A PRIVATE JOURNEY INTO A WORK OF ART, WRITTEN BY HISTORIAN GAIL FOX
In the late 1980’s, hungry for intellectual and aesthetic stimulation, and living in a small community of 13,000 on the picturesque shores of Lake Michigan, I turned to part-time graduate study in Art History at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Thankfully, my husband and two school-age daughters supported my quest and I committed to the 180-mile round-trip commute for each class, test, research paper, and deadline.
My involvement with Frank Lloyd Wright’s house for Bernard and Fern Schwartz began when I registered for a graduate colloquium on Mr. Wright, offered by architectural historian and Wright scholar, Professor Paul Sprague. Seeing the class roster – and armed with the knowledge that I live in Two Rivers where the Schwartz house is located – Sprague simply said: “I guess we know what your project will be.” And that was how my aesthetic adventure began.
My goals were to document the house as fully as possible, to establish a reliable chronology, and to tell the story of how it came to be built in 1939 just outside the city limits on the scenic banks of the East Twin River. Bernard and Fern Schwartz died in the early 1980s; however, through local and archival research, and personal contacts willing to share what they knew, I was able to uncover a fascinating story.
As if that were not reward enough, within months of beginning the project (through somewhat fortuitous circumstances) I met the son of the contractor who built the house. It turned out that not only was he the foreman of the job, he had also saved the contractor’s blueprints! Research just doesn’t get more exciting than that.
My class project became rich in both subject matter and original documentary material, eventually taking on a life of its own. I continued my research for many years, sometimes feverishly, sometimes hardly at all as life allowed. It became an immense puzzle that I wanted to solve, but still there were missing pieces.
That is until 2003, when the ownership and use of the Schwartz house changed from private residence to vacation rental.
I met Michael Ditmer and Lisa Proechel, who live in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2003 when they took on the work-intensive challenge of offering the house for overnight rentals. Their desire to restore the house and to share the Schwartz house with guests seemed in perfect accord. After all, the best way to gain an appreciation of Wright’s genius is to experience his architecture first-hand.
We found common interests – not least our admiration for the house – and developed a solid relationship. I offered to do occasional in-depth tours for guests – they called on me to provide background for feature stories about the house. I shared information I had gleaned from my research – they dubbed me house historian. Together we’ve hosted special events, raised money for Wright and other causes, enjoyed dinners and drinks by the fireplace, and renewed our appreciation of Wright’s stunning achievement.
Because of Lisa and Michael (and Michael’s brother Gary), and their commitment to open the house, anyone with a curiosity about Wright’s Usonian homes can now step inside a spectacular example in Two Rivers. You can see for yourself the play of light on the surfaces, the arrangement of spaces, the infinite care and detail, the complex ordering of design elements. You can experience the awakening of the senses as well as the harmony and repose that the house offers. And you can enjoy it all at your leisure. pm
::Spend the night at the Bernard Schwartz House
::View the Schwartz House Photo Album
Images copyright Michael Ditmer
Gail Fox is a member of the Wright in Wisconsin board and the West Foundation. She graduated from the College of the University of Chicago and completed extensive graduate study in Art History at the University of Wisconsin Madison and the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. She has lived in Two Rivers, Wisconsin for 35 years.
Comments