Midwest Roots

Dennis Paustenbach

Though he lives out west, splitting time between San Francisco and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Dennis Paustenbach considers himself a “Midwesterner through and through.” Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Ohio, he moved to Indiana to attend college at Rose Polytechnic Institute in Terre Haute and worked for Eli Lilly and Company after graduation. A board-certified toxicologist and industrial hygienist, today he is president and senior consultant of Paustenbach and Associates, based in Wyoming, Colorado, and California.

While pursuing his doctorate degree in environmental toxicology at Purdue University in the late ’70s and early ’80s, Dennis attended classes taught by bionucleonics professor Dr. John Christian. He was also an adjunct professor as he worked for Christian while teaching courses in environmental and occupational hygiene. He was a frequent guest of John and Catherine Christian at Samara, their Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home just across the street from the university. There, Dennis gained appreciation for Wright’s ahead-of-his-time concepts, and Dr. Christian’s enthusiasm for his home.

“We were very close,” says Dennis. “It was his passion for the last fifteen years of his life, trying to complete everything Wright specified for the house from napkins to candlesticks to upholstery. To the best of my knowledge, it is the only home by Wright that has been restored precisely as Wright designed it, including throw rugs and the rings for the napkins. It may be the only frozen-in-time example of his work.”

Samara living room by Nathaniel Allaire

A self-proclaimed history buff who enjoys experiencing architecture from all eras, Dennis seeks out spectacular examples in his travels, visiting the Potola Palace in Lhasa, Tibet; the Palace of Versailles in France; and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. It’s an interest he shares with his wife Peggy, who is currently restoring a 1950s Japanese-style house ten miles south of San Francisco. His years studying and working in Indiana shaped his appreciation for Midwestern diners, theaters, and especially barns and farmhouses, structures he’s dismayed to see disappearing from the landscape. His concern for early landmarks inspired him to help raise funds for restoration of Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in Maine.

On a trip to West Lafayette a few years ago, Dennis was disappointed to see the deteriorating condition of Samara and reached out to the Christians’ daughter, Linda, to ask how he could assist its repair. She connected him with Indiana Landmarks, which co-stewards the property with the John E. Christian Family Memorial Trust, Inc. He was inspired by Indiana Landmarks Rescued & Restored, the coffee-table book showcasing our work across the state.

At the time, we were already making plans for Samara’s rehabilitation, which the Paustenbachs supported with a generous gift. The National Historic Landmark home reopened for public tours in 2023 following a year-long $2 million restoration that addressed structural and mechanical challenges. “John meant so much to me, and I know this house would have been lost long ago if not for people like his daughter Linda and others who respected the passion her parents had for their home and Mr. Wright,” says Dennis.