Tracking the restoration and preservation of a 101-year-old Frank Lloyd Wright house

Posted on by Nick Hayes

So as not to lose track, we’ve started a list of projects completed at the Elizabeth Murphy House since late 2016 and we will link to before-and-after photos and posts as they become available.

  1. Removed faux brick from kitchen alcove and re-plastered and painted
  2. Leveled concrete walk slabs and replaced front steps
  3. Removed secondary walk and steps and planted grass
  4. Removed and replaced wrought iron with red cedar railing
  5. Removed carpet and parquet floor from sleeping porch, repaired, conducted forensics on materials and paints, and repainted in original color
  6. Removed carpet from bedroom floors and refinished
  7. Removed linoleum from kitchen floor, hallway floor and basement steps and refinished
  8. Replaced kitchen appliances (stove, fridge, dishwasher)
  9. Repainted basement room floor, doors and walls
  10. Removed out-of-code wiring on walls and in closets and removed ceiling fans in bedrooms
  11. Removed two window air conditioners, repaired window frames and replaced glass
  12. Removed 1970s front door and screen and replaced with restored unused door and new wood screen
  13. Removed window air condition from entry way ceiling and converted to glass/screen window
  14. Repaired Pebble-Dash damaged by air conditioner installation (1990s)
  15. Removed and replaced warped kitchen and breakfast-nook cabinet shelves
  16. Removed all galvanized supply plumbing in the house and re-plumbed with copper
  17. Patched and repainted every interior wall
  18. Repaired cracked basement floor
  19. Removed over-sized radiator in kitchen
  20. Gutted bathroom to the studs and joists, completed period-appropriate renovation including re-framing, plumbing, electrical, ventilation, plaster, fixtures, trim, finishes, medicine cabinet, lights, tile, and heated floor
  21. Replicated interior finishing technique to refinished and reverse WC door
  22. Repaired, restored and replaced shoe trim as required
  23. Added floor drain, shower stall, toiled and exhaust fan in basement utility room
  24. Added hanging cabinets in basement utility room
  25. Removed faux eyebrow roof over garage, replaced trim and parged concrete
  26. Removed ornate stucco decoration and parged foundation all around
  27. Removed exterior electric outlets
  28. Replaced driveway lights
  29. Replaced damaged garage door
  30. Added accent lighting for sleeping room ceiling
  31. Replaced all ungrounded outlets with grounded devices
  32. Add ground-fault protection as required by code and best practices
  33. Replaced breakfast nook light fixture
  34. Replaced kitchen light fixtures
  35. Added drain tile, repaired foundation and improved grading around crawl-space
  36. Removed overgrown vegetation and invasive weeks and trees and replanted front and back gardens
  37. Repaired and replaced exterior trim in appropriate material
  38. Added flower-box cantilevers 
  39. Added light grid American System-Built ornamentation on front facade
  40. Repaired glazing in all exterior windows
  41. Replaced missing lead work on front windows
  42. Reroofed (tore off and replaced.)
  43. Built replica breakfast nook table
  44. Removed aluminum soffit and fascia covers, restored, replaced and repainted 1930s wood bead-board and trim
  45. Removed warped gutters and downspouts and replaced with period-appropriate, Wright-specified hanging gutters
  46. Repainted and re-stained exterior: from gray with white trim to goldenrod with brown trim
  47. Removed weathered cedar shake from chimney and replaced with new and re-stained

To learn more about the house and its history, attend a free presentation at the Shorewood Public Library a 7pm on September 17th.

Here is a before-and-after picture from 2016 to today, September 5th, 2019.

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A quality roof by Frank Lloyd Wright

Posted on by Nick Hayes

We have started our major project for the year, removing 1970s tin flashing in order to  expose and restore the 1930s cedar soffits and facia. We will paint the entire house in appropriate Prairie colors, replace the 25-year old shingled roof (near the end of its life), and importantly, upgrade the ugly, dysfunctional gutters, which have been flimsy, leaky and sagging and not up to the task. Our new gutters will be period and architecturally appropriate and work better.

Frank Lloyd Wright took special care in specifying the gutters on American System-Built Homes and it paid off. These houses typically did not leak. He wanted the gutters to handle the volume of water and to last a long time; key to a good roof.

He directed that the factory would provide and the contractor would then install “…galvanized iron gutters and down spouts wherever and as indicated on drawings.” 

He was careful to include sufficient flow and a proper destination for the water, specifying the number of down spouts and “connecting same to the drainage system and so installed as to comply with the requirements of the city sanitation department.”

He directed that those gutters and down spouts should be properly treated for long life: “shall be given two coats of lead and oil point to match stained wood work.”

And finally, he wanted the materials to be of the highest quality. He wrote that “lead shall be pure white lead. National Lead, or equal. Oil shall be pure kettle boiled linseed oil. ” 1

We have taken delivery of some 200 feet of half round 6″ gutters and smooth round galvanized downspouts, exactly the shape and size as originally seen on the house (but subsequently removed and replaced with cheapies sometime in the last 70 years.)

The raw metal of our new vintage gutters is to be painted, as Wright directed, to ensure long life. Of course, we won’t be using lead paint. But we’ll come close in terms of performance.

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We started by removing the oil residue left by the factory with dish detergent and then we etched the surface with white vinegar and let it dry. We have applied an oil-based bonding primer, and will finish it with two coats of enamel paint in a color that matches the original exterior trim paint color, still visible in the sunroom, and that will reappear on the whole house again soon. The old gutters will come off on Monday, and the new ones should be installed sometime in the next week or so.

We’ll post more images as the project progresses here and at our Instagram page.

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1.Specification of materials and labor required for the American Model ____ in accordance with drawings prepared by Frank Lloyd Wright Architect, The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York) FLWFA Specs Box 2 1112-1903 –