Built in 1908, this Prairie-style house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Eugene A. Gilmore, and features a form that is reminiscent of an airplane with cantilevered sections that seem to soar above the surrounding landscape, hence the house’s nickname of the “Airplane House.” Eugene Allen Gilmore was a law professor at the Law School of the University of Wisconsin - Madison, where he had begun teaching in 1902, and lived in Madison with his wife, Blanche Bayse Gilmore, eventually becoming the acting dean of the school in 1912-1913 and president of the Association of American Law Schools. Gilmore ended up supervising construction as Wright only made three visits to the site during the construction phase of the project. The house was lived in by Eugene and Blanche until 1922, when Eugene got a position as the vice-governor and secretary of instruction of the Philippines, and later served as acting governor of the territory in 1927-1929. Upon returning to the United States, the Gilmores settled in Iowa City, Iowa, where Eugene became the dean of the College of Law at the University of Iowa. In 1930, the house was purchased by Howard Weiss, Treasurer of C.F. Burgess Laboratories and founder of Research Products Laboratory, and Nellie Weiss, his wife, whom modified the front entrance and added a wing containing a three-car garage to the rear of the house, with this work being carried out by the firm of Law, Law and Potter. After Howard died, Nellie continued to live in the house until 1981. The house has had subsequent owners, whom have retained the alterations made by the Weiss family.
The house sits atop one of the highest points of the hill on which the University Heights subdivision was developed. This context was not lost on Wright when designing the house, with the architect opting to make a far more vertically oriented house than most of his Prairie School work, which mostly consisted of houses on level ground and emphasized horizontality in their design. The long wings with cantilevered ends seem to foreshadow Wright’s later design with Fallingwater, though it remains very grounded in the Prairie School style that Wright was designing at the time. The house is roughly greek cross shaped, with four wings radiating from a central core which is home to a chimney, terminating at prow oriels on the second floor of the north and south wings that contained screened porches, and ribbon windows wrapping the end of the west wing, which is today a sunroom but was originally also a screened porch, and the east wing consisting of a one-story open porch with ribbon windows above. The house, like many of Wright’s designs at the time, features a hipped roof with wide overhanging eaves, art glass windows, and an obscured front entrance that is turned perpendicular to the street. The exterior of the house is clad in stucco, with the roof being clad in copper. The original entrance to the house was through the basement, though the 1930 renovation saw it moved to a stoop with a set of stairs winding down to the front walkway that connects the house to the street. Inside, the basement originally housed servants quarters, utility rooms, and a foyer, with a staircase leading visitors up to the main level of the house above. The main level was home to a semi-open dining room, kitchen, living room, and library, with glass walls opening to a porch on the east side of the house. The upper floor contained four bedrooms and a bathroom, along with screened porches at the ends of the three wings of this level. This layout is mostly unaltered, though elements have undoubtedly been updated, and the addition of a two-story wing to the south with a three-car garage in the basement and additional living space on the main level has undoubtedly altered the original layout of the interior on the main level.
The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and is a contributing structure in the University Heights Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The house is presently a private residence, but has been maintained relatively well. The house sits in a beautiful historic neighborhood among many other architecturally significant houses by famous architects, as well as several notable local architects.
