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Wright in Racine
June 2009
Friday June 19, 2009
Posted by: mhertzberg at 5:01AM CST on June 19, 2009
Photos and text (c) Mark Hertzberg Darwin D. Martin. Aline Barnsdall. Herbert F. Johnson Jr. Edgar Kaufmann. Herbert and Katherine Jacobs. Solomon R. Guggenheim. These are some of the names that come to mind when some people think of Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous or most important clients of the 20th century. Add Arthur Richards of Milwaukee to the list.Many of those people may think of Wright only as an architect of homes for the wealthy, and recognize only his Prairie-style designs. Part of Wright's genius was that there were so many dimensions to his work, including decades of focus on affordable housing. His work evolved from the Prairie-style to his Usonian homes in the 1930s. Richards became a client of Wright's in 1911, after Wright returned from Europe. His work for Richards is part of his interest in housing for the working class. His first executed design for Richards, the Prairie-style Lake Geneva Hotel was an early design for the motoring clientele (1911). It was demolished in 1970. Five years after the hotel design came an explosion of "American System-Built Homes" for Richards, many of them in Milwaukee. Richards' scheme for these pre-fabricated homes was stymied by economic conditions during World War I.
Milwaukee's six Richards American System-Built homes are in one block - perhaps the greatest concentration of Wright work in a small area other than Forest Ave. in Oak Park and Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Fla. The American System-Built Homes, Model C3 (sometimes known as the Richards Bungalow) is to the east, at the corner of Layton Blvd. and W. Burnham St. Then, continuing to the west, are the American System-Built Homes, Model B1 (sometimes called the Richards Small House) and then the four American System-Built Homes, Model Flat C (sometimes known as the Richards Duplex Apartments).
From right to left: Models C3 (Richards Bungalow), B1 (Richards Small House), and the four Flat C (Richards Duplex Apartments).
The Frank Lloyd Wright ® Wisconsin Tourism Heritage Program (Wright in Wisconsin), which I am on the board of, owns the Richards Small House and two of the duplexes. We have been fortunate to receive a Save America's Treasures and other grants to restore the house to its original design.
Board meeting to discuss Burnham Street properties: April 16, 2005. The porch of the Richards Small House was enclosed in 1939. The restoration will have an open porch, like the one Wright designed. The home will be come a house museum. Tours are regularly offered. There are no immediate plans for restoration of the two duplexes the group owns. They have apartments which are rented out.
A model of the Richards Small House. Exterior of the house - The house was enveloped in white covering earlier this year during asbestos abatement. The wood framework of the new porch, and the new concrete for the planters, are at the front of the house.
Stucco refinishing - A cement base coat is applied June 10 to an overhang on the north side of the house, a physically challenging space to work in. Inside the Richards Small House Archive Slide Show of Removal of the Porch Roof: October 20, 2008 Archive Slide Show from September 16, 2008 Archive Slide Show: Inside the Richards Small House January, 2005, shortly after we bought it. We did not acquire the two of the four duplexes until later. You are invited to stop by the house to watch the work, and to follow our progress at: wrightinmilwaukee.org We also welcome your membership: wrightinwisconsin.org Many thanks to Mike Lilek and Patrick Meehan for their help with this article. Tuesday June 16, 2009
Posted by: mhertzberg at 11:07PM CST on June 16, 2009
Photos and text (c) Mark Hertzberg
Frank Lloyd Wright's birthday does not go unnoticed in Wright circles. Wright in Wisconsin's annual Wright & Like house tour is held on the weekend closest to June 8. This year's tour was in Madison. I am on the board of the organization, and we worried about the dismal weather forecasts, especially in view of last year's tour which was threatened by tornadoes and rains that produced significant flooding. I had to settle for a dry day under gray skies for shooting photos.
One of many volunteer docents introduces people to Jacobs 1 in Madison.
Taliesin is splendid, even under a gray Wisconsin evening sky.
An enormous birthday cake was served for dessert. And then, as is customary, we went to the theater at Hillside School for the evening's entertainment. It is jarring to see a white sheet in place of the centerpiece of the theater, Wright's famous curtain, which is on display at the Guggenheim show (see previous article). The evening ended with Mark Schmitz showing the 3-D animation of Taliesin that was created for the Guggenheim show. We did not realize that we had not seen the real thing in New York. Schmitz, one of the principals of the production showed the version with color imagery and music that apparently did not survive the Guggenheim editing. I began my career with black and white film, rather than color, and liked the black and white version we had seen at the Guggenheim. The color version is stunning, however.
Below are slide shows from our tours of Jacobs 1 and 2, and of the Pew House, three of the eight stops on the tour. Only exterior photos are permitted at our house tours. We are indebted both to the tour homeowners and to the volunteer docents and house captains. Next year's Wright & Like is scheduled for June 5 in Racine. In the next few days I will post a slide show that updates the progress on our restoration of the Richards Small House at 2714 W. Burnham St. in Milwaukee.
Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House 1 (1936) - "Jacobs 1" is considered by many people to be Wright's first Usonian house, although others give that distinction to the Willey House in Minneapolis (1932-1934).
Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House II (1944) - Wright designed a solar hemicycle home, a passive solar home, for the Jacobs family six years after his first striking design for them. The two-story home is open to the west. Most of the east side is built into an earthern berm.
The Pew House (1938-1940) - The house is built over a ravine, and overlooks Lake Mendota.
Links: Wright in Wisconsin Burnham Street project updates:
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