National Register of Historic Places

Neils, Frieda and Henry J., House

Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota
Listed
May 25, 2004
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
04000531

About this property

The Frieda and Henry J. Neils House is a house in Minneapolis designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. 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 walls: the small marble blocks were left over from other marble projects, and Henry Neil, who was a trustee 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 Usonian 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 17-foot (5.2 m)-high vaulted ceiling 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 gallery 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.

Location

2801 Burnham Blvd.
Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota
44.95827, -93.31756

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Martin, Charles J., House
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Questions about this property

When was Neils, Frieda and Henry J., House listed on the National Register?

Neils, Frieda and Henry J., House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 25, 2004.

What type of historic resource is Neils, Frieda and Henry J., House?

Neils, Frieda and Henry J., House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Neils, Frieda and Henry J., House?

The period of significance for Neils, Frieda and Henry J., House is recorded as the industrial era.

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