Purdue State Bank
Bank One Chauncey Village

Dates:

c.1914-1915
Location: corner State and South Streets, West Lafayette, Indiana
Architect: Louis Sullivan

The Purdue State Bank held a design competition c.1913-1914, after it had acquired an unusual triangular site atop State Street hill at the busiest intersection in West Lafayette. Charles W. Nicol, a prominent local architect, submitted a Neoclassical proposal which was published in 1914. Apparently Louis Sullivan took interest due to his work on small banks during this period. His design was accepted and was built by the bank soon after. Very little documentation on the building survives.

The Purdue National Bank was later bought out by Bank One, which seems to have had little appreciation for the significance of the building. The exterior walls were tuck-pointed in light colored mortar and with flush joints when the building had been meant to have dark mortar and raked joints. The original appearance of the brick is visible on the entrance facade, where a sign had prevented tuck-pointing. Bank One also removed the front entrance and installed an ATM machine in the Sullivan terra cotta door surround. There was apparently some sort of simple ornament atop the parapet of this small facade which has been lost. A limestone-clad addition was built onto the rear of the building, altering the configuration of the rear facade and moving the entrance to one side.

The building remains one of Sullivan's least-known works, in a city where a house designed by his student, Frank Lloyd Wright, is often visited. If you happen to visit Wright's "Samara," stop by Chauncey Village to see the Sullivan-designed bank building.

View of original entrance facade, State Street at right View of southwest facade from State Street, showing addition to rear of building
Detail of terra cotta details around windows Detail of terra cotta window surrounds
 
Detail of upper part of entrance facade, note original mortar pattern at center with inappropriate tuck-pointing at sides