By the mid 1980s, the Trost designed Second Owls Club had become an unsightly wreck. Nearly all decoration had been removed in the 1960s by previous owners "The Loyal Order of the Moose", and the building had been vacant and deteriorating for years. The architectural and developmental firm of Collier-Craft, mostly known for their work in the mining town of Bisbee, purchased the languishing building in 1985 with the intent to restore it based on images of Henry Trost's original 1903 structure. Collier-Craft hired Robert W. Boucher & Associates, a Tuscon Architectural Sculpture firm, to restore the exterior. Using the provided images, Boucher reproduced the building's lost decorative elements nearly perfectly. His company received the Governor's Award for Historic Preservation.
Erected in 1903, Henry Trost designed this building for the Owls Club, an organization providing a home to men while they were awaiting marraige. The building was designed in a Mission Revival style, with Prairie School influences, according to the Society of Architectural Historians. Trost traveled south of Tucson to study the 1797 Mission San Xavier del Bac, designed by Ignacio Gaona, in preparation for the Owls. Although the Mission was in serious disrepair because of neglect, Trost recognized the building's cultural and architectural heritage and attempted (successfully) to flavor his Owls building with this discovery. During his career, Trost frequently traveled to other cities when planning buildings, oftentimes with owners, to study existing buildings' architecture.
Interestingly, although the Tucson firm of Trost & Rust existed at the time, I have found no documentary evidence that Robert Rust was involved with this building.
The Second Owls Club is a rectangular brick "block" with 9000 square feet of space. The exterior decoration, including toads, cacti and the owl, may have been influenced by Louis Sullivan and the Arts & Crafts ("Prairie School") movement in the late 1800s, according to the SAH. All of the exterior sculpture was designed by Trost, but completed by local sculptor Gustave Vierold. The comission was offered to Henry Trost by Owls Club leader Levi Manning to replace the smaller original building, also designed by Trost. The Owls Club used the building until member Leo Goldschmidt, finding himself as the only resident, purchased the property. His sister, Eva Mansfield, moved in and the family owned the property for two generations until it was purchased and veritably destroyed by the Loyal Order of the Moose. The Moose organization built an addition on the rear, but then deserted the building in the early 1970s. In the decade that followed, the structure deteriorated markedly (refer to attached images #10 and #13).
Currently, the property is well maintained and is in use as offices.
Text and research provided to Sketchclub.net by Mark Stone, citing:
-- Vintage Tucson (vintagetucson.com)
-- Robert W. Boucher & Associates (http://www.rwboucher.com/Portfolio02/index.html)
-- Society of Architectural Historians, Heather N. McMahon, R. Brooks Jeffery and Jason Tippeconnic Fox (https://sah-archipedia.org)
-- Nequette, Anne M., and R. Brooks Jeffery. A Guide to Tucson Architecture. Tucson: the University of Arizona Press, 2002.
-- Patterson, Ann, and Mark Vinson. Landmark Buildings: Arizona’s Architectural Heritage. Phoenix: Arizona Highways, 2004.
-- The Portal to Texas History (https://texashistory.unt.edu/)
-- Engelbrecht, Lloyd C., and June-Marie F. Engelbrecht. Henry C. Trost: Architect of the Southwest. El Paso, TX: El Paso Public Library Association, 1981.
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 10/22/2020 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 10/22/2020 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 10/22/2020 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 10/22/2020 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 10/22/2020 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 10/22/2020 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 10/22/2020 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 10/22/2020 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 10/22/2020 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 10/22/2020 |
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| Photograph taken by Mark Stone 10/22/2020 |
