(c) Mark Hertzberg
The response to the opening of the SC Johnson Research Tower for the first public tours ever has been so strong that Sunday tours will now be available, as well. http://www.scjohnson.com/en/company/visiting.aspx
Two floors of the landmark (the “I”word is overused) building have been restored and furnished as they looked in November, 1950 when the building opened. Tours begin May 2. Here is a preview:
Photos and text (c) Mark Hertzberg
Eugene Szymczak became the seventh steward of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Thomas P. Hardy House in Racine, Wisconsin on September 16, 2012. He undertook a rehabilitation which has literally saved the house. I have posted many photos of the process on this website. Here is your first complete look at the house after the work finished. The photos were shot February 14. Landscaping is not been done yet; that will likely hide the gas meter which is in front of the house. Many people have been startled by Gene’s choice of color: terra cotta. Their anxiety diminishes when they learn that the exterior and interior were restored in what are thought to be the original colors. If you still doubt the choice of exterior color, look at Wright’s Gardener’s Cottage at the Darwin D. Martin House, from the same period.
Surprisingly, the biggest challenge to the stability of the structure was the Main Street side rather than the lake side of the house. Daylight was visible in the “heater room” or sub-basement hallway which is below grade, between the two doorways. A concrete slab next to the south (right) door had partially caved in and there was extensive rotting of the wood foundation beams. The house was jacked up, 1/8″ of an inch at a time and four permanent floor-to-ceiling posts were installed. Two of the posts are shown at right, below.
The center of this wonderful house is, of course, the living room. However, as Jonathan Lipman remarked to me, unlike many of Wright’s Prairie-style homes, the fireplace (which is not ornate) is secondary in importance in this living room. One has his or her back to the fireplace when looking out the two-story living room windows at Lake Michigan, below the house. The living room balcony was deflected when Gene moved in. Workers found electric wiring and gas lines for two light fixtures on the face of the balcony when the plaster was removed so it could be repaired. Anne Sporer Ruetz, who grew up in the house after Hardy lost it at sheriff’s auction in 1938, does not remember any lights there. It is possible none were ever installed. Gene had two fixtures made, following the design of lights at the (now-demolished) Little House in Minnesota. Similar wall sconces were made for the dining room.
The dominant vertical space in the middle of the photo below is the back wall of the bedroom closets
This is the view from the living room balcony:
This is a look at the ceiling as one climbs the stairs from the living room to the balcony:
There is a bedroom at each end of the house on the living room and living room balcony levels. The two at the south end of the house have built-ins including these pull-out chairs:
The dining room is one level below the living room. There are built-ins on either side of the fireplace and on either side of the dining room terrace windows and door:
The second owners of the house, the Sporers (1938-1947) had the dining room terrace rebuilt with a recreation room underneath. The room is not finished. The terrace originally ended in a stucco wall. Five floor-to-ceiling windows, with a door in the middle one, became the new terrace wall on the lake bluff, after the remodeling:
The house was constructed with pocket doors. The Archers, the third owners of the house (1947-1957) replaced them with conventional hinged doors because the pocket doors were difficult to use in icy and snowy conditions. Szymczak put in new pocket doors. He chose doors with glass so one can see into the courtyards from the entry hall, and also to let more light into the hallway:
Various design details:
We end your tour with one of the new light sconces Gene had made to guide guests to the doorway, as they come in from Main Street:
Photos by Mark Hertzberg for SC Johnson (c)
The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed SC Johnson Research Tower in Racine, Wis. is relit Saturday evening December 21, 2013 with Wright’s original interior lighting scheme, to mark Winter Solstice. The Tower, which opened in 1950 and closed in 1982, will reopen for tours of two floors next spring. This marks the first time that Wright’s original interior lighting design – updated with energy efficient lights – has been seen for several decades. The interior will now be lit every evening.
SC Johnson has filed a federal lawsuit in New York against the famed auction house Sotheby’s and a California man, seeking the return of a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed desk and office chair. Both pieces, valued at a combined estimate of $480,000 to $720,000, were slated for the auction block on Wednesday. But SC Johnson filed suit on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York seeking to block those items from being auctioned off to the highest bidder. Instead, according to the lawsuit, the Racine-based company wants the items back, claiming it is the rightful owner of all such furniture. The (Racine) Journal Times asked me to write a story for their readers about the background of the furniture.
Story and photos (c) Mark Hertzberg
Jack Ramsey (general manger of SC Johnson)…called up one day and said “we’ve got this crazy architect over here doing our building…do you want to come over and talk with him about furniture?” – David D. Hunting, founder of Steelcase, Inc.
SC Johnson was weeks away from breaking ground on a new office building by J. Mandor Matson, a Racine architect, in July, 1936 when Ramsey was persuaded to meet with Frank Lloyd Wright. Matson had designed what Wright described as a “fancy crematorium.”
Ramsey penned a memorable note to H.F. Johnson Jr., the company president after the meeting. Wright was the architect who understood what the company wanted in its new offices, “gosh he could tell us what we were after when we couldn’t explain it ourselves.”
Johnson met with Wright. He recalled that they quarreled all day, agreeing only on their choice of car, the streamlined Lincoln Zephyr, but he dismissed Matson the next day.
Buildings had souls for Wright. For SC Johnson, he designed what has been called a “corporate cathedral,” a streamlined building. Wright did not leave the task of furnishing his buildings to what he called “interior desecrators.” He wrote, “It is impossible to consider the building as one thing and the furnishings as another.”
Wright designed forty different pieces of streamlined furniture for the building. Conventional desks were rectangular, but the curves and horizontal planes of the Johnson desks evoke the lines of the building. Drawers swung out, rather than pulling out. The backs of the chairs swiveled for ergonomic comfort. The original chairs famously had three legs. They were rebuilt with four legs after people complained that they tipped over too easily.
This was not ordinary office furniture. The message was that this was not a place to do ordinary work. Wright’s Johnson office furniture design was so notable that the desks and chairs are now in museum collections.
Calling the furniture “a living artifact,” Kelly Semrau, Senior Vice President at SC Johnson, writes “We share this philosophy (Wright considering the building and furnishings as a whole), and believe it is our responsibility to guard and protect not just the building, but also the furniture…It’s a part of our legacy; our family story.”
Steelcase bought and restored the Meyer May House near their headquarters in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as a way to thank Wright for the SC Johnson commission which came during the Great Depression.
Photos and text (c) Mark Hertzberg
Edgar Tafel’s Carl and Marie Albert House got another reprieve from a raze order Wednesday in court in Racine. Joan Schulz had walked out of the house about seven years ago to care for a grandchild. The house deteriorated as it sat empty and neglected, eventually under a failed roof. The Village of Wind Point declared the house uninhabitable, and sought a raze order.
Much of the front portion of the Albert House roof is still covered with plastic tarp Tuesday November 12, but Schulz’s attorney, Peter Ludwig, and structural engineer told Judge John Jude that 75% of the roof has been repaired.
A temporary bracing, left of center, shows the extent of structural work that had to be done before the roof could be replaced.
Although the Schulzes have not met court deadlines to complete the roof repair, Judge Jude decided Wednesday to let repairs continue, rather than order the house razed, provided that the roof, structural repairs, electrical and plumbing work are completed by December 20. He appointed Larry Ruka, the structural engineer hired by the Schulz family, as construction manager. Work had been supervised until then by Linden Schulz, one of Joan Schulz’ sons. Jude said he would manage the project with Ruka.
Joan Schulz consults with her attorney, Peter Ludwig, before the court hearing Wednesday
Village president Pete Christensen, right, consults with village attorney Ed Bruner during the hearing. Bruner asserted that “Speaking on behalf of 1800 Wind Point residents, when I drove past the house today, it looked worse than it did in may at initial hearing.” Ruka disagreed, as he did when Bruner asked, “From the village point of view, what it looks like now, frankly, looks abandoned, does it not?” Bruner referred to the plywood covering the windows openings, among other things. He was told the windows had to be removed to complete structural repairs.
Bruner questions Ruka about data in the cost estimate provided by Linden Schulz
Linden Schulz, right, and Joan Schulz listen as Ludwig questions Ruka.
Holding Schulz’ cost estimates, Judge Jude appoints Ruka as construction manager of the project.
Ludwig reassures Joan Schulz as they leave the courtroom.
Judge Jude was concerned about having the roof completed by October 30, before the onset of winter. Although the roof is not quite finished, and there was a bit of snow Monday, warm temperatures are forecast into next week. Ruka expects that the roof will be finished in a few days.
(c) Mark Hertzberg
The Carl and Marie Albert House, which was designed by Edgar Tafel, got a reprieve from a possible raze order when today’s court status hearing was postponed until November 13.
Judge John Jude had indicated in September that he wanted a new roof on the house by today’s court hearing, to ensure the work would be done before winter. Although significant structural progress has apparently been made, roof work has not begun.
Linden Schulz, the son of Joan Schulz, the homeowner, has a signed contract from a roofing contractor. He wrote me today in an email that he expects the roofers to begin work next Tuesday. He anticipates they will be done by the 13th. “That (the completed roof) is the primary thing the judge wanted to see,” says Ed Bruner, attorney for the Village of Wind Point. Both sides in the dispute agreed to reschedule today’s hearing.
Bruner would not predict if the house will definitely be saved if the roof work is done by the 13th. “The ball is in the judge’s court. It’s up to him. He asked for other things, such as estimates on costs from an engineer. Right now our priority is getting the roof done, because winter’s approaching. Hopefully it is going to be done by the next hearing.”
(c) Mark Hertzberg
Judge John S. Jude continued his stay of the raze order for Edgar Tafel’s Carl Albert House in Wind Point (Racine), Wis., after a two-hour evidentiary hearing in Racine County Circuit Court Friday September 13, 2013.
Linden Schulz, the son of Joan Schulz, who owns the house, was closely questioned why he had not met deadlines set at a June court hearing for having a professional structural assessment of the house completed, and having the roof repaired. Judge Jude said, as he ruled, “My goal is to save the house, but I still have great reservations whether it is feasible.” The next court hearing was scheduled for October 30. Judge Jude will likely order the house razed then if structural repairs have not been completed, and if the house has not been re-roofed.
Joan Schulz, right, listens to testimony as her attorney Peter Ludwig, left, consults with her son, Linden Schulz.
Ed Bruner, representing the Village of Wind Point, asks Linden Schulz why he has not complied with provisions of a previous court order.
Attorneys Ed Bruner, representing the Village of Wind Point, left, and Peter Ludwig, representing the Schulz family, meet after the conclusion of the hearing.
(c) Mark Hertzberg – For The Journal Times
A year is generally not a significant time in the history of a 110-year old house. However, this past year has been perhaps the most important, if not dramatic, year in the history of the Frank Lloyd Wright house at 1319 Main Street. Thomas P. Hardy, a Racine attorney, moved into the house that Wright designed for him, in 1906. Hardy was 73 when he lost his beloved home, first at sheriff’s auction in 1937, and then by order of the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1938. The house has had six owners since then. The newest steward of the house, Eugene Szymczak, bought it a year ago from Jim and Margaret Yoghourtjian, who owned it since 1968. Szymczak undertook a full restoration of the house. Some of the work, including replacing aging wood and refinishing the house in its original colors inside and out, is relatively routine. Other work required solutions unique to the house. An example was the placement of four floor-to-ceiling columns in the sub-basement to stabilize the Main Street side of the house.
Interest in the house has increased greatly recently, according to the craftsmen working on it, as passersby see the finish color of terra cotta applied. Szymczak reflects on the past year, and says, “I am happy to see that many people enjoy seeing the house come back to its original intent of being part of nature and an inspiration.” The Hardy House will be open for a rare tour during Preservation Racine’s annual fall house tour Sunday September 29. For more information: http://www.preservationracine.org/tour2013.html
Copy and paste to your browser for a link to a photo gallery of the year of restoration:
(c) Mark Hertzberg
The package is being gift wrapped, if you will, and we now know what color the restored Thomas P. Hardy House will be. The house, which Gene Szymczak bought last September, is being restored. While some aspects of the house have been updated, Gene wanted to find the original color of the house. The stucco was painted gray when Gene bought it, as seen in this photo taken in the mid 1990s:
The stucco and wood had weathered and deteriorated since that photo was taken. The next photo shows the house last fall, after the bushes had been removed. The crack in the pillar of the entryway, right, was caused by a worker:
The next picture was taken just 10 days ago:
Next, we see the layers of paint uncovered by painter Dennis Bishop, on the back of the house:
And, the final color…drum roll…terra cotta, like Wright’s Gardener’s Cottage at the Darwin D. Martin House. The color is the final coat of the meticulous stucco repair by Paul Lemke of Top Notch Plastering of Racine, and his nephew, Sean Doyle:
Text and photos by Mark Hertzberg / Photos used with permission of SC Johnson
The SC Johnson Research Tower is still enveloped in scaffolding, from top to bottom, as workers carefully clean and, in many cases replace, the 17.5 miles of glass tube windows that Frank Lloyd Wright designed for the building. The Tower opened in November, 1950, and closed in 1981 when research and development was consolidated in the nearby former St. Mary’s Hospital building. The work is in preparation for next year’s reopening of two floors (3 Main and 3 Mezz or Mezzanine) for tours.
Countless publicly-traded companies might have demolished a building like the Research Tower rather than let it stand vacant for more years than it was open. But not SC Johnson. The Johnson family and the company recognize that the Tower stands as a symbol of SC Johnson’s commitment to creative thinking. Indeed, the Tower is still lit at night.
Each section of glass is fitted back into the original hardware, and fastened as Wright instructed. It is carefully caulked and cleaned, as well.
