For Immediate Release

Contact: Kara O'Keeffe
608-261-9596
kara.okeeffe@wisconsinhistory.org

December 21, 2018


The Bernard and Fern Schwartz House Placed on the State Register of Historic Places

Two Rivers, Wis. - The Wisconsin Historical Society placed the Bernard and Fern Schwartz House (Two Rivers, Manitowoc County) on the State Register of Historic Places on November 30, 2018. 

The Bernard and Fern Schwartz House is an innovative design and an excellent example of a pre-World War II, Usonian style home designed by master architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Sheathed with both red brick and Red Tidewater cypress, horizontal board-and-sunk-batten siding, the Schwartz home features the following characteristics common to Wright’s Usonian homes: a planning grid; cantilevered, flat roofs with overhanging eaves; board and batten sandwich walls; in-floor, radiant heating; and a carport. 

Although not Wright’s “first” Usonian house design that came to fruition, the Schwartz home was not the prototypical one-story example but a unique and unprecedented, two-story iteration. Furthermore, it was in the Schwartz house that one of Wright’s hallmark home features--that of the in-floor radiant heating system--was improved by the use of hot water rather than steam. Finally, and perhaps most notably, the Schwartz home was developed directly from the plans Wright submitted in 1938 to Life magazine, as the modern-styled “dream house”.  As one of the premier magazines of its era in the United States, Life magazine brought Wright’s design - and introduced his groundbreaking concepts for modern living- to a broad national audience.

The State Register is Wisconsin's official list of state properties determined to be significant to Wisconsin's heritage. The State Historic Preservation Office at the Wisconsin Historical Society administers both the State Register and National Register in Wisconsin.

To learn more about the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visitwww.wisconsinhistory.org.   

About Wisconsin Historical Society
The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. The Wisconsin Historical Society serves millions of people every year through a wide range of sites, programs and services. For more information, visit wisconsinhistory.org.

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