Wieboldt-Rostone House

The Wieboldt-Rostone House is located on the north side of Lake Front Drive, east of Dunbar Avenue. Designed by architect Walter Scholer of Lafayette, Indiana, this home was framed in steel and clad in an experimental material called Rostone. Rostone was composed of shale, limestone, and alkali. Its creators advertised that the material could be produced in a variety of colors and forms, including slabs and panels, to exact dimensions. Rostone was not as durable as originally predicted. The material had severely deteriorated by 1950. The residents repaired it by covering the Rostone with another synthetic material, a concrete stucco called Perma-stone. Visitors can still see remnants of the original Rostone surrounding the front door exterior, in the interior entrance area, and around the living room fireplace.

Wieboldt-Rostone House, front elevation, from "A Century of Progress Homes and Furnishings As exhibited at the World's Fair, Chicago, 1934" Dorothy Raley, Editor, M.A. Ring Company Publishers, Chicago.

Wieboldt-Rostone House, being moved across Lake Michigan on a barge in early 1935. Photo copied in 1994 by Jack Boucher, Photographer, Historic American Buildings Survey, National Park Service.

Wieboldt-Rostone House, living room, from "A Century of Progress Homes and Furnishings As exhibited at the World's Fair, Chicago, 1934" Dorothy Raley, Editor, M.A. Ring Company Publishers, Chicago