Abrom Dombar 1912-2010

Unfortunate news came today, Abrom Dombar passed away yesterday, he was 98 years old. We recently verified that our house was designed by Abe. It's nice to be a little part of history. To the left are photos of some of his architectural work. Below is some text written by his daughter April & grandson Daniel.

"Abrom was born April 27, 1912, in North Vernon, Indiana, after his parents emigrated from Odessa, Russia (now Ukraine) in 1905. He graduated from Hughes High School in Cincinnati and attended the University of Cincinnati's school of design, art and architecture before joining Wright and one other at the newly founded Taliesin Fellowship as a founding member in 1932.

In Mr. Dombar's second year of college, he was awarded the autobiography of Mr. Wright after being voted the most talented student of the year. Yound Mr. Dombar snuck into a speech being given by Mr. Wright where he learning of Wright's dream to have a fellowship. It was months later that Dombar joined Wright, Edgar Tafel, William Wesley Peters and John Howe to establish the now-famous Taliesin Fellowship.

As accounted in the book The Fellowship by Roger Friedland and Harold Zellman, Wright had wanted Dombar to take over the Fellowship at Taliesin when Wright retired, but Dombar chose to return to Cincinnati to begin his own architectural design practice. While at Taliesin, Dombar went on to live in Bear Run, Pennsylvania where he was the first foreman at Fallingwater, perhaps Wright' most famous work.

Abrom Dombar was a Lieutenant in the Army in WWII serving three years stationed in both France and Germany. During Abrom Dombar's career as an architectural designer he created both commercial and residential properties, always staying true to his creative nature.

Architecture may have brought Dombar some noteriety, but his real passion was as a family man. He was happily married for 67 years to Sarah Penso Varon, who passed away in 2007. He leaves behind a son David Dombar, daughter April Davidow, four grandsons and their wives, and six great grandchildren."

"Most persons back away almost immediately as soon as they hear the term 'modern architecture.' They get a mental picture right away of some flat or oddly-shaped house. That, however does not properly define organic, or modern, architecture. Modern architecture is a building to suit the climate, landscape, and various conditions and to have the house natural to the materials used." - Abrom Dombar, 1937