also covered with a hand-hewn cypress timber framing.
The stone was delivered to the property, strewn with iron shavings, and left exposed to the weather for a winter. The hand-hewn cypress timbers were sandblasted to achieve a weathered appearance. Bricks from the local Wochner Brewery, abandoned at the time, were used in the courtyard. These techniques were all employed to add to the rustic appearance of the property and to reinforce the references to the old style of architecture.
Ewing Manor is open to potential clients by appointment only.
