The Frieda and Henry J. Neils House is a house in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, designed by

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

. The home was designed for Henry J. Neils, a stone and architectural materials distributor, and his wife Frieda. It is unusual for a Wright-designed home both in the type of stone used as well as in its aluminum window framing. The Neils approached Wright in 1949 to help build a new home on property adjacent to their existing home, overlooking Cedar Lake. The home was designed through close collaboration between the architect and the Neils who were knowledgeable about architecture. It was Wright's only home to use

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

walls: the small marble blocks were left over from other marble projects, and Henry Neil, who was a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

of a marble company, was able to acquire them at a good price and convince Wright to use the material; however, the color of the completed walls did not satisfy either Wright or the Neils, and some of the blocks were later stained. Unlike Wright's normal use of wooden window frames, the home used aluminum frames made by Neils' company. The house was designed in Wright's post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Usonia Usonia () is a word that was used by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright to refer to the United States in general (in preference to ''America''), and more specifically to his vision for the landscape of the country, including the urban plannin ...

n architecture, with the goal of "affordable, beautiful housing for a democratic America." The L-shaped, one-story home's floor plan features a dominant living room and social and spatial separation into "active" and "quiet" areas. The short side of the L consists of the "active" portion, centering on a living room with -high

vaulted ceiling In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

and views of Cedar Lake; the "quiet" portion is the long side ending in a three-car carport and has bedrooms as well as a

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leading to a hidden main entrance. Located on 2801 Burnham Boulevard, the home is visible from public streets but remains privately owned by members of the Neils family.

References

* Storrer, William Allin. ''The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion''. University Of Chicago Press, 2006, (S.314) {{DEFAULTSORT:Neils House National Register of Historic Places in Minneapolis Frank Lloyd Wright buildings Houses in Minneapolis Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota

See also

References