Property Record
120 ELY PL
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Eugene A. Gilmore House |
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| Other Name: | |
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| Reference Number: | 16079 |
| Location (Address): | 120 ELY PL |
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| County: | Dane |
| City: | Madison |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1908 |
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| Additions: | 1930 |
| Survey Date: | 1974 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Prairie School |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Stucco |
| Architect: | FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT; Law, Law, and Potter 1930 addition |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Gilmore, Eugene A., House |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 3/14/1973 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. MAP CODE IS 0709-222-2602-6. J IN THE PHOTO CODES IS FOR JAS. This house is also part of the University Heights Historic District (12/17/1982). Madison Landmark: 1/17/1972. The Gilmore House is one of the most renowned buildings in Madison, being a supurb expression of Frank Lloyd Wright's mature Prairie style. All of the principal characteristics associated with the Prairie School style are present, including wide, overhanging eaves, stucco walls laid in horizontal bands, banded leaded casement windows and a predominatly horizontal expression in the overall design emphasized by the banded nature of the design elements. The Gilmore house is laid out on a cruciform plan with a two-story, T-shaped main block and a one-story screened porch wing completing the cross to the east side. The north-south bar of the cross has triangular screened proches at either end, cantilevered out over the first floor below which in conjunction with the horizontal spread of the side wings of the house has given rise to the popular name of the house, the "Airplane House." Eugene A. Gilmore was a University of Wisconsin Professor of Law from 1902 to 1922. He was president of the asociation of the American Law Schools from 1919 to 1920. He served as vice governor of the Phillipines from 1922 to 1930, was dean of the University of Iowa Law School from 1934 to 1940 and was president of the University of Iowa from 1934 to 1940. Nellie and Howard F. Weiss bought the house in 1931. Weiss was the Treasurer of C.F. Burgess Laboratories in Madison until 1938, and was the founder of Research Products Laboratory in 1939 and remained its President until 1940. He lived in the house until 1942 and Nellie lived in the house until 1981. Weiss also had a substantial, two-story addition designed by Law, Law and Potter added to the housenot long after purchasing it in March 1930. The current (1999) owner is Dr. Annette Beyer-Mears, a granddaughter of Nellie and Howard Weiss. Covenant/Easement: From 1/12/1978 to 1/12/1998. A 'covenant file' exists for this property. It may contain additional information such as photos, drawings and correspondence. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 6/22/1997. City Directories. Tax Records. Building Permit. Dictionary of Wisconsin Biography, SHSW, 1960. "Wisconsin State Jorunal," July 8, 1940. Hitchcock, H.R., "In the Nature of Materials." "Frank Lloyd Wright in Madison: Eight Decades of Artistic and Social Interaction," edited by Paul Spague. Housing Madison: Where We Live, Where We Work. Ed. Anna Vemer Andrzejewski and Arnold R. Alanen for “Nature + City: Vernacular Buildings and Landscapes of the Upper Midwest,” 2012 Meeting of the Vernacular Architecture Forum (VAF). Sandstone and Buffalo Robes: Madison's historic buildings, third edition, 1975. Madison Landmarks Commission and the Regent Neighborhood Association, The University Heights Historic District: A Walking Tour, 1987. Madison Houses 1836-1915 by Jill Moore Marx Perrin, Richard W. E., Historic Wisconsin Architecture, First Revised Edition (Milwaukee, 1976). A Celebration of Architecture: Wisconsin Society of Architects Tour of Significant Architecture, 1979. Madison Landmarks Commission, University Heights: A Walk Through A Turn of the Century Suburb, n.d. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |