About Milwaukee's Burnham Block Frank Lloyd Wright houses

When it comes to Frank Lloyd Wright, most Wisconsinites think of Taliesin, the architect’s home and workshop in Spring Green, the S.C. Johnson headquarters building in Racine or Monona Terrace in Madison.

But did you know there’s an entire block on the city’s south side that’s a showcase for Wright’s more modest designs?

The Burnham Block is a one-of-a-kind collection of six buildings constructed in 1916 as models for affordable housing for working-class people. The collection of single-family homes and duplexes on the 2700 block of West Burnham Street have the typical Wright touches of rich woodwork, tall vertical windows and natural construction materials, but they’re substantially smaller than the homes Wright had previously designed.

“These are Frank Lloyd Wright’s vision to house every person, every American in a beautiful, artistic place to call home,” said Mike Lilek, curator for Frank Lloyd Wright’s Burnham Block, Inc., the nonprofit that owns five of the six buildings.

The organization has restored two buildings, which now function as a museum that is open for public tours. Plans are being developed for restoring the home on the northwest corner of South Layton Boulevard and West Burnham Street.

You can make reservations for a guided tour at wrightinmilwaukee.org.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: About Milwaukee's Burnham Block Frank Lloyd Wright houses