Historic Milwaukee Architecture

Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society

The website Milwaukee Architecture explains, "Said to be Frank Lloyd Wright's only important residential project in Milwaukee (Zimmermann) this house embodies Wright's prairie style elements into a somewhat heavy massive look. At the time he was working on the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo as well. The buff brick is combined with cast concrete and leaded glass. Wright was also producing a line of pre-fab houses at the same time."

Praire School Traveler states, "A distinctive brick residence with five bedrooms, stylistically related to the German Warehouse, both of which incorporate cast concrete ornament and presage Wright’s California works such as the Barnsdall (“Hollyhock”) House."

Mary Ann Sullivan informs, "This house has some of the characteristic features of the Prairie style--horizontality, a low-pitched roof with wide eaves, and rows of leaded-glass windows. Like many of Wright's houses, this residence does not have an entrance in the front facade; the main entrance is from the driveway on the north side."

As the National Park Service details, "This house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and executed under his supervision. It was built in 1916-1917, in the so-called Japanese years of Wright's career. The building has been designated a Milwaukee landmark ... The wall material is a tan tapestry brick and trimmed with precast concrete. The brickwork has wide, raked horizontal mortar joints and tinted and filled vertical joints. The building presents typical Wright details in the strong horizontal lines, geometric patterns, deep-set windows, and wide overhanging eaves. The lintels, sills, and capstones are precast concrete. The wooden windows and trim are painted a "Wright red."

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