Archibald C. Denison received degrees in the arts and architecture from Columbia University; served as a naval officer in World War I, and established the department of architecture at Ohio University where he taught until 1960. He practiced variously with Stanley Matthews, C. W. Short, and A. M. Jenkins from 1926 to 1943, and on his own from 1957-61. Denison served for 38 years on the Glendale Planning and Zoning Commission, as “a firm believer in planning being a matter of preservation rather than creation or exploitation.” He produced a light-hearted bird’s-eye view/map in 1932 and created the charming squirrel-themed street signs in 1935 while serving as Glendale’s Building Administrator. [He was also the author of America’s Maritime History (1944) and edited The Letters of William Cooper-Procter, one of Glendale’s most prominent residents.]

Denison designed his own home at 3 Forest Place, a Colonial Revival house, with some unusual twists. The existing structure was the bar for the house at 4 Forest Place and he played with symmetry and asymmetry, using a strong center gable but placing the entrance on the side, adding flanking wings but on the diagonal and of different sizes, and creating erratically sized and placed windows. Denison and his partners designed and renovated many residences in Glendale, including 765 Woodbine, 180 West Sharon, a Colonial Revival home at 25 Wood Avenue (1940), and additions to 75 Fountain, 750 Woodbine, and 165 Magnolia. He partnered with Matthews on 915 Congress, 30 Erie, 890 Forest, and 145 Fountain.

Perhaps his most interesting and original home is 960 Laurel, an early example of a split-level house–maybe the first in Hamilton County. It was built in 1941 for Mr. and Mrs. Charles Blinn. Blinn was Vice President of Carey Building Products, later Miami-Carey. The house was built of bricks salvaged from the 1940 demolition of the Glendale Female College, located on the northwest corner of Sharon and Laurel Avenues. It has an irregular plan, and the main entrance is set back on one side of the house. The south elevation has unusual fenestration with triple window openings extending from floor to ceiling and a row of square windows at the top.