AP
Group seeks to restore 1916 Wright home
By CARRIE ANTLFINGER, Associated Press Writer Sat Jun 16, 10:25 PM ET
MILWAUKEE - Pieces of architectural history sit on Milwaukee's south side — a row of four duplexes and two cottages designed by Frank Lloyd Wright more than 90 years ago for low-to-moderate-income families.
But years of extreme makeovers, including aluminum siding added to one house, rendered some of them shells of their former designs. Now a nonprofit group wants to restore the Frank Lloyd Wright charm to one of the single-family homes — right down to the crushed quartz stone-infused stucco on the exterior.
Frank Lloyd Wright Wisconsin has bought one of the single-family houses and a duplex, and plans to start restoring an 850-square-foot, two-bedroom home to its 1916 condition, possibly as early as fall.
The group hopes to make it a museum, inspire others to renovate the four remaining structures and motivate architects to design housing for the disadvantaged.
Wright historian Jack Holzhueter said the houses, known as the American System-Built Homes, are the best example of the beloved architect's lifelong pursuit of providing affordable housing for low-income residents.
"It's early relatively in his career, 1916," he said. "It's a very large group of buildings. No other cluster of Wright buildings begins to resemble this one, in proximity, density, etceteras."
Wright, who was born in Richland Center, Wis., and died in 1959 at the age of 92 in Arizona, is known for his sprawling, earth-hugging homes in the countryside, but he took a special interest in creating low-cost shelter in urban settings. He believed all economic classes were entitled to good architecture.
Wright produced more than 900 drawings of various designs. To reduce costs, factory-cut materials were assembled onsite, said Mike Lilek, the group's treasurer.
Developer Arthur Richards built the compact, geometric homes — five of the six have flat roofs — in 1915 and 1916. They sold originally for $3,500 to $4,500. Eight others have been identified around the Midwest. Wright and Richards recruited builders from around the Midwest for the American System project through 1917, but the effort was largely abandoned because of World War I and Wright's other endeavors, Lilek said.
Frank Lloyd Wright Wisconsin bought the single-family home in 2004 for $130,000 from an owner who lived there for about 40 years and a duplex for $142,000 in 2005.
The group hopes its efforts serve as a catalyst for the entire block's restoration, said Denise Hice, the group's president. Members also want to create educational programs.
"We feel that it's important that we restore them as well and open them again leading into the educational component to maybe have people design homes today just like Wright did almost 100 years ago," Hice said.
Lilek expects work on the house to take more than a year.
They have so far raised $298,500 toward the $379,369 needed, Lilek said.
The home is in relatively good shape. One of the first tasks will be to remove an unoriginal enclosed porch, which surrounds full-length windows inside. The group wants to replace the 3/4-inch layer of stucco outside with an original 1/4-layer with crushed quartz stone. It will recondition the roof with modern materials and rebuild an enclosed rear stairwell.
Other repairs include updating electrical, removing varnish on woodwork, stripping the hardwood floors and restoring the wooden kitchen counter.
The Historic Preservation Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, School of Architecture and Urban Planning, helped research the house's original condition, Lilek said. Its work, along with that of Italian conservator Nikolas Vakalis, can be seen in swatches of color on the walls that show the original paint.
Vakalis had 17 samples of finishes, plaster, stucco and paint analyzed by a lab to determine the composition so they could be replicated. They will try to restore as much as they can, but not if it won't hold up, Lilek said.
Eventually, they will also have furniture made, based on Wright's drawings. Wright saved space by adding a folding door to the kitchen, a built-in kitchen table and chairs and built-in closets, which are all still there.
Caretaker William Krueger said despite the square footage, the house is spacious. He earned his master's degree in architecture last year and gets a small stipend to live in the house and give tours.
"I have no problems entertaining up to 30 guests in this house," he said. "It's so small and yet things are interlocked or overlapping each other."
Hice said they have charged $2 for tours once a month for about a year and plan to give tours during restoration.
The group eventually wants to refurbish the exterior of the duplex, which is now a rental property. But what will be done, if anything, to the remodeled interior has not been decided, Lilek said.
Their intent isn't to make each house into a museum. "We're going to try and turn these back to owner-occupied buildings," he said. "I don't know if me or you would move into a building in its 1916 condition."
Frank Lloyd Wright Wisconsin bought the two houses because no one else was making a major effort to preserve them, Hice said, except for the Arena family.
Jillayne and Dave Arena bought one of the duplexes 25 years ago. They put hundreds of thousands of dollars into making it a one-family home, after it had been a rental property, Jillayne Arena said.
They removed paneling, restored the original hardwood floors, added stucco on the exterior, created 80 leaded glass windows and attached trellises to the front.
She said living in Wright's design has taught her to approach problems differently.
"I think when you live in a house like this you ... understand that the conventional view, the conventional wisdom is not always what should be," she said. "So you kind of end up thinking and being perhaps a bit eccentric."
Holzhueter, the historian, said Wright wanted to bring beauty into everyone's home.
"Beauty was the goal — to live in harmony with your surroundings, to have a more beautifully proportioned and designed house for very little money," he said, "and that would bring you into a state of greater appreciation for the world around you and for your own potential."