Article: Getting it Wright Repairing Wingspread's roof no ordinary project; The Frank facts Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright Significant dates: Built in 1938-'39 as home for Johnson Wax mogul Herbert F. Johnson; converted to conference center for Johnson Foundation in 1959. Size: 14,000 square feet, largest of Wright's single-family homes. Location: 33 E. Four Mile Road, at Wind Point, north of Racine. Roof restoration team: The Hillier Group, Princeton, N.J., architects; Robert Silman Associates, New York City, engineers; Vinci Hamp Architects Inc., Chicago, field supervising architects; Bentley & Son, Brown Deer, general contractor.

As any homeowner knows, fixing a leaky roof is no picnic. But if the roof is shaped like a pagoda and was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, a tricky task can easily turn into a daunting architectural challenge. How do you repair the damage and shore up the structure without trashing the work of a master builder?

That's the dilemma presented by Wingspread, just north of Racine. Built in 1938-'39 for Herbert F. Johnson, grandson of the founder of wax-maker S.C. Johnson & Son Inc., this last and largest of Wright's Prairie houses has been a conference center run by the Johnson Foundation since 1959.

The sprawling home, its four wings radiating like a pinwheel from a central living space ...

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