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Johnson Wax Headquarters

1939 establishments in WisconsinBuildings and structures in Racine, WisconsinCommercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in WisconsinFrank Lloyd Wright buildingsHeadquarters in the United States
National Historic Landmarks in WisconsinNational Register of Historic Places in Racine County, WisconsinOffice buildings completed in 1939Office buildings in WisconsinS. C. Johnson & SonTourist attractions in Racine, WisconsinUse American English from December 2022Use mdy dates from December 2022
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Johnson Wax Headquarters is the world headquarters and administration building of S. C. Johnson & Son in Racine, Wisconsin. Designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright for the company's president, Herbert F. "Hib" Johnson, the building was constructed from 1936 to 1939. Its distinctive "lily pad" columns and other innovations revived Wright's career at a point when he was losing influence. Also known as the Johnson Wax Administration Building, it and the nearby 14-story Johnson Wax Research Tower (built 1944–1950) were designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1976 as Administration Building and Research Tower, S.C. Johnson and Son.

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Johnson Wax Headquarters
15th Street, Racine

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N 42.713611111111 ° E -87.790833333333 °
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SC Johnson Headquarters

15th Street
53403 Racine
Wisconsin, United States
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George Bray Neighborhood Center
George Bray Neighborhood Center

The George Bray Neighborhood Center, formerly the United Laymen Bible Student Tabernacle or Union Tabernacle, is located at 924 Center Street in the School Section neighborhood of Racine, Wisconsin. It was built in 1927, designed by architect J. Mandor Matson, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.Starting in 1924, members of various evangelical churches in Racine joined for inter-church Bible studies. They called themselves the Racine Laymen's Bible Union, and they took turns meeting in different churches. In 1925 they bought a lot for their own building. They hired an architect, and on May 15, 1927, the new building was "dedicated to the promotion of... Bible teaching and Gospel preaching, with earnest advocacy and generous support of the world-wide mission."The building is a red brick auditorium with a 2-story brick facade. The facade is trimmed with two ranks of pilasters topped with finials. Above them all is a large tympanum, an arch filled with concentric arches of brick. It was designed by J. Mandor Matson, a Norwegian immigrant who practiced in Racine. The style is classed as Art Deco, but the United Laymen probably saw the Trinity in the three circles within the large circle, and they probably saw candles in the pilasters topped with finials, perhaps representing their mission to be a light to the world. The Racine Bible Church occupied the building until 1961 or 1962. It housed the local Boy Scouts from 1965 to 1969. The Franklin Neighborhood Association, a community center organization, moved into the building in 1969. The community center was named for George Bray, then-retiring head of the center, city alderman, and founder of the Racine NAACP chapter, in 1980. The center lost state funding in 2015, and a lack of funds forced it to close in September 2016. It reopened on February 23, 2017, as a branch of the Racine Family YMCA, in a ceremony that featured Racine native and NBA player Caron Butler.

Thomas P. Hardy House
Thomas P. Hardy House

The Thomas P. Hardy House is a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Prairie school home in Racine, Wisconsin, USA, that was built in 1905. The street-facing side of the house is mostly stucco, giving the residents privacy from the nearby sidewalk and street, but the expansive windows on the other side open up to Lake Michigan.Perched on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, the house is built vertically up and down the hillside, and has a partial basement. The design of the seven art glass windows on the first floor facing the street is an abstraction of the floorplan of the house itself. Most of the windows are either on the top level, or on the lake side. Not visible from the street side are the terrace, one story below street level, and the two-story living room which, with its upper-story balcony, opens the entire living quarters to the lake view.From 2013 to 2015, a renovation was completed on the home, including a color change back to its original terra cotta.This house demonstrates Wright's ability to fit a design to a site. Most of the homes on this street are quite close to the sidewalk, since the hill drops away from the street and towards the lake very quickly, but Wright's entryway for the Hardy house is literally at the line of the sidewalk. The house is considered by some to be one of Wright's classics. Henry Russell Hitchcock writes "Other dramatic possibilities of steep sites above water for these winged... houses are to be found in the Johnson house at Delavan Lake [Wisconsin] and the Scudder project for one of the islands at the Sault.... But the masterpiece is the Hardy house of 1905 at Racine." Kenneth Frampton states "The Hardy House . . is the purest formulation that Wright was ever to make of a symmetrical, frontalized house."

Eli R. Cooley House
Eli R. Cooley House

The Eli R. Cooley House is a Greek Revival-styled house built in the early 1850s in Racine, Wisconsin. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and has been described as "Wisconsin's finest remaining Greek Revival residence."The Cooley house was begun in 1851, designed by Racine-based architect Lucas Bradley. The front of the 2-story central block especially resembles a Greek Temple, with its portico consisting of four colossal fluted Doric columns supporting a simple entablature and pediment. A 1+1⁄2-story wing extends from each side of the main block. The corners are trimmed with pilasters, and the windows are tall, 3x4 panes. The house is clad in clapboard. A tall masonry chimney rises from the central block and one from the end of each wing. All is symmetric except the entry door, which is offset to the left.Inside the front door is a hall which runs from front to back. The north wing holds a drawing room with a white marble fireplace, plaster cornice, and wooden door and window frames. The rest of the first floor contains sitting rooms, a dining room, and kitchen. Bedrooms are upstairs.The house was built by John McHenry, a grocer. Eli Cooley lived there; he was a hardware merchant and third mayor of Racine. O. Jennings lived in the house in 1858, and E.C. Deane in 1893. Judge Charles E. Dyer also lived there. By 1942 the house was in "deplorable condition," when William and Amanda Kuehneman bought it and carefully restored it.