It’s Starting to Come Together…
I was always curious as to where the handful of contemporary ranchers on my street came from. The rest of my neighborhood, in fact, the rest of my entire town is primarily filled with two-story colonials. Who designed these ranchers and for whom?
Scholz Mark 65
Following on the heels of our house tour, I received an email from reader Jared John Fisher. He said, “the floor-to-ceiling windowed wall with beamed ceiling is not only Cliff May-ish, it also brings to mind another favorite architect, Donald Scholz of Toledo, Ohio. (Google him).” And so I Googled. I Googled all morning long, getting little work done. But it was completely worth it.
Apparently this Donald J. Scholz decided to start designing and building homes for GIs in under the name Scholz Homes. He wasn’t even a trained architect or engineer! However, he was very influenced by some big names like Mies and FLW, which you can see from his window-heavy designs. He designed tons of prefab houses, apparently selling tens of thousands to distributors, but his California contemporary ranchers are the ones that I’m most focused on. Scholz was named one of the 20th century’s most influential figures in the residential building industry by Builder magazine in 2000. Although he sold his company, it continues to live on under the name Scholz Design.
You can read more about Donald Scholz here and here.
I started searching for other homeowners who have a Scholz California ranch and discovered a few on Flickr and this modern gem in northern NJ. The fact that the latter was located in NJ got me really excited to know that the Scholz homes had reached my home state. But – wait – it gets even better!
Later that morning, I had a chat with my neighbors, who are mid-century/atomic era collectors (their house is AMAZING). If anyone would know more, it would be them. I mentioned Scholz and a lightbulb went off. Believe it or not, a friend had given them a Popular Mechanics article that mentioned Scholz’s homes, as well as the Scholz catalog, which is called The Famed Scholz Design Collection
Here is the July 1957 Popular Mechanics cover and photo of Scholz California contemporary (bottom right). How funny is that flying car on the cover (apparently by 1967 we’d all have one!)? The article was on prefab homes:
Here are some shots of the California contemporary collection from The Famed Scholz Design Collection:
That one above looks like the one from Boonton, NJ.
Anyway, when I started to get super duper excited was when I noticed that a few of the models were named “Cherry Hill.” My town is named Cherry Hill. The catalog includes floorplans, which were extremely helpful because — believe it or not — I live in the “Cherry Hill Deluxe.” I think my neighbors live in the “Cherry Hill B.” There are a few very minor differences between this floorplan and my own home, but it’s pretty spot on:
Click any of the floorplan images to see them larger.
This is actually how mine is laid out:
You can see it compared with my floorplan. Pretty close, huh?:
The key differences between the original floorplan and my own are the following:
- The 3rd and master bedroom have been combined into a suite and is slightly enlarged.
- Our living room does not bump out in the back.
- Our kitchen has been expanded into an eat-in kitchen.
- Our garage has been converted into a family room with storage and a smaller garage has been added. In fact, we knew that this had happened because there is the original siding and window openings on the inside wall of the garage. The garage also looks as though it was a carport that had been enclosed (in other words, it needs some structural work). We have a hunch that our home was one of the model homes and the original owner decided that they wanted to enlarge the home by converting the garage and adding a carport. From rumors in the neighborhood, the home (and many others on our street) was a doctor’s office. My currently office and laundry room had been where he would see patients (on the original floorplan, this is called the “maid’s room”), and patients would enter through the “service entrance.”
Needless to say, I’m pretty convinced that I live in the “Cherry Hill Deluxe” designed by Donald J. Scholz built sometime between 1957 and 1960. I’m not really sure exactly how I can verify this information, but I think some of my neighbors could perhaps point me in the right direction. I love a good mystery, especially when the result is this intriguing! Glad I could share it with you.
Wow!, this is so interesting. I found myself moving closer to the edge of my seat as you got closer to figuring out who the designer was:) Thanks for sharing this.
That is so exciting! Will have to take a closer look at those websites to see if there are any Scholz homes in the OR or WA– love the designs and focus on outside views!
PS– such a shame that it now looks like the company bearing his name builds McMansions.
I suppose once he sold it, he had no control over what happened… That’s OK, though… there is a market for mcmansions, they’re just not for you and me!
I want.
Does anyone know if these old plans are still available or purchasable. I think I would love to build this fifties style home in 2012 with a few tweaks and modern materials. How cool would that be!
I think you can contact Scholz Design at scholzdesign.com. I don’t know if they would sell any of the plans. But that would be so cool if you built them new with modern materials.
We have a few of the Scholz designed homes here in Dallas TX. Proud to say we found one to buy in the suburb of Richardson, It was untouched from the original owner
What a great post! I am so honored to have played a part in your discovery!
Woah! I have a Scholz home, very close to the “Forest Hill” model from the California Contemporary model..in fact mine is linked in the flicker part of your article, thank you.
Prior owners have let it go, one just before us tried to make it a country style manor. We have been changing it as we can. Right now we have huge trees growing right next to the house.
We LOVE living in it, great views of the back yard, my favorite is to sit at night and watch the moonlit snow…
There is a two story one on our street similar to the NJ one for sale, and I know of at least 4 others just like mine (one story, on a slab) in my city, Akron, OH.
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for your comment – glad to connect with other Scholz home owners! I love living in mine as well and I agree that the vast amounts of glass really do help you feel connected with the outside, as well as offering tons of natural light. It’s interesting to see where the Scholz homes are popping up around the US! Apparently he sold tens of thousands of plans…
One of my favorite aspects, from the street the house just looks like a blah L shaped ranch, from the back it’s a wall of glass. We have one odd little room that may have been connected to the family room via a closet, and it still has a door to the garage…it has an interior heating duct and an air vent through the ceiling…it’s almost like some sort of secret safe room…!
We have a total of 6 large Douglas Fir beams …they have many layers of paint, including silver (!!??)
One thing I just found out is that the exterior walls have minimal asbestos in them, supposed to be safe as long as they are painted.
The wall of glass is certainly a surprise! And people are also surprised at how large it actually is. It’s deceptive from the street.
The siding is asbestos and wood – so you have to be careful if you’re removing, but we’re probably going to be painting the original siding, so we should be OK. However, we always take proper precautions – that’s important with an old home.
I live in a “Mark 58 Hillside Version” in SW Pennsylvania, built in 1960. California modern meets Appalachia. Five bedrooms, including one in the basement, 4 baths, carport no garage (became bedroom instead). We even have the blueprints. Anyone know of a website where Scholz owners can compare notes about maintenance problems, wiring, etc.?
Most of our ceiling light fixtures operate on a low-voltage switch system, with a small transformer in each fixture. They may have thought this was a good idea at the time, but when the transformers go bad, as they eventually do, they’re a pain to replace. Also, Thermopane windows starting to lose their seals. To replace them all would cost a fortune. Sliding glass doors have aluminum frames with no thermal break. In winter, the frost builds up 1/4″ thick during cold spells. Exterior walls appear to be framed with 2x4s with only a few inches of fiberglass batt insulation. We have electric baseboard heat, which costs a fortune.
Hi Bill,
Unfortunately, I haven’t found a website for Scholz home owners, although it would be great to have something like that where we can share photos and compare notes on the layouts and guts of our homes. We have some low voltage issues in our home as well. Our poor doorbell is half the power it should be…
What a fun discovery. To find out more you could always try the city and your public library. When working on any building over 50 years old here in SF we have to compile a Historical report which includes research at the historical room in the public library. Skimming the newspapers from the date it was built onward and paying for the city to dredge up the old plans they have on file etc. Also the water usually has records as well and then the Assessors office has records of everyone that has bought and sold the house.
That’s a good point about the water company. There are a few folks in the neighborhood who are still original owners. I hope to get more info from them as well.
My father worked for Scholz during the 1950′s and early ’60′s. They really did turn out some great designs. It’s interesting to look through the “Famed Scholz Design Collection” catalog and see the great contemporary designs co-mingled with some of the more traditional designs. My personal favorite was called (I think) the “Contempera Deluxe”.
Incidentally, I don’t think the homes were all wired alike, so it is probable that some of the wiring issues mentioned in this comments section are specific to individual regions.
I live in one of the four bedrooms Mark 58 homes build in 1962 in Tupelo, Mississippi. I know of another Mark 58 with three bedrooms in Jackson, Mississippi. I repainted the front doors the original orange color.
HI Sam,
Thanks for sharing. Would love to see pics. There should be a community somewhere for Scholz home owners…
I also live in a four-bedroom Mark 58. Mine is in Natchez, Mississippi and was built in 1964. I would love to see photos of yours, Sam! Photos of mine can be viewed on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheetorocks/
Wow! That is absolutely beautiful. I especially love the walnut bedroom with the built-in desk and drawers & your slate floors – they look blueish – are they blue slate? Also, I love those orange lights on your patio – they create such a nice ambiance. Thank you for sharing, Heather!
We have owned a Mark 58 California ranch in Three Rivers Mi and have been working to upgrade many of the systems and features without messing with the intentional design and pallets. Some features are gone like the in ground pool(first in our town), unfortunately constructed with cinder block walls that probably went bad 10 years later.. Filled it in the first year. Replace all (5) of the sliding glass doors over the years with Pella sliders to improve warmth, along with the boiler systems and now in some rooms the paneling (not the walnut) with drywall and insulation for energy and sound proofing.
Curious about the true original beams in the living room and kitchen.. Too many previous coats of paint.. Is there desirable wood behind them?
Will add pics soon and would appreciate any links to others that are restoring these Scholz ranches
Larry and Ann
Hi Larry, Thanks for sharing. Unfortunately our beams have quite a few layers of paint on them too so we’ll be unable to see what the original condition is. However, this person on Flickr has refinished their beams and it looks beautiful. It’s a shame your pool was no good…
We really need to replace our HVAC system as well – it’s frustrating because our heating bill this winter was through the roof. I’ve been considering starting a website/message board for other Scholz home owners to chat but this post will have to do for now
Thanks for dropping by! I look forward to seeing your photos, too.
The 2 beams in our living room have remained unpainted for 52 years now, and look beautiful even though they’re just glue-lams. We’ve never treated them with anything. There are about 11 sandwiched layers, which you can just make out, with a nice, grained veneer on the bottom. They’re even unpainted where they extend out over the porch to support the cantilevered roof, and you can see them through the window. The exposed ends are starting to weather, but I can’t get to them since we’re on a hill, at least not without scaffolding.
No idea how to replace the baseboard electric heating system. About all I can think of is to install a wood burner in the living room or basement. To run forced-air ductwork would not be practical.
Our in-ground pool is 54 years old and still going strong. Installed 2 years before the old house burned to the ground, and Grandma decided to buy this crazy Scholz. With brick veneer and walls of glass, you’d never know it was prefab.