Winfield home designed by noted architectural firm Keck & Keck sells for first time for $595,000

A four-bedroom, 2,592-square-foot midcentury modern home in Winfield that was designed by the noted architectural firm of Keck & Keck sold on Dec. 22 for $595,000 — the first time that the home ever had changed hands.

Built in 1968, the house was designed by Keck & Keck, an architectural firm consisting of brothers George Fred Keck and William Keck. The duo designed many midcentury modern homes around the Chicago area after World War II, and they were among the early proponents of designing homes with passive solar heating.

The brothers designed the house in Winfield for George Wiss, an engineer who in 1941 founded Plastofilm Industries in Wheaton, a plastics company that was one of the pioneers in using thermoforming, or molding plastics with heat. A fan of midcentury modern architecture, Wiss hired another midcentury modern architect, David Haid, in 1965 to design Plastofilm’s plant in Wheaton, which after the company’s sale and relocation was converted to its present use as a church building.

In Winfield, the house sits on a 1.61-acre wooded property and actually was built over a small creek. George Wiss lived in the house until his death in 2008, and his widow, Veronika, remained in the home until she passed away three years later. Since that time, the family has rented the house out, listing agent Kathy Baker of RE/MAX Suburban told Elite Street, largely because “they wanted to hang onto it for sentimental reasons.”

Finally, however, this past year, the Wisses’ son decided to place the house on the market.

“It was all original — it had been maintained well but not updated, so I knew a buyer would need to be somebody with a love of architecture,” Baker said. “There’s not a single square or rectangular room — there are no right angles. The house has all these unusual angles, and it has two separate basement foundations on either side of the creek. It was such a unique piece of art.”

The house has three bathrooms, floor-to-ceiling windows, hardwood floors, skylights and built-ins in every bedroom, a 12-foot brick fireplace in the great room, a screened porch and a bonus room with walls of glass.

The Wisses’ heirs first listed the house in September for $699,900, and they cut their asking price to $599,900 in October.

The house had a $12,754 property tax bill in the 2021 tax year.

Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.

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