Join us for “Anti-domestic: An Alternative Architectural History of Gustav Stickley,” a six-part online lecture series!

Led by Dr. Willa Granger, our new Curator of Education and Collections, this series will consider the broader architectural history of Gustav Stickley, exploring the diverse spaces and places that facilitated his entrepreneurship. We will examine and hypothesize about how Stickley existed in, reacted to, and shaped buildings ranging from the furniture shop at Auburn State Prison to his factory in Syracuse and his tall building in Manhattan, down to the very infrastructure—train networks, lumberyards, and beyond—that enabled the Craftsman vision. In telling this alternative architectural history, we can better understand the man, positioning him less exclusively as a visionary Arts and Crafts crusader and more as a businessman and property owner navigating the complex and contradictory terrain of Progressive-era America.

Lectures may be purchased individually or as a complete series. Click here for the full course description.

Lecture 4
The “Lodge” House: Rustic Visions in Suburban New Jersey

Sat., November 7, 2026, at 1:00 P.M. EST

Although often remembered as Stickley’s home in Morris Plains, New Jersey, his Log House was never intended to be a single-family residence. Ironically, many of the lessons Stickley deployed in this structure—its emphasis on open, flowing space, its embeddedness within the landscape, its use of simple, vernacular, and non-historicizing forms—would become de rigueur in middle-class suburban housing. Yet the Log House was conceived, and indeed intended, to function in a much more communal manner, and is better understood as akin to the large lodges that anchored the rustic Adirondack camps Stickley so admired. This lecture situates Stickley’s Log House and its design not within histories of single-family homes, as is often the case, but rather within congregate forms such as lodges, mess halls, boarding schools, and campgrounds. By positioning the Log House in reference to these building types, we can see how Stickley’s ambitions for the property reflected prevailing middle-class values around the commodification of nature, the schooling of children, and the superficial flight from cities.

A La Carte
Member Price: $30 / session
Non-Member Price: $35 / session

Full Course
Member Price: All 6 sessions for $150 (one session free)
Non-Member Price: All 6 sessions for $210

Registration is required. Once registered and paid, you will receive an email prior to each session with a link to join.

Do you have a scheduling conflict for the live session? You can still enjoy the program. Register and we’ll send you the recording! All paid attendees will be emailed a private link to the session recording when it is available, typically 6-7 days after the live program.

Missed us? You can also register retroactively. If you register for a session that has passed, you’ll receive access to the recording when it is ready.

Haven’t tried a session yet? Each session is planned as a “stand-alone” lecture, so you can take them all or attend the topics that interest you most.