| Additional Information: | Erich Gnant was born on 13 March 1920 in Munderkingen, Germany. He obtained a degree at a technical school in Reidlingen, Germany in 1937 and immigrated to the United States the next year. He eventually settled in Milwaukee and worked as a house painter. Gnant joined the Army during World War II and was stationed in New York City; the Army sent him to City College of New York in 1943 and 1944 for logistics training. After the war, Gnant returned to Milwaukee and opened Erich Gnant & Associates at 3331 W. Lisbon Avenue. In 1946, he designed for Century Homes, Inc. thirteen small-scale Ranch-style homes on N. 51st Boulevard between W. Custer and W. Villard avenues in Milwaukee. At the same time, he platted and designed homes in the Town of Wauwatosa (now Milwaukee) a World War II veterans’ subdivision located between N. 78th and N. 79th streets and W. Nash and W. Townsend streets. The busy Gnant next tackled a 120-acre development in Mequon northwest of W. Mequon Road/STH 167 and N. Port Washington Road/CTH W. His premise for the development – known as Hidden Acres Homesteads -- was seventy-five Ranch-style houses located on one-to-five acre lots. Each modest house was priced around $10,000. A key attribute of these three working- and middle-class subdivisions is that Gnant made a deliberate effort to balance the individual appearance of his house designs with the cost efficiencies of a single design.
In 1950, Gnant moved to a Ranch-style home he had designed at 1280 Milrod Street (AHI# 220458) in what is now the City of Brookfield. He purchased five acres in this area from Stenz Realty Company and platted it into a subdivision. He designed several homes within this development, including a minimal Ranch-style home at 17435 Patricia Lane (AHI #220460). In 1952, he designed an efficient, modular Ranch-style house that could be built in forty days and tailored to accept later additions. Around the same time, he started the Elm Grove Lumber Company, which he ran until around 1962. The lumber yard (no longer extant) was located next to the railroad tracks in the village business district on leased land. He was forced to abandon the endeavor when the lease expired. Gnant also designed homes while operating the lumber yard and, in the early 1950s, he designed several high-style Ranch examples. It was also at this time when he began his transition from Ranch homes to those that reflected the Contemporary style. These homes were concentrated in Wauwatosa, Elm Grove and Brookfield. According to his son Russell, Gnant carefully situated his designs to direct water away from the homes and to take advantage of the outdoor environment. While it could not be confirmed, it appears that the subject Dr. Allan & Martha Ledward Residence is one of his first Contemporary-style designs.
Around 1960, Gnant initiated the Summit Lawn Estate subdivision on Janacek Drive in the Town of Brookfield. Built on top of a hill, the centerpiece of the subdivision was a model Contemporary-style home designed by Gnant at 745 Janacek Drive (AHI #220461), which took four years to design. Completed in 1962, the home would become the Gnant family home, as well as Erich’s home office. Gnant also designed in the early 1960s at least five other Contemporary-style homes in the subdivision.
In 1976, Gnant designed the first of seven solar home designs. Located in the vicinity of 18930 Tanala Drive in the City of Brookfield, the home included a roof slope that contained solar panels and a passive solar design. The house also resulted in a patent for a specific type of ductwork. In 1978, Gnant won a national design award from the American Society of Registered Architects for a solar home he designed in Delafield. Ultimately, the solar panels of the 1970s proved unable to withstand the elements and all have since been removed from his homes constructed in this era. Other significant designs from this period include the Town Hall of Brookfield and the Brookfield East High School Nature Center. Gnant generally throughout his career designed one or two homes a year and supplemented his income during slow times by working as a draftsman for William P. Wenzler (1967-1968) and Miller & Waltz Associates (1966-1967). In 1987, he became the building inspector for the Town of Brookfield and served until his death in 1991. During his tenure in that position, he upgraded many of the town’s building codes and zoning ordinances. -- Biography prepared by Heritage Research (2012). |
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