SEDGWICK, Charles Sumner (1856-1922), a successful architect in Minneapolis, Minn. and a pioneer at using the medium of books and newspapers to publicize and sell his plans for private residences throughout Canada and the United States. Building upon his own productive architectural practice in Minnesota, he published his first pattern book in 1906 entitled “Sedgwick’s Best House Plans”, a large book consisting of “…120 original designs for Beautiful Homes costing $350 to $5,000”. His success at self-promotion was immediate, and his book reappeared in 12 separate editions over the next 15 years until 1921, the year before his death.
His designs for houses emphasized economy, efficiency and suitability to the winter climate of the northern Plains states and the Canadian Prairies, and he cleverly arranged for the heavy syndication of his plans which appeared on a weekly basis in numerous local Canadian daily newspapers from 1907 to 1921 including the Regina Leader, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, the Victoria Daily Times, the Saskatoon Phoenix, the Winnipeg Tribune, the Windsor Daily Star, the Ottawa Citizen, the Hamilton Spectator, as well as local papers in dozens of American cities and towns. For a modest fee of $15 for each set of plans, Sedgwick was able to market his drawings to any potential homeowner who owned a vacant lot, and who would then hire their own local contractor to construct a residence to his plans.
Never relying on simple elevational studies, Sedgwick prepared his own perspective drawings (usually signed) to accompany his self-advertisements, and offered detailed architectural descriptions of the features of his cottages and houses which were designed in a variety of eclectic styles such as “Swiss” or “Spanish”, or “Cape Cod”, or “American Colonial”. Invariably, these were drawn from his own conservative interpretation of the Mid-west Prairie style, and in many cases may have been inspired by the work of leading Chicago architects such as Purcell & Elmslie, or, to a lesser extent, by the Arts & Crafts movement and the Craftsman style. Undoubtedly, many Canadian clients purchased sets of plans from Sedgwick, and his house designs were erected in many cities and towns, but the authorship and precise location of these residences is difficult to establish at the present time since local authorities did not record the name of this architect in building permit records, and the source of the original blueprints may only be found within family archives and personal papers.
Sedgwick was born in Castile, N.Y. on 9 May 1856 and received his education in common schools at Oberlin, Ohio and Poughkeepsie, N.Y. In 1872, at the young age of sixteen years, he became an apprentice to Isaac G. Perry, a well-known architect in Binghamton, N.Y. and remained with him for the next twelve years, serving as chief draftsman and assistant. In 1884 he moved to Minneapolis, and spent the rest of his professional career there. In that city, Sedgwick is best known for major commercial and institutional landmarks such as Burton Hall at the University of Minnesota (1893-95), Dayton’s Department Store (1902), Westminster Presbyterian Church (1898), and his name can also be linked to dozens of private houses in the Twin Cities region. Sedgwick died in Minneapolis on 12 March 1922 after suffering from Bright’s Disease for several years (obituary and port. Minneapolis Morning Tribune, 14 March 1922, 11; biog. Minneapolis Morning Tribune, 9 May 1910, 5; biog. and list of works in Alan Lathrop, Minnesota Architects - A Biographical Dictionary, 2010, 190-91). His surname is often misspelled in numerous American sources as "Sedgewick" [sic].
YORKTON, SASK., residence for A.V. Whitman, 1913 (American Contractor [Chicago], 1 March 1913, 89; inf. Robert Hamilton, of Hamilton, Ont.)