For the next decade he worked as a draftsman for various firms in Boston, Cleveland, New York, and Denver.

[4] His Hacienda del Pozo de Verona (1894–1898), built for Phoebe Apperson Hearst in Pleasanton, was one of the first American buildings to incorporate features of Pueblo Revival architecture.

[4][5] Schweinfurth also designed the First Unitarian Church, a "landmark in the history of Bay Area architecture"[6] (1898), on the University of California, Berkeley campus.

[8] In 1898, Schweinfurth embarked on a two-year tour of Italy and France with his wife, Fanny, and their seven-year-old daughter.

[7] Shortly after returning to the United States, he suffered an attack of typhoid fever.