Designed by the American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright
A Timeless Masterpiece of Residential Architecture.
The Only Single-Family Residence Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Milwaukee, Wis.
The Frederick C. Bogk House has the special distinction as the only single-family residence designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the city of Milwaukee. Commissioned by alderman and entrepreneur Frederick C. Bogk in 1916, the house illustrates the visionary genius of Wright as a free-flowing and organically integrated and aesthetic whole. Selling for only the second time in 107 years, the Bogk house has been exquisitely maintained and cherished by the current owners since 1955.
The open-plan interior contains numerous, original architectural details, from recessed lighting and custom cabinetry to leaded glass windows and a fountain. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1972, an easement preserves these elements in perpetuity; however, the interior also contains important original works of free-standing design by Frank Lloyd Wright from 1917. The functional and considered décor is part of a cohesive whole, a survey of Wright and his circle within a large, functioning home.
5 BED | 3.5 BATH | BUILT IN 1917
The Frederick C. Bogk House is offered for $1,500,000, exclusively represented by @properties-elleven Christie’s International Real Estate. The furniture collection is being offered for an additional price in the range of $900,000 through Christie’s auction house. The option to purchase the collection with the house will be available until mid-October, when the pieces will be removed to be sold separately at auction.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Bogk House of 1917 synthesizes his early Prairie Period with progressive vision that channels Japanese and Viennese architecture, setting the stage for the next phase in his career in California and the American Southwest. With horizontal brickwork and textured cast concrete lintels within a formal massing of geometric volumes, The Frederick C. Bogk House is in direct dialog with the Viennese Secessionists. An abstracted sculptural frieze under the eave central façade is pure art.
An elegantly detailed residence that accommodates contemporary living in a comfortable and discreet setting. Designed and built concurrent with Wright’s Japanese masterwork, The Imperial Hotel in Toyko, the Bogk House is among Wright’s best. The sophisticated balance of horizontal and vertical lines further reflect the strong Japanese influence, and the first step in Wright’s interest in ancient Mayan architecture.
The Greatest American Architect of all Time
Recognized by the American Institute of Architects as the greatest American architect of all time, Frank Lloyd Wright created some of the world’s most innovative spaces. He designed more than 1,100 architectural works, 532 of which were realized, and 380 of which remain standing today. Eight of his buildings have been designated UNESCO World Heritage sites, including New York’s Guggenheim Museum and his showcase house, Fallingwater, in western Pennsylvania.
The home is located in the North Point neighborhood, one of Milwaukee’s finest and architecturally interesting neighborhoods. Sited on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, the neighborhood was always considered to be an exclusive residential enclave and remains so today, undisturbed by the commercialization and industrialization that have plagued other neighborhoods of similar vintage.
Margaret Elsner, Isamu Masui, Barbara Elsner, Rak Endo and Norico Chuzenji gather outside The Bogk House, a stop on the Wright Friendship Association tour, summer 1991.
Photo—Barbara Elsner
Mrs Bogk with some family members
Photo—Barbara Elsner (Photo was sent to her by the Bogk’s daughter in the 1970s)
This photo is one several drawings/ renderings left in the home by the previous owners. Wright gave the Bogks the drawings, which was an unusual practice at the time.
Photo—Barbara Elsner
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A Frank Lloyd Wright Home in Milwaukee Lists for the First Time in Almost 70 Years. Designed by the famed architect, the house is hitting the market for $1.5 million
On The Market
A $1.5 Million Frank Lloyd Wright Home Lists for the First Time in 70 Years
Designed by the famed architect, the house is hitting the market for $1.5 million.
The Frederick C. Bogk House, the Only Single-Family Residence Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Milwaukee, Wis. is on the Market For Only the Second Time in 107 Years
Wright On The Market
BOGK HOUSE
Location: Milwaukee, WI
A 107-year-old Frank Lloyd Wright house is for sale on Milwaukee's east side.
A new monograph on the Bogk House situates this beautiful house in the turbulent teens and gives fresh insight into the evolution of Wright’s design process in the least understood decade of his career. No house by Wright embodies the mysterious anomalies of the Bogk House. It reflects a fundamental shift in Wright’s design process that radically broke with the Prairie Period and foreshadowed developments in the following three decades of this work.
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The definitive history of the Bogk House is currently being written by Wright experts, Anthony Alofsin and Richard Cleary.
Anthony Alofsin, Frank Lloyd Wright—The Lost Years, 1910-1922: A Study of Influence, 1994, Chicago, pp. 221, 249-253, 286, 290.