Albert and Edith Adelman House
Encyclopedia
The Albert and Edith Adelman House is a Frank Lloyd Wright
designed Usonian
home in Fox Point
, Wisconsin
.
Albert "Ollie" Adelman was just 32 years old and had three young sons (Lynn
, Gary & Craig)
when he asked Frank Lloyd Wright to design an affordable home in 1948. Albert was the son of
Benjamin Adelman, founder of a large laundry and dry cleaning business in the Milwaukee area.
Wright designed a number of projects for the Adelman family, including a laundry plant, three
homes for Benjamin, and two for Albert. Of these, only this house and the Benjamin Adelman Residence in Phoenix (1951), were actually built.
Although the house’s long, low profile recalls Wright’s turn-of-the-century Prairie school
homes,
it also embodies Wright’s Usonian ideals for low-maintenance buildings. It is built of buff-colored concrete block and cypress, neither of which requires paint or
plaster. The roof is covered with hand split cedar shakes and has wide overhangs. Wright also
designed many of the interior furnishings. The 170 feet (51.8 m) long home has five bedrooms on one
end, a kitchen and dining room at the other end, and a large living/reception area in the
center. A covered walkway leads from the end of the house to the garage, forming an "L"
shape.
This house is built on a long, 2.5 acres (1 ha) lot, and set back well from the road, at the end of a
long, winding drive. The lot has a deep, wooded ravine at one end. The house sits at the rear
of the lot, overlooking the ravine, and faces south/southeast to take maximum advantage of natural light.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
designed Usonian
home in Fox Point
Fox Point, Wisconsin
Fox Point is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,012 at the 2000 census.Fox Point is located along the North Shore area of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. It is named after a small point extending into Lake Michigan...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
.
Albert "Ollie" Adelman was just 32 years old and had three young sons (Lynn
Lynn S. Adelman
Lynn S. Adelman is a United States federal judge.Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Adelman received an A.B. from Princeton University in 1961 and an LL.B. from Columbia Law School in 1965. He was a research assistant at Columbia from 1965 to 1966, and a law clerk to attorney Richard H. Kuh in 1966...
, Gary & Craig)
when he asked Frank Lloyd Wright to design an affordable home in 1948. Albert was the son of
Benjamin Adelman, founder of a large laundry and dry cleaning business in the Milwaukee area.
Wright designed a number of projects for the Adelman family, including a laundry plant, three
homes for Benjamin, and two for Albert. Of these, only this house and the Benjamin Adelman Residence in Phoenix (1951), were actually built.
Although the house’s long, low profile recalls Wright’s turn-of-the-century Prairie school
Prairie School
Prairie School was a late 19th and early 20th century architectural style, most common to the Midwestern United States.The works of the Prairie School architects are usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands,...
homes,
it also embodies Wright’s Usonian ideals for low-maintenance buildings. It is built of buff-colored concrete block and cypress, neither of which requires paint or
plaster. The roof is covered with hand split cedar shakes and has wide overhangs. Wright also
designed many of the interior furnishings. The 170 feet (51.8 m) long home has five bedrooms on one
end, a kitchen and dining room at the other end, and a large living/reception area in the
center. A covered walkway leads from the end of the house to the garage, forming an "L"
shape.
This house is built on a long, 2.5 acres (1 ha) lot, and set back well from the road, at the end of a
long, winding drive. The lot has a deep, wooded ravine at one end. The house sits at the rear
of the lot, overlooking the ravine, and faces south/southeast to take maximum advantage of natural light.
External links
- Milwaukee Historc Photos - Adelman House
- Milwaukee County Historical Society - Fox Point Landmarks
- All-Wright Site - Frank Lloyd Wright Building Guide - Wisconsin (Archived 2009-10-25)
- Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places
- Original 1948 Frank Lloyd Wright design board and vintage fabrics for the Albert Adelman House
- Photo of Albert Adelman House
- Wright in Wisconsin
- National Register of Historic Places Listings
- Still cleaning up - With sheer chutzpah, Adelman built formidable empire