Watch any film or television show set in a glamorous 1960s or ‘70s interior, and you’re certain to spy one of Cedric Hartman’s iconic floor or table lamps. Spare and sleek yet warm and unimposing, his lighting is avidly sought after by collectors and serves as a benchmark for marrying form with function. Yet before the Omaha-based designer became renowned worldwide for his lamps, he was an architect who created homes and business interiors every bit as stunning as the objects for which he is today celebrated.
Among the former is a gleaming glass-encased, redwood-framed ranch located in West Omaha’s peaceful Highland West neighborhood. Built in 1959, the 2,700-square-foot residence boasts three bedrooms and four baths and is snugly situated on a nearly three-quarter acre lot.
The home is particularly remarkable for its varied roofline and open, multi-planed interior. “The proportions are elegant in the home. It’s designed for people,” said Elizebeth Murphy, who has resided in the home for 22 years with husband Ray Schueneman. The couple raised sons, Jim and Tom, in the home, and both men, now in their early 20s, credit growing up in the home as helping to shape their appreciation for beautiful design as adults.
The Murphy-Schuenemans are the second owners of the historic property, preceded by Barbara and Alvin Berger for whom Hartman designed the residence. Barbara lived an extraordinary life as a U.S. State Department decoder in World War II, a trophy-winning amateur golfer, and a Queen of Aksarben. She was also active in Omaha’s community, serving as president of the Omaha Junior League and the arts education coordinator for the Nebraska Arts Council. Alvin was a businessman and owner of Midwest Premium Linen Company.
When Barbara put the home on the market in the early 2000s, the Murphy-Schuenemans sensed that she sought to hand Hartman’s rare architectural treasure to kindred spirits, ones who would be loving caretakers of the historic property and appreciate it as much as she and Alvin had. Serendipitously, both Murphy and Schueneman are avid arts supporters and patrons, while the latter is himself a dedicated golfer. It seemed like kismet, and the deed was duly handed over to the keen new keepers of the keys.
The couple immediately appreciated Hartman’s considered approach toward making the property subtly stand out among other area residences.
“It’s definitely noticeable even from the other beautiful homes in the neighborhood,” Schueneman said. “Just the fact it’s not lined up north to south. It’s askew a few degrees. That’s actually a good feature in the way the light plays through the seasons. You get different looks. Because of the big yards, you get some pretty big views for a residential suburban home. It’s unique, special, custom-made—not cookie-cutter.”
“The way it’s sighted–just every little detail is special,” Murphy added. “It was built to his specifications. It’s really thoughtful. It never gets boring.”
Other than switching out the roof’s original shake shingles, which were made from straight-grained wood, with more durable tar paper ones and replacing the living room’s original single-pane windows with multi-paned thermals, the couple have made minimal changes.
“We’ve upgraded a few systems and made some improvements but always with an eye toward preserving its original character,” Murphy said. “We’re trying not to change anything of significance.”
That includes original door hinges, a built-in cantilevered kitchen cabinet, the primary bedroom’s built-in bed-level bookshelves, and original hardware in the adjoining his-and-hers baths.
“It’s just exquisite work that’s made to last,” Murphy explained. “People say, ‘Well, this needs to be updated,’ and we’re like, ’This will never be touched on our watch!’ It’s too beautiful. You can’t make things this beautiful anymore.”
The carefully composed interior, with its four-and-a-half tiered levels, is evidence of that beauty. “You get long views, and you get short views just like you do in a good English garden. If you’re a creative type, it’s wonderful to live in a creative space,” said Schueneman, whose creative pursuits include blacksmithing and writing poetry. “That’s what it’s like—it’s a wonderful place.”
Original brick floors adorn the entry, main hallway, and sections of the bright and airy living room, where vast windows, a high ceiling, and a well-used fireplace make the gathering space warm and intimate. “The house is really designed toward this room,” Murphy reflected. “Everything kind of leads you into this space. Because of the natural light from the windows, you’re drawn here.
“You can see influences obviously of prairie style, Frank Lloyd Wright, Asian, and midcentury modern,” she continued. “He was clearly pulling from important current and past architectural influences. I think natural and reflected light is a huge part of it. You can see how the exterior and interior light work here. He was playing with these ideas.”
Grids, a hallmark of midcentury design, figure prominently throughout the home. “You’ve got the geometrics, the rectangles, the repetition,” Murphy observed. “It’s quite beautiful, very soothing. Nothing comes to fight you here.”
“The eye is led along these lines, and it’s always pleasing when you get to the end because there’s a new option to go a different direction,” Schueneman added.
One of those directions involves a hallway, which connects to a small bedroom and leads to the primary suite. It follows a long, articulated, ground-level wing lined by roll-out windows and built-in storage cabinets. The windows open to the outside, and their screens roll up into the ceiling, an example, Schueneman said, of Hartman’s “progressive” and “cutting-edge” vision.
This vision was integral to an organically designed relationship with the natural environment, one that provides varied views of the parklike outdoors that invite living with and among nature.
“The house really is built for an inside-outside shared experience,” Murphy said. “It’s incredible. Look in any direction, and you can see whatever’s happening outside–sun, clouds, wind-swept trees, rain, snow, birds, and critters.”
“Everything is amped up in this indoor-outdoor way to make this house seem even bigger because you see more space looking out a window into another window into another room,” Schueneman continued, noting that access to outdoors is key, with just about every room having a walk-out to a well-articulated patio, garden, and green space. “It’s not a conventional home in that way. There are seven doors to go outside.”
Schueneman finds it “intriguing” that Hartman designed the home “early on in his career [when] he was still kind of finding his future,” one that involved designing furniture and his famed lamps—one of which the Museum of Modern Art acquired for its permanent collection in 1967.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, the home prefigured what would become Hartman’s design signature via a remote relay lighting system that still works. Subtle artificial lighting on the inside enhances the jeweled glass house effect in the evening.
“It lights up so beautifully at night,” Murphy observed.
Naturally, the couple felt compelled to add a Hartman floor lamp to their home, and they found one for a reasonable price on eBay. (“They didn’t know what they had!” Murphy shared.) When the prized possession incurred damage, Schueneman brought it to Hartman’s Omaha studio, where he finally met the designer. He learned that while his home’s architect had seen the residence’s exterior, Hartman had never stepped foot inside after its completion. In 2023, the Murphy-Schuenemans rectified that with an invitation and were honored to host Hartman at their (and his) home.
“He was delighted to get in here and see that it was what he wanted,” Schueneman said. “He was like, ‘Wow, the builder finished it beautifully!’”
“You can tell he is an absolute artist. His eye is keen, and he looks at and assesses everything,” added Murphy, who was thrilled to have the home’s designer as a guest. “I loved that about having him in this space—he dialed in and remembered designing it. He stayed a long time, and we really had a great time. I think he was really delighted to see how we were living in the house and keeping it up and that it had served all these years so beautifully for two different families. It was great to get to know him and share our feelings for the house with him. Now that we’ve had a chance to get to know him, it’s a part of why we love the house.”
“His nature is in everything he designed,” Shueneman averred.
“And we get to live inside it,” smiled Murphy. “Truly one of the things we value is being able to come back to a place we love and find a beautiful space and a welcoming return.”
For more information about Cedric Hartman and his designs, visit cedrichartman.com.
This article originally appeared in the June 2024 issue of Omaha Home Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
