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Property Location
Property Features
"Th year after Frank Lloyd Wright built the Katherine and Herbert Jacobs House at 441 Toepfer, William Kaeser built a strikingly similar house just around the corner at 3909 Euclid Avenue. Although Kaeser began his professional career as Madison's first city planner in 1935, he left that position a few years later to devote his attention to architectural design. Inspired by the ideals of the Wright's organic architecture, Kaeser designed many structures emulating Wright's buildings, especially his Usonian houses.
The plan of the James Wilkie House closely follows that of the Jacobs House. Both the Wilkie and Jacobs House are constructed on L-shaped plans, with the living areas in the main blocks distinguished from the bedrooms in the ell. Both dwellings also turn away from the street with the large windows lighting the living areas oriented toward the private back yards. Although Wright intended his house as a low-cost middle-class home, Kaeser's was even more about cost efficiency; the Wilkie house is downscaled in size as well as materials. Both homes have flat roofs, wide overhanging eaves, and window banding--hallmarks of Wright's prairie style that became pervasive in the work of his Madison followers during the twentieth century." Westmorland Neighborhood Association, Westmorland A Walking Tour, 2012.
National And State Register Of Historic Places Listings
Architecture & History Inventory
The Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory (AHI) is a digital source of information on historic buildings, structures, and objects that have been surveyed by the State Historic Preservation Office in Wisconsin. Each property has a digital record providing basic information about the property and images.
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Front Elevation for Mac Wilkie House
1938
Colored drawing of the front elevation for the Mac Wilkie house drawn by the architect William Kaeser. The house was planned for the Sunset Village neighborhood.
Two Elevations for Mac Wilkie House
1938
Black and white drawing of two elevations for the Mac Wilkie house drawn by the architect William Kaeser. The house was planned for the Sunset Village neighborhood.
