ROBERT PAUL SCHWEIKHER (1903-1997) Schweikher was born in Denver CO to a family of musicians. He originally trained in engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder for a year (1921–22) before marrying Dorothy Miller. He moved with her to Chicago and studied at The Art Institute of Chicago while working for Lowe & Bollenbacher. After 2.5 years, he left to join David Adler and worked on the William McCormick Blair Estate in Lake Bluff IL. He later studied at the Armour Institute of Technology before again transferring to, and receiving a degree from, the Yale School of Architecture. He returned to Chicago in 1930 and collaborated with George Fred Keck and Philip Maher. His works were included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1933 and at the Century of Progress International Exposition. Schweikher joined Lamb and Elting in 1934. Later the firm became Schweikher and Elting. In 1953, Schweikher was named chairman of the Yale School of Architecture. Five years later, he became head of the Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture. He retired in 1970 and moved to Sedona AZ. His archives are at ASU. Bio adapted from Wikipedia. Many thanks to the Paul Schweikher Collection, Design and the Arts Special Collections, Arizona State University Library; and Catherine Westergaard Cramer. |
![]() 1932 - The Charles W. Eliason Jr. House. Unbuilt.
1935 - The General Electric New American House aka General
Electric Small House Competition. Plan appears in
"Architectural Forum Magazine", June 1935. Designed with
Theodore W. Lamb. The two architects won the $2,500 prize
but also scrutiny that the plan was plagiarized from
Harwell
Hamilton Harris' Lowe house.
1936 - The Phoenix Williams House, Fairview Avenue and Bryant, Glen Ellyn IL. Unsure if built. There are newer houses on the site as of 2018. Needs verification.
1937 - The Paul Schweikher-Langsdorf House and Studio, 645 South Meacham Road, Schaumburg IL. The house features a masterful integration of brick, glass, and wood, situated on seven and a half acres with gardens designed by the noted landscape architect Franz Lipp. Includes a massive brick fireplace, passive solar room, cantilevered construction, exposed wood beams, built-in furniture, Japanese soaking tub, and Zen Garden.
1938 - The Ideal Forum Farm. Ralph Rapson, William Fyfe, and Joseph Salerno were on the project team. Featured in Architectural Forum, October 1940, page 232. Probably unbuilt.
![]() 1939 - The Glenview Cooperative Community, Redwood Village, Redwood Lane, Glenview IL. 7 houses that were built for Northwestern University professors. The last house was built in 1946. Location approximately 1 mile from Fred Keck's Solar Park. Most houses have undergone remodeling. Example house built in 1942.
1939 - The Richard M. Lowenstein House, Highland Park IL. Built.
1940 - The Harry Goebel House, McHenry County IL. Likely unbuilt.
1940 - The Dr. and Mrs. Stanley W. Burda House, 115 South Maple
Street, Mount Prospect IL. Built for their daughter.
When Dr. Burda died in 1943, the house was sold in 1944 to Jack
Cunningham. Sold in 1945 to Captain and Mrs. Vernon Gault
who added a garage. Sold to Frank Zupan. Sold in 1988 to
Peter Austin, owner as of 2014.
1940 - The Herbert Lewis House, Park Ridge IL. Project architect, William B. Fyfe.
1940 - The R. C. McVey House, Glen Ellyn IL. Likely unbuilt.
1940 - The K. M. LaSalle House, Hammond IN. Likely unbuilt.
1940 - The W. Hamilton Wilde House, south of Rockland Road, Libertyville IL. Likely unbuilt.
1941 - The William Fleming House, Highland Park IL. Likely
unbuilt.
1941 - The Edward F. Kuba House, DuPage County IL. Likely unbuilt.
1941 - The Clark Maddock House, Grove Street, Lombard IL
1941 - The Fred and Louis Upton Apartment Building, 355 South Ridgeway Street, St. Joseph MI. Commissioned 1938. Overlooks Lake Michigan. The building had been in a fire and had been taken down to the studs for rebuilding. Has had many more renovations over the years.
1942 - The Philip Rinaldo House, 1347 Turvey Road, Downers Grove IL. Sold to Andrew and Pamela Lamantia. Sold in 2012 to Edward and Jessica Ranquist.
1942 - The Charles F. and Pearl Menninger House, 824 SW Anderson Terrace, Topeka KS. Address needs verification. Menninger opened several clinics in Topeka. Sold to Gary R. Downey, who destroyed it in 2011, bottom photo. Empty lot as of 2017.
1943 - The Harry W. Goebel Farmhouse, possibly at Northwest Highway, between Barrington and Crystal Lake, Barrington IL. Needs verification.
Around 1945 - The Lawrence L. Parrish House, Glenview IL. Part of the Glenview development.
1946 - The Fred Decker House, Peoria IL
1947 - The Loring C. Merwin Renovation, 601 South Mercer, Bloomington IL. He was publisher of the Bloomington Pantagraph. Sold in 2005 to Janie Frank.
Around 1947 - The Keeley Institute Dormitory, Dwight IL. Featured in Progressive Architecture, November 1947. Unsure of status.
1948 - The Donald L. Berg House, 1001 Crescent Boulevard, Glen Ellyn IL. Commissioned 1947. Sold to Graham Heikes.
1950 - The Louis C. Upton House, Scottsdale AZ. Commissioned 1948. Destroyed in the 1970's. The original model is in the permanent collection of the New York City Museum of Art. The site was originally a 21 acre citrus orchard but is now part of downtown. Over the years, the building became an elite speakeasy and private club grill. Sold to P. B McGinniss, a retired Long Island Railroad president.
1948 - The Robert Browning House, Glenview IL
1948 - The Edward Mead House. Probably unbuilt.
1950 - The Thomas Darlington House, Paradise Valley AZ
1949 - The Isaih Lew House, Usonia Homes, NY. Part of the Usonia Homes project started by Wright.
1949 - The Warren F. Wiggens House.
1949 - The K. C. Burhans House, Peoria IL. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() 1949 - The Edward Herbert Bennett House, Hunting Country Road, Tryon NC. Originally on several hundred acres. Project architect, Holland Brady. Appeared in Architectural Record, May 1952. Photos by Joseph Molitor. Bennett lived there for over 40 years. The blueprints were donated by Holland Brady to the Ryerson and Burnham Archives at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2004. Sold to Loren Smith.
1950 - The Luman and Mary Lou Gray House, 360 Ridgeway Street, St. Joseph MI. Gray died in 1952 and his widow stayed in the house at least through 1954. Expanded over the years.
1950 - Structural Clay Products Institute House, unsure if built. Featured in Brick and Clay Record, Volume 116-117, 1950.
1950 - The Richard Finch House, Paradise Valley AZ. Status unknown, address unknown.
1950 - The R. Harring, Jr. House, Highland Park IL. Status unknown, address unknown.
1951 - The Pete Yanson House, 424 West 12th Street, Chicago Heights IL. Needs verification.
1952 - The Earl Oren House, Stevenson Drive, Monterrey County CA.
1954 - House for Asbestos Cement Products, likely unbuilt. Clipping from The Baytown Sun .
1954 - The Alfred A. Schiller House, 734 Lenox Road, Glen Ellyn IL. Commissioned 1953. Originally built with no exterior windows. Rooms opened up to an interior courtyard. Addition by Keck and Keck Architects in 1964, including exterior windows, more bedrooms, and an attached garage. Gardens and courtyard design by Mary Moulton. Sold in 1957 to Louis and Louisa Kaberon. Sold in 2004 to Matt Nordloh who did a restoration. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. The property was on the market for years. Sold to adjacent neighbor Michael Bartenhagen in 2016 in a short sale. Destroyed.
1955 - The Maryville College, Women's Dormitory, Maryville TN. Unbuilt.
1964 - The Callas and Bauer Apartment Building, Kittanning PA
1966 - The Donald Berg House, Project, Mt. Washington,
Pittsburgh PA. Unbuilt
1966 - The Pittsburgh Housing Authority, Low Cost Senior Housing, Bedford Avenue, Pittsburgh PA. Unsure if built. Featured in Engineering News Record, Volume 187, 1966. Status unknown, address unknown.
1967 - The Craig Wright House, Chapel
Ridge Place, Lot 9, Fox Chapel PA.
1972 - The Paul Schweikher House, Sedona AZ.
1971 - The Peter and Suze Lowenstein House, 24 Old Orchard Road, Mendham Township, Morristown NJ. Unbuilt. Later house on the site designed by Chimacoff and Peterson, above. Sold in 2008 to architect Michael Brandes who did a complete renovation in keeping with the original design. Sold in 2015 to Daniel Anderson.
Year unknown - The Dushkin House and School, Winnetka IL. Status unknown.
Year
Unknown - The Rowland Watts House.
Year
Unknown - The Keith Carpenter House.
Year Unknown - The Peter Parker House.
Year
Unknown - The Stuart H. Otis House.
Year
Unknown - The Clare Tyler Studio.
Year
Unknown - The A. P. Ross Renovation. Unbuilt
Year
Unknown - The Sprool House, New Haven CT.
Year
Unknown - The Winston Elting House, Libertyville IL.
1954 - The Winston House, Liberty IL. May be the same house.
Year
Unknown - The Frazel House, Wayne IL.
Year
Unknown - The Rockwell House, Flossmoor IL.
Year
Unknown - The David C. Johnson House, Chicago IL.
Year
Unknown - The Ralph Guenther House, La Porte IN.
Year Unknown - Duquesne University Residence Hall, Pittsburgh PA. Schweikher also designed the Student Union. |