Nick Garcia
The Unitarian Meeting House.
The truly iconic Unitarian Meeting House today: a community and a National Historic Landmark.
On Feb. 4, 1951, Max Otto delivered the inaugural sermon at the new Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Unitarian Meeting House. The UW-Madison philosophy professor and congregation member said that the striking building on Madison’s near west side, distinguished by a soaring glass and wood “prow,” “will truly be our own if our religious undertaking, ennobled by the beauty of its new home, has vitality and meaning enough to transcend the fame of the building in which it is housed.”
Today, on the cusp of the Meeting House’s 75th anniversary celebration June 5-7, the structure, partially constructed by congregants, is considered one of the most remarkable buildings in American religious architecture. Designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2004 by the National Park Service, the building has become a destination for visitors from all over the world.
“It really is the best kept secret in Madison,” says March Schweitzer, president of the Friends of the Meeting House Inc., a volunteer-run nonprofit dedicated to preservation of the building, located at 900 University Bay Drive in the village of Shorewood Hills.
The Friends of the Meeting House is letting Madison-area residents in on the secret by hosting a series of weekend events designed to celebrate the building. The first, on June 5, from 4-5:30 p.m., will be a 1.5-mile walking tour of the Sunset Hills neighborhood, not far from the Meeting House, highlighting exteriors of 13 homes designed by Wright’s apprentices and local contemporaries. That will be followed by a 7 p.m. presentation at the Meeting House by Emily Butler of the Arizona-based Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation titled “Beyond the Built: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unrealized Vision for Madison.”
“Behind the Scenes at the Meeting House” tours will take place June 6, at 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., and offer two-and-a-half-hour deep dives into the Meeting House’s hidden history — including private spots not shown on public tours. The weekend will wrap up with a free lecture on June 7, at 11:30 a.m., about rehabilitation and preservation processes at the Meeting House, followed by a free open house from 1-4 p.m. More details and ticket information are available on the Meeting House’s website, unitarianmeetinghouse.org.
“For people who are just dipping their toe in, I would suggest they come to the open house on Sunday afternoon,” Schweitzer says, noting that volunteers from the Friends of the Meeting House will be on hand to answer questions.
It’s important to note, she adds, that although the First Unitarian Society of Madison convenes at the Meeting House — with most services now taking place in the 400-seat Atrium Auditorium, completed in 2008 as part of a third addition to the original building — the Meeting House is more than the congregation’s home. It’s a gathering space for the entire community.
For starters, there is a nursery school on site, and the Landmark Auditorium hosts a variety of community events ranging from lectures, tai chi classes and ukulele groups to weddings, funerals and performing arts events. On May 9-10, as part of the building’s anniversary celebration, Madison Bach Musicians will perform “Princely Architects: Bach, Beethoven, and Frank Lloyd Wright.”
Wright was a longtime member of the First Unitarian Society of Madison (his parents were founders of the congregation in 1879) when he was commissioned to design the Meeting House in 1946. He often referred to it as his “little church in the country.” Indeed, just about the only other nearby structure at the time was the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans’ Hospital, which opened seven months after the Meeting House, in September 1951.
Unitarian Meeting House construction in 1950.
The roof trusses are put in place during construction in 1950.
Several of Wright’s defining design traits are on prominent display throughout the original single-story, 11,500-square-foot Meeting House. They include wide overhanging eaves, a low and unobtrusive entryway, large fireplaces and a concrete floor, as well as end-to-end sightlines. As for the giant prow on the building’s southern-exposure side, Wright demanded that no steel be used in the construction of its copper roof; construction crews snuck steel into the structure, anyway — without the architect knowing.
The project also is notorious for cost overruns. The original construction estimate was $60,000, according to Schweitzer, which then jumped to $80,000. When all was said and done, the Meeting House cost $215,000 — and that was with most vendors and contractors accepting 70 cents on the dollar. Additionally, congregants hauled more than 1,000 tons of limestone via pickup truck from a quarry near Sauk City to the building site every weekend in fall 1949 and spring 1950. They became known as “The Stonehaulers,” eventually working their way into the building’s lore.
Since 2005, the Friends of the Meeting House has contributed approximately $270,000 to preservation projects. They include restoring the Landmark Auditorium entrance to its 1951 appearance, replacing an aging accessibility ramp with one more in keeping with the building’s aesthetic and making contributions to multiple roof replacements.
“I think for any religious community, keeping the building up is a constant concern. For Frank Lloyd Wright religious structures, it is an even bigger issue. The building has been extremely expensive to keep going,” Schweitzer says. “[Wright] was a terrible engineer, but he was a brilliant architect.… I think he got architects and congregations everywhere thinking that we don’t need to go with a rectangular box with a steeple to have a wonderful, meaningful church.”
Over time, the Frank Lloyd Wright Meeting House has taken on even greater meaning while requiring continual fundraising, maintenance and renovations. For Schweitzer, Friends of the Meeting House volunteers and Wright enthusiasts, those efforts are worth it.
“This is an amazingly spiritual space,” Schweitzer says. “[Wright] managed to create this absolutely phenomenal building that combines functionality with wonderful symbolism. This was his church. He was creating a church that reflected his philosophical, religious and spiritual beliefs. From the outside, it looks like a cathedral. You come inside and you have this feeling of a community space that’s very welcoming and very intimate.”
