My Favorite Airbnb: A Frank Lloyd Wright House in Two Rivers, Wisconsin

11.08.2023 - 15:49 / cntraveler.com

An hour north of bustling Milwaukee, about a mile inland from the Lake Michigan shoreline, my husband and I checked into a Frank Lloyd Wright house recently made popular by season two of Netflix's The World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals.

Several years ago, we peeked in the windows—making sure no one was inside—while passing through on our annual trip to Door County. The walls of windows, high ceilings, and vintage furniture made us swoon. Finally, we had our opportunity to actually enter the doors this past spring when a rare opening became available on Airbnb—for one night only. I texted my husband at work for his thoughts even though I already knew the answer was yes.

I was also in the midst of penning a book on Wright—Frank Lloyd Wright's Wisconsin: How America's Most Famous Architect Found Inspiration in His Home State—and I knew this would be a key chapter. (Spoiler alert: The home’s interior made the book’s cover, and it was published this past spring.)

This Frank Lloyd Wright–designed home is in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.

Referred to as both “Still Bend” (a nod to the East Twin River in the backyard) and “the Bernard and Fern Schwartz House” (the couple who commissioned the design after spotting a similar one by Wright in a 1938 Life magazine), this 1940 home is decked out. Red brick and red cypress walls create a warm-and-fuzzy feeling, vintage barware is stocked, and the primary bedroom, which is a couple of steps down from the living room, features wood paneling and a pistachio-green shag carpet. The entry’s beautiful bathroom is awash in powder blue, and another one of the baths sports bold burgundy red fixtures.

I half-expected Don Draper to walk in the door, toss his briefcase down, and start mixing a martini.

The house's warm palette and midcentury-modern design was consistent in the kitchen, which contained cool barware.

Courtesy Airbnb

Two-night-minimum stays start at around $1,569.

Two Rivers, Wisconsin, flaunts a classic Main Street (including a 120-year-old department store, Schroeder’s) as well as the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum. You can park on the lakefront for free, unheard of in larger coastal cities. This wasn't our first trip to Two Rivers, though, and as it was just for one night, we decided to stay put for the evening to marvel the property and make the most of our time there. 

The next morning, the Airbnb Host and property's co-owner Michael Ditmer came by to check in on us. We chatted in the living room about our mutual love for Wright as the sunlight poured in. In 2003, Ditmer and his brother, the house's third-ever owners, snapped up the property and embarked on a full restoration. It’s currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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