Manitowoc Lincoln Boulevard district, Two Rivers Schwartz House join Historic Places list

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Lincoln Boulevard Historic District

MANITOWOC - Two Manitowoc County sites have been named to the State Register of Historic Places, the Wisconsin Historical Society said Friday.

The Lincoln Boulevard Historic District in Manitowoc and the Bernard and Fern Schwartz House were both named to the list Nov. 30, the historical society said.

According to the historical society, the Lincoln Boulevard Historic District "is significant for its exceptional collection of homes representing many of the best examples of Tudor Revival, French Provincial and Colonial Revival-style houses in the city of Manitowoc. The buildings in the district reflect, in microcosm, the stylistic progression of residential architectural styles popular between the 1890s and the 1960s. Construction in the district began in 1893, and homes were built along a beautiful, tree-lined boulevard at the north end of the city. The high quality of design and the thoughtful care of homeowners reflect this neighborhood as a desirable place to live in Manitowoc."

Regarding the Bernard and Fern Schwartz House, the historical society said it "is an innovative design and an excellent example of a pre-World War II, Usonian style home designed by master architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Sheathed with both red brick and Red Tidewater cypress, horizontal board-and-sunk-batten siding, the Schwartz home features the following characteristics common to Wright’s Usonian homes: a planning grid; cantilevered, flat roofs with overhanging eaves; board and batten sandwich walls; in-floor, radiant heating; and a carport.

Bernard and Fern Schwartz House in Two Rivers.

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"Although not Wright’s 'first' Usonian house design that came to fruition, the Schwartz home was not the prototypical one-story example but a unique and unprecedented, two-story iteration," the historical society added. "Furthermore, it was in the Schwartz house that one of Wright’s hallmark home features — that of the in-floor radiant heating system — was improved by the use of hot water rather than steam. Finally, and perhaps most notably, the Schwartz home was developed directly from the plans Wright submitted in 1938 to Life magazine, as the modern-styled 'dream house.' As one of the premier magazines of its era in the United States, Life magazine brought Wright’s design — and introduced his groundbreaking concepts for modern living — to a broad national audience."

The State Register is Wisconsin's official list of state properties determined to be significant to Wisconsin's heritage.The State Historic Preservation Office at the Wisconsin Historical Society administers both the State Register and National Register in Wisconsin. More info: www.wisconsinhistory.org.