The Natural State of Architecture

February 26 - March 4, 2018

The Sugar Shack

By Mason Toms

I doubt many of you have noticed the small, wooden building that sits all alone on the western edge of the Capitol grounds.  However, this little anomaly has a very interesting history to it, one that many do not know. It began life as the personal residence of architect Julian Davidson.

Davidson was a Little Rock native who graduated from Little Rock High School in 1924. He then attended Washington University in St. Louis where he earned a Bachelor's in Architecture in 1928. Afterwards, he returned to Little Rock to work for the firm of Wittenberg & Delony, where he had worked as a courier in high school. In 1944 he enrolled in MIT in Cambridge, MA, and studied structural engineering, completing his Master's in 1946.  Davidson then returned to Arkansas and his former firm where he was named a partner, making it Wittenberg Delony & Davidson. His graduate degree also made him the first architect in the state of Arkansas to also be a licensed engineer.

It may be hard to imagine now but in the late 1940s the area west of Wolf Street and north of

I-630 was a thriving neighborhood. There were houses of all different sizes and an apartment complex. It was on an irregular lot at the northern edge of this neighborhood, overlooking the railroad tracks, where Davidson decided to build a house for his family in 1951. Not an ideal spot for most because of the noise, the location was perfect for a train lover like Davidson. Instead of designing a more traditional house, like the rest of the neighborhood, Davidson looked at the work of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright for inspiration, specifically Wright's Usonian houses. The Usonian designs were created by Wright to be a uniquely American style of house. The Davidson House typified the style with its flat roof and carport, which Wright saw as wastes of space and creators of clutter. As a fun fact, Wright is credited with creating the term carport in one of his early Usonian designs. Usonian houses were generally one-story, though there were a few two-story designs, and were low to the ground with wood siding. The street side windows were generally short and set high up on the wall so that they provided light to the interior but also allowed for privacy. The backside of the house was the opposite. It commonly had large windows, often floor to ceiling, which were to connect the interior of the house with the outdoors. All of these features seen on the Davidson House make it one of the premier Usonian styled houses in the state.

The Davidsons lived in the house until it was the sole surviving residence in the area. The State bought it in 1966 and has owned it ever since. It was during this time that the house developed a more seedy reputation, hence its nickname, the Sugar Shack. In 1991 Secretary of State Bill McCuen moved into the Davidson House. During his four-year stay, McCuen reportedly had wild parties that often included “ladies of the night.” These activities did not escape public notice as seen in a December 1991 column by the executive editor of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette who noted the “Many hours of fun and games in the Sugar Shack, the good-time digs [McCuen] occupies at public expense.” McCuen's career eventually ended due to his extracurricular activities, which resulted in his unseating in 1994 and jail time in 1995 for corruption. In 1996 the house became the home of the Capitol Zoning District Commission which is still there today.

From a house with a remarkable architectural pedigree designed by a talented architect to the setting for political scandal, the Davidson House houses some serious stories. As with many buildings, there are interesting stories to be told for those that care to listen, but I guess that's just the Natural State of Architecture.