Unsung Midcentury Treasure in Pennsylvania Finally Captures Attention With Its Architectural Roots

A sprawling midcentury home with a relatively unknown provenance just landed on the market in York, PA.

The four-bedroom residence was completed in 1959 and is the product of noted architect Ulrich Franzen’s vision.

Franzen was a midcentury maestro who graduated from Harvard and worked with I.M. Pei before establishing his own design firm, the New York City-based Ulrich Franzen and Associates. He designed many famous public buildings and private residences and served on New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission in the 1990s.

Alongside Pei and Henry N. Cobb, Franzen helped design the first-generation shopping mall Roosevelt Field on Long Island. His first significant solo project was Houston’s Alley Theater, which was considered by many to be a triumph of Brutalist style. Franzen also designed the world headquarters for the Philip Morris Companies, right across the street from Grand Central Terminal.

This residential project in Pennsylvania captures Franzen’s signature vision of blurring the lines between the outside world and a home’s interior.

Like many of his other iconic works, it features a floating barrel ceiling and infinity windows. Mr. and Mrs. Peter Scheinman commissioned Franzen to design a home for them in York, but not everyone in town was as inspired as the couple was by Franzen’s work.

A ‘treasure’

Current owners Dave and Sue Shannon say they were instantly smitten by the home, without any knowledge of its architectural bona fides. They purchased the place for $425,000 in 2011.

“We fell in love with this house quite by accident when we randomly wandered in during a scheduled open house,” Sue explains. “As retirees, purchasing a larger home seemed to be counterintuitive; but we’ve never looked back and have treasured every day of our 13 years as owners.”

Even when they purchased the home, Dave notes that they weren’t “aware that a very significant midcentury architect was responsible for its design. We learned that fact by accident. So really, the house sold itself to us in 2011.”

The home was largely uncredited to Franzen because its modern design was considered contentious when it was proposed—and was only approved after he agreed not to publicize the house.

In his obituary in the New York Times, Franzen’s earliest works were described as “exemplars of the Modernist style, among them his first designs for private residences, most of them clean-lined, single-level structures perched on waterfronts and rock ledges, wrapped in sliding glass and flooded with light.”

That floating-in-air feel is evident at this residence.

“The outside is invited within at every turn, and the home offers remarkable tranquility—almost retreatlike in quality,” owner Dave Shannon notes. “Magnetic in effect, the stunning design and setting captivates friends and visitors; we actually have a hard time leaving the sanctuary of our home.”

The listing agent is Ross Stanard, with Howard Hanna.