Built 1937 Designated NHL July 31, 2003 Phone +1 210-420-8803 Added to NRHP 24 July 1974 | NRHP Reference # 74000073 Opened 1937 Architectural style Modern architecture | |
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Hours Closed today ThursdayClosedFridayClosedSaturday12–6PMSundayClosedMondayClosedTuesdayClosedWednesdayClosed Similar Herbert and Katherine, Usonia Historic District, Rosenbaum House, Frank Lloyd Wright Ho, Taliesin | ||
Herbert and Katherine Jacobs First House, commonly referred to as Jacobs I, is a single family home located in Madison, Wisconsin. Designed by noted American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, it was constructed in 1937 and is considered by most to be the first Usonian home.
History
Madison newspaperman Herbert Jacobs, a Wright acquaintance, challenged the architect to design and build a home for $5,000 (equivalent to $83,299 in 2016). Wright designed an L-shaped structure with an open floor plan and two bedrooms. To economize construction costs Wright developed a 2 1⁄4-inch-thick (57 mm) plywood sandwich wall for use on this house. Rumor maintains that redirected bricks from the Johnson Wax Building ultimately helped keep final construction costs at $5,500.
The Jacobs family moved into the house after construction but quickly outgrew the two-bedroom ranch. Herbert Jacobs commissioned Wright to build a second home, Jacobs II. The family moved there in the late 1940s.
Over the following decades the house passed ownership and was exposed to modifications and maintenance techniques of variable historical value. A multi-year restoration project began in 1983, restoring the house to its 1937 appearance and updating worn and inefficient building systems.
The current owner has the home available for monthly rent and opens the house for tours through the Frank Lloyd Wright Wisconsin Heritage Tourism Program, Inc.
The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2003.