I received word from our friends at Wright in Wisconsin that a major step in the restoration of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed American System-Built house (ASBH) in Milwaukee, WI. Find out more after the jump...
As stated in the Wright in Wisconsin press release:
"The enclosed front porch of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed "American System-Built" house located at 2714 W. Burnham Street in Milwaukee is being removed in an effort to restore the house to its original 1916 appearance. The house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1915 and constructed in 1916. The house is internationally known for its architectural importance to the development of modern architecture and pre-fabricated housing. The enclosed front porch was added in 1939 by the homeowner and was not designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Milwaukee is unique in having six homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright on one block. The Richards Small House at 2714 West Burnham Street is one of six dwellings on that block that Wright designed as part of an intended national line of affordable, pre-cut houses that Wright called “American System-Built.”
This concentration of Wright homes on Burnham Street in Milwaukee is unique among Wright's surviving works. The materials were pre-cut in a factory, and then assembled on-site. The onset of World War I, changing tastes in architecture, and Wright's work on the famous Imperial Hotel in Tokyo curtailed this episode in Wright's lifelong dream of providing low-cost housing to working Americans.
The restoration effort is one of 42 projects selected nationally for a 2007 “Save America's Treasures" grant administered by the National Park Service. The dollar-for-dollar matching grant is for $150,000 and, in conjunction with the support of other numerous local donations, is being used to restore the house to its original 1916 appearance and will be operated as an open to the public historic site. The total project cost is estimated to be about $411,000. Frank Lloyd Wright is widely regarded as the 20th century’s greatest architect. The American Institute of Architects in a national survey recognized Frank Lloyd Wright to be "the greatest American architect of all time."
Be sure to follow the link to find out more about this exciting and important project.
Image copyright Wright In Wisconsin
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