Hans Wessel, my grandfather, born in Malmo, Sweden on July 5th 1906 was the first of four sons of Hilma and Master Builder Bror Wessel. Hans John Erik Wessel arrived in Minneapolis at the age of eight. Working part time as a carpenter for Wessel and Johnson Construction, Hans graduated form the University of Minnesota School of Architecture in 1930. Hans immediately formed an architecture firm with classmate James Brunet named Wessel and Brunet Architects and Engineers adding Marvin Kline as a partner in 1934. During the firms first ten years of existence prior to World War Two, Wessel and Brunet Architects and Engineers completed award winning projects such as the Kaufman House on Cedar Lake in Minneapolis.
