Dr. Charles and Judith Heidelberger House

by Jeanne Engle

areas on the first floor and bedrooms in the basement, fully exposed because of the slope of the site. Three of the four main facades of the house have concrete block walls. The southwestfacing side is comprised of a dramatic outward-sloping, continuous wall of glass made up of 120 smaller windows. According to the Register nomination, “The house possesses an excellent, highly intact interior that features tiled floors, many of which are now carpeted, and walls that are comprised of either painted concrete block, are plastered, or else sheathed in Philippine mahogany plywood sheets.”

Dr. Charles was a cancer researcher at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He cited the death of his mother from breast cancer as one of his reasons to go into cancer research. Dr. Charles earned a PhD in organic chemistry at Harvard and came to UW in 1948. He began as assistant professor of oncology at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research. Dr. Charles was awarded an American Cancer Society professorship in oncology in 1960, a position he held until 1976. That year, he accepted an appointment as professor of biochemistry and pathology at the University of Southern California and as the director of basic research of the USC Comprehensive Cancer Center.

During the course of his career, Dr. Charles developed fluorouracil, a drug widely used in the treatment of several forms of cancer. The drug’s success helped to drive a new era of cancer treatment by chemotherapy when only surgery and radiation had been previously available. Dr. Charles died in 1983 at age 62, killed by the disease he had spent his career fighting.

Judith Heidelberger is prominent in her own right. In 1986, she became the second-oldest liver transplant recipient in the country. Surviving until 2003, she became the oldest UW transplant patient.

Their daughter, Nina Heidelberger Rosefelt, enjoyed her years growing up in her parent’s house. “With all the windows, we could see so much that I felt like I was part of the outdoors. The light in the house would always be changing depending on the time of day. Though storms could be scary, they were spectacular to watch.”

The Heidelberger House is currently owned by Linn Roth and Jean Martinelli and has undergone extensive renovation since Linn purchased it in 1988. “When I first saw it, the house was in terrible shape. The front porch was stacked with old newspapers, the front room had rotten curtains hanging down from the ceiling. But I could see what it could be. The uniqueness of the architecture appealed to me.”

Renovation of the Heidelberger House has been a journey for Linn, former owner of an electronics company, and Jean, retired English teacher at West High School. Linn worked with Associated Housewrights, a local firm that also restored the Historic Indian Agency House in Portage. Major Heidelberger House projects have included windows, roof, bathrooms, and kitchen. Linn says, “Before the renovations, we used to get frost on the inside of the windows. But with double-pane glass, insulation installed between the ceiling and a new roof, high-efficiency furnaces, and passive solar heating, it’s not that bad a winter heating bill.” He also notes “something interesting occurred when the old roof of tar and gravel was removed and replaced by a rubber membrane roof. The inside ceilings actually rose because the weight of the roof lessened.”

When it comes to renovating a historic home, Linn notes that sometimes the design at the time it was built just won’t accommodate today’s layouts. For example, Linn says, “Our kitchen is very narrow, making it easy to find things, but when we wanted to replace the appliances, we found that only two refrigerators were available that would fit into the space occupied by the old one. We could have installed one that was larger, but it would have meant cutting the Philippine mahogany cabinets, and that was just not an option.”

Linn advises anyone wanting to restore a historic home to “make decisions realistically but still go with what you have. I came to learn that with new technologies one can do pretty well to restore a place to its former grandeur.”

The Heidelberger House is considered one of Fritz Jr.’s early masterworks. Fritz

Jr. apprenticed to Frank Lloyd Wright from 1938 to 1941. According to his son, Ty Fritz, a retired general contractor, Fritz Jr. was probably influenced by his own father, an architectural draftsman who worked for Wright, as well as by his admiration of Wright. The Fritz and Wright families were close. Fritz Jr.’s grandfather was one of the original stone masons who helped to build Taliesin. Both of Fritz Jr.’s sisters married Wright apprentices. One of them was even given away by Wright when she married.

Fritz Jr. designed houses for a number of UW professors. “They didn’t have a lot of money, so they were looking for lowbudget, efficient house designs,” says Ty. “My father could get more out of a sheet of plywood or set a building on a place better than any architect I ever worked for. It was fun to build his designs.”

Along with his architecture business, Fritz Jr. and his wife, Eloise, opened Hilltop Girls Camp in Spring Green in 1947. A longtime camper who started during the second season and then went on to be a counselor says, “It was an organic place. Herb would move buildings, like schoolhouses, onto the property and then repurpose them. It was important to him that we lived in a creative, artistic, beautiful environment.” Hilltop is now run by Ty and his wife, Janelle, as an event venue.

Frank Lloyd Wright said, “Every great architect ... must be a great original interpreter of his time, his day, his age.” It would seem that both Fritz Jr. and Dr. Charles, even though not an architect, would qualify for greatness, each making a contribution to humanity in a profound way during his day.

Jeanne Engle is a freelance writer.