KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

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TIL: Heath Co. founder Howard Anthony owned a Frank Lloyd Wright house

Posted: 23 Mar 2021 05:00 AM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kb6nu...m_medium=email


You learn things related to ham radio in some of the oddest places. For
example, in the January/February 2021 issue Michigan History, I found the
article, Wright Here in Michigans Twin Cities. Now, Im not a big Frank
Lloyd Wright fan, but my interest was certainly piqued when I read that
Howard Anthony, the founder of the Heath Company, had owned a
Wright-designed home in St. Joseph, MI, which borders Benton Harbor.
The Frank Lloyd Wright house of Howard Anthony, founder of the Heath
Company. Doesnt that tree look like a great support for an antenna? Photo:
Stephen W. Smith

Stephen W. Smith, the articles author writes:

What Frank Lloyd Wright was to architecture in 1950, Howard Anthony was to
electronics: an innovator.

After noting that the company actually started selling aircraft parts, and
then aircraft kits, it started selling electronic kits after World War II,
taking advantage of the supply of surplus military electronic components.

[Anthony] acquired parts to construct an oscilloscope—an instrument that
tests and displays voltage over time—and soon, the company offered a kit
for consumers to construct their own device for a fraction of the cost of a
manufactured one.

Smith writes about a newspaper article describing the houses design:

Considering Wrights involvement, it was a given that the house was of
unique design. Despite claiming that the over-all structure will be of an
odd shape, one extremely difficult to describe, the article did, in fact,
describe the design for the house in great detail, including its extensive
use of natural materials, such as Wisconsin limestone and cypress; its
nonuniform angles and construction into a hillside; and its features
intended to make the house seem spacious—namely the slanting roof interior,
the huge fireplace, and partitions between some of the rooms which do not
reach entirely to the slanting ceiling. The article also noted that
Anthonys new house would include a laboratory.

How cool is that?
A modest grave

While researching this post, I also came across an interesting QRZ.Com post
by Dave, W7UU, describing his visit to Riverside Cemetery, in Berrien
County, MI, where Howard Anthony is buried. As you may know, Howard Anthony
died at the age of 42, in an airplane crash.

In this post, Dave describes how he cleaned up the gravesite and installed
a laser-engraved photo of Anthony on the headstone, as well as his visit to
the Heathkit factory. Its quite an interesting post.

The post TIL: Heath Co. founder Howard Anthony owned a Frank Lloyd Wright
house appeared first on KB6NUs Ham Radio Blog.