The Duncan House is one of eleven modest Usonian homes that were prefabricated by a Wisconsin builder, Marshall Erdman, and constructed on lots chosen by the buyers.

Built

1957

Client

Don C. Duncan and his wife Elizabeth

Address

Usonian Drive

Status

Available for rent.

Though Elizabeth Duncan had long admired Wright’s homes, her husband thought that they were not wealthy enough for the architect’s work. In 1956, House and Home magazine published an article on Wright’s collaboration with the Marshall Erdman Company to produce prefab houses. Each house featured a masonry core with Masonite board exterior panel siding (here painted yellow) and horizontal battons (red). The Duncans purchased a version of prefab #1, replacing the Wisconsin limestone and opting for the less-expensive carport. In 2002 the house became derelict, following the death of Donald Duncan. Two years later, the Duncan House was dismantled and moved to Pennsylvania, where it was reconstructed on a 125-acre tract of woodland called Polymath Park. The park, which also includes three homes built by Wright apprentices, is maintained by Tom Papinchak.

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