A. Wynn Howell designed the 1960 Louttit Conference Center
The Louttit Conference Center at Camp Wingmann, built around 1960, is locally said to have been designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. This tradition identifies the building as potentially one of the most significant mid-century structures in Avon Park.
Historical records indicate the conference center was actually designed by A. Wynn Howell (1912–1989), an architect based in Lakeland, Florida.
The connection to A. Wynn Howell
The connection is established through contemporary reporting: newspaper archives from 1961 note that the new diocesan conference center at Camp Wingmann was designed by the same architect responsible for a contemporary church in Mount Dora.[news-arch-1961] That church, St. Edward’s Episcopal Church, was constructed between 1958 and 1959 and was designed by Howell.
The Frank Lloyd Wright tradition
The local belief that the center was designed by a “student of Frank Lloyd Wright” stems directly from Howell’s own professional reputation. Howell’s designs—which often featured “Contemporary” styling, such as the native Florida fieldstone buttresses at St. Edward’s—led to frequent claims in real estate listings and architectural descriptions that he was an understudy of Wright.
However, this claim is contradicted by Howell himself. In his short autobiography, Howell made no mention of studying under Wright. Instead, he recorded that he became an architect through private study and a seven-year apprenticeship with three established architects in Central Florida following the Second World War.[howell-autobiography] The Frank Lloyd Wright connection is therefore a tradition, though a persistent one attached to Howell’s work.
Fate of the building
The Louttit Conference Center remained under the Episcopal Diocese of South Florida (and later Central Florida) until the late 1970s. Facing financial deficits, a diocesan convention in 1979 voted to sell the property. It was subsequently sold to the Missionary Alliance Church, then to Teen Challenge, and finally to Tri County Rehabilitation Services, operating as Trout Lake Camp.
References
- news-arch-1961 — Unknown. Newspaper archives from 1961. 1961. Local Search
- howell-autobiography — A. Wynn Howell. A. Wynn Howell short autobiography. 1989. Local Search
Related
Where this comes from
- Evidence
- corroborated — More than one independent source agrees.
- Review
- unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.
- Rights
- public-domain
Sources
- Unknown, Newspaper archives from 1961 (Local Search) (1961)
- A. Wynn Howell, A. Wynn Howell short autobiography (Local Search) (1989)
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