The Teakwood Room at Lawrence University is the only extant room of its kind. It was designed by Lockwood de Forest, a major figure in the East Indian Craft revival style.
Heavily inspired by Indian architecture and material culture, de Forest designed the patterns and the overall concept of the room, but the intricate panels were hand-carved in India by artisans at his workshop in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India in 1893-94. The Teakwood Room was designed for Alice G. Chapman, who saw de Forest’s installation at the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 (commissioned by Marshall Field & Co.) and immediately requested a furnished room of hand carved teakwood.
Chapman was a trustee and benefactor of Milwaukee Downer College from 1906 until her death in 1935. At that point, the Teakwood Room was transferred in toto from her home to the Milwaukee Downer Library. The Teakwood Room came to Lawrence University in 1965, when Milwaukee Downer College merged with Lawrence College. The room was once again painstakingly disassembled and reassembled at its current location in the aptly named Alice G. Chapman Hall.