© Mark Hertzberg (2025)
Bit by bit, parcel by parcel, the American System-Built homes in the 2700 block of W. Burnham Street in Milwaukee are coming together for their parent organization, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Burnham Block. Burnham Block is steward of five of the six structures: the two single family homes, and three of the four duplexes.
On November 3 the City of Milwaukee’s Historic Preservation Committee unanimously approved plans for restoration of the Model C3 at 1835 N. Layton (at the corner with Burnham Street), and demolition of a shed that was built on the property in 1977. Burnham had already received its third (!) Save America’s Treasures (SAT) grant from the National Park Service in the amount of $407,000 for the work. A matching amount has to be raised from donors for the entire amount to be released.
This photograph shows one of the two single family homes (the Model B1) and the four duplexes. The Model C3 single family home, below, sits to the right of the B1.
Docent Bill Schumacher leads a tour of the Burnham Block, including the C3
The C3 is sometimes referred to as the “Pizza Hut” house because of the mansard roof which came from two Pizza Hut restaurants in the 1970s. Its stucco was covered with a “Perma-Stone” veneer in 1958, and the open porch was enclosed.
The Burnham Block adventure started in 2005 with the purchase of the Model B1 at 2714 W. Burnham by the Frank Lloyd Wright in Wisconsin Tourism Heritage organization. A Save America’s Treasures grant and 28 major gifts including support from the Barbara Meyer Elsner Foundation enabled its restoration as a house museum.
Wright in Wisconsin board members discuss their purchase of the B1 in April 2005. Mike Lilek, the driving force behind the Burnham projects, is left. Barbara Meyer Elsner is third from right.
There were many difficult discussions at board meetings about what it would mean for the organization to become a steward of a Wright property rather than only fulfilling its founding mission of promoting Wright tourism and awareness and education about Wright’s work in Wisconsin. Then came the purchase of the Two Family Flat C duplex at the end of the block. And then came the purchases of two more of the duplexes (one of which is the world’s only aluminum sided Frank Lloyd Wright structure…the siding was added in 1968). The fourth duplex is independently owned. It was converted into a single family home in the 1980s and is available for overnight rentals through Vrbo.
Lilek reflects on the discussions at board meetings, “The board meetings became increasingly focused on the Burnham Block, to the detriment of the organization. Then-president George Hall likened it to ‘Your teenager growing up and needing their own space.'”
He recalls, “In 2017 Frank Lloyd Wright Wisconsin was reorganized to better support two distinguished missions. Out of the reorganization came Wright in Wisconsin, Inc. to carry forward the original focus on Frank Lloyd Wright tourism and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Burnham Block to focus exclusively on on the Burnham Block historic site in Milwaukee.”
George Hall, left, and Mike Lilek sign the reorganization papers August 3, 2017.
Below are period advertisements of the 1835 N. Layton house and photographs of what the house looks like today:
The next three photos show where some of the original furnishings – seen in the drawing above – were originally placed. It is not known when they were removed, or where they ended up.
The original open porch was enclosed, possibly when then exterior veneer was added:
Bedroom and bathroom photos:
The kitchen:
The ceiling trim:
The Burnham Block is working with Ramlow / Stein Architecture and Interiors on the restoration. The National Park Service and the Wisconsin State Historic Preservation Officer have already signed off on the restoration project. Now that the city has given its approval, contractors are being interviewed, and it is hoped that work will begin “soon,” according to Lilek. Contributions are welcome to match the SAT grant.
Links:
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Burnham Block:
Ramlow / Stein:
Wright in Wisconsin:
Vrbo rental link:
Please scroll down for previous articles on this website.
The reflections were visible only when I was seated at a desk, and disappeared when I stood
Sybil Knop talks to Road Scholar guests touring the Burnham Block May 19
This is not a version of the Frank Lloyd Wright signature tile…it is one of the faded red squares that have been used as social distancing markers on Burnham Street.
“I thought Frank Lloyd Wright hated basements.” They were not his favorite spaces, but he did not eschew them entirely. This is one of the vents from the basement at 2032 – 2034.
This period stove is in a closet until the restoration is done.
Libby Garrison of the Marin County Civic Center tells how their mobile app was created.
Michael Ditmer (Still Bend) and Heather Sabin (Monona Terrace) confer. Ditmer is the new president of Wright in Wisconsin. Mike Lilek, left rear, of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Burnham Block talks with John Waters Preservation Programs Manager of the Building Conservancy. Kathryn Burton (Gordon House) is also at the table.
Stuart Graff, President and CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, contributes to the discussion after a presentation. Jim Ladwig, center, (SC Johnson and Son) and Don Dekker (Meyer May House) take notes and listen.
Jeffrey Herr (Hollyhock House) and Carrie Rodamaker (Taliesin Preservation)
Mike Lilek of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Burnham Block in Milwaukee.
“The House,” built in the mid-1950s adjacent to Wingspread, became the home of Mr. and Mrs. H.F. Johnson Jr. before they donated Wingspread itself to the newly-created Johnson Foundation in 1959. It has more space for conferences than the Wright-designed Wingspread. It has been said that Mrs. (Irene Purcell) Johnson was never comfortable in Wingspread because it was designed for another woman…Johnson’s wife who died during construction. National Public Radio, the National Endowment for the Arts, the International Court of Justice – and the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy – are among the entities that evolved from Johnson Foundation conferences. 
George Hall, president of Frank Lloyd Wright Wisconsin, leads the group’s final board meeting prior to the vote to reorganize, Thursday August 3, 2017. 
Hall, left, and Lilek sign documents formalizing the reorganization.
The Burnham Block organization is the new owner of the first and third ASB duplexes from the left, as well as the 2714 W. Burnham Street single family home, right, and 1835 S. Layton next door to it). 2714 has been restored to house museum status and is open for tours. The duplex at far left, 2732-34 W. Burnham Street, is undergoing restoration.
Wright’s second single family American System-Built house on the block, at 1835 S. Layton, was significantly altered more than 50 years ago, and is less recognizable as a Wright design.
Guests wait to tour Wright’s Thomas P. Hardy House in Racine during the 2016 Wright & Like tour.
This is a screen shot of the new look for the Wright in Wisconsin website, which will launch in the near future. The redesigned website was made possible through a generous grant from SC Johnson. The URL will remain: 
Wright in Racine 