FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Two University of Arkansas architecture students spent several long days in 2017 crawling around a historic Fayetteville home designed by Fay Jones, measuring design details to an eighth of an inch. During the rest of that summer semester, they documented their findings and distilled the results into a series of survey drawings on a single 22-by-30-inch sheet.

Their project was awarded an honorable mention in the 2018 Leicester B. Holland Prize competition sponsored by the Library of Congress and the National Park Service last fall.

The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design students documented the Norman and Luise DeMarco House in Fayetteville, which was commissioned by the DeMarcos in 1962. Norman was a professor of drama and film at the U of A; Luise was a secretary in the Department of Architecture and admired drama, art, literature and the natural world.

The work of historical documentation builds a greater appreciation for architecture and the effort that goes into it, said Stephan Umierski, one of the students who completed the project under the guidance of Greg Herman, associate professor of architecture in the Fay Jones School.

"There's a level of intimacy, when you're measuring to an eighth of an inch. You gain a fuller understanding of the architect and what his intentions were," Umierski said. "This was an incredible opportunity to dive into a one-of-a-kind Fay Jones house, to document work by the architect for whom our school is named."

Jones, an Arkansas native, was a prominent American architect who pioneered the style that is now known as mid-century modern. He was an AIA Gold Medal winner — the highest recognition given by the American Institute of Architects — as well as a U of A graduate, professor and first dean of the architecture school.

Umierski and Dylan Sylvester completed the project for the summer 2017 class in Historical Building Documentation, a professional elective for advanced students. Umierski, who graduated in December 2017, works for Hoefer Wysocki in Leawood, Kansas. Sylvester, who graduated in May 2018, works for Modus Studio in Fayetteville.

The Holland Prize recognizes the best single-sheet, measured drawing of a historic building, site or structure prepared to the standards of the Historic American Buildings Survey, the Historic American Engineering Record or the Historic American Landscapes Survey.

The annual competition is administered by the Heritage Documentation Programs of the National Park Service. Drawings accepted for the competition are added to a permanent collection in the Library of Congress.

The Fay Jones School project was the only project honored with an award other than the first place project last year. Winners were featured in the November 2018 issue of "Preservation Architect," the online newsletter of the American Institute of Architects Historic Resources Committee.

The DeMarco House is noted for its rotated and overlapping geometries, rare in Jones' work, Herman said.

"It's as if a square has been rotated on top of a square, forming unusual angles that impact the space and how the space is configured," he said. "It feels like it's spreading out into the landscape, although it's a small and stationary object."

The house perches on the edge of a bluff, its angular terrace seemingly suspended in space. An immense hearth and chimney constructed of native limestone dominate the interior.

"It literally forms the root of that space, as if a large taproot is coming down through space, anchoring the house to the hillside," Herman said.

A bathroom is the only completely enclosed room. "Everything else is just one big open space, with furniture and low partitions both dividing spaces and defining spaces," Herman said.

Every detail of the house reflects Jones' exacting vision, Umierski said. Even the copper chimney cap has the same angular dimensions, placed in alignment with the roof.

"We wouldn't know that if we weren't crawling around on the roof measuring the stonework," Umierski said. "Fay Jones definitely put a lot of detail into the house. That's something you can only learn when you document it down to the last detail."

The student team employed scales, cameras, measuring tapes and a laser distance measure to obtain the dimensions. Once back in the studio, they used computer-aided design and drafting software to record the results.

They also studied Jones' original drawings and other archival material preserved in Special Collections at the University of Arkansas Libraries. Students were required to submit field notes and written documentation along with their survey drawings.

There were some differences between the original design and the finished product, Sylvester noted. Jones' design called for the back patio to be constructed of the same native limestone as the hearth and living area floor. The built house has wooden decking.

The prize-winning drawing shows a number of perspectives, including a site drawing, floor plan, cross-section with interior elements and roof section detail, all done to Historic American Buildings Survey specifications.

"That's a lot of information to pack on one sheet," Herman said. "In some ways, it's more difficult (than a complete set of drawings), because you still have to represent the entire building. You have to distill it down to those aspects most critical to be conveyed."

The work of historical documentation is important for preserving the work of great architects and lesser-known designers alike, Umierski said. The technical drawing skills he gained continue to help him in his daily work.

"I wanted to do it for the experience," Sylvester agreed. "The house is very unusual, even in Fay Jones' scope of work. It's an outlier - not his typical geometries."

Two previous projects done by Herman's students also have won recognition in the Heritage Documentation Programs awards.

Students won first place in the 2010 Peterson Prize competition for their documentation of the Fay and Gus Jones House in Fayetteville. The Peterson Prize is similar to the Holland Prize but requires a complete set of drawings.

Student work on Deepwood House in Fayetteville, designed by Herb Fowler, a former Fay Jones School professor, earned third place in the 2016 Peterson Prize competition. Umierski led that project team.

Students also have documented work by Warren Segraves and John G. Williams. This semester, students are documenting the 1949 Tweedy-Puntch House in Springdale, designed by William Oglesby, a U of A alumnus.

Historical documentation gives students valuable experience in planning, editing and deciding how to present their own work, Herman said.

"Clarity of presentation is absolutely critical. The Historic American Buildings Survey does not desire artfulness beyond that which allows for clarity," he said. "It's not about personal expression, it's about making something that will be legible and useful to somebody in many years, maybe even many decades down the line."