Lamberson House Restoration

Jeff Myers · Post by **Jeff Myers** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 3:54 pm

Well then that gives me an idea.

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 3:55 pm

True "country" interior is minimalist:

http://joehung.netfirms.com/images/Japa ... terior.jpg

or:

http://www.perfect-touch.com/Inch_Scale ... terior.jpg

or a Shaker Meeting House:

http://frysingerreunion.org/us/kentucky027.jpg

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 5:53 pm

All interesting to see -- none having that spacial interest that Wright manages, every time without exception (?).

SDR

RA · Post by RA » Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:15 pm

Yes, but you look at the Japanese photo and you see so many elements which Wright incorporated into his design. He just sprinted with it so to speak.

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:52 pm

My point was more about real functional furnishings in vernacular architecture vs. the clutter of sentimental decoration in a pseudo "country" style as illustrated in the old Lamberson photo.

But I also think that the honesty of the log cabin as well as the Japanese house were influences on Wright. The horizontal board and sunk batten paying homage to the log and chinking, and there are too many aspects of Wright's esthetic influenced by traditional Japanese houses to even mention here, especially during his Prairie Style period.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 9:22 pm

Very good.

The strong horizontal line is certainly present in your examples, in spades.

SDR

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:51 am

Something I just noticed when revisiting the Japanese photo: the "perfs"...

Palli???

http://joehung.netfirms.com/images/Japa ... terior.jpg

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:14 pm

http://www.tableasia.com/Table_Asia_Gal ... anels.html

http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/r/ranma.htm

http://www.FarEastAsianArt.com/stores/t ... anart.html

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-hvAvvDMj ... q=1&p=2326

"The tendency in Japan was to lower the ceiling height as the floor space became smaller, in the west people generally do the opposite. There are
several reasons for this. First is that the living style was at floor level so perception of the ceiling height was different from that of chair levels."

SDR

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 4:05 pm

"high ceilings make for cold winters and dim lighting"

The winter reference is immediately clear, but the dim lighting? I guess with a light colored ceiling, the lower it is the more light would be reflected into the room, but aren't wood Japanese ceilings usually on the dark side? Could they be referring to artificial night time illumination?

Roderick Grant · Post by **Roderick Grant** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 5:26 pm

The Japanese influences on FLW are all well-documented and credible, but I believe he was also, perhaps even more profoundly, influenced by the slapdash farm houses of the Midwest, especially the interior upper floors, where ceiling planes met at whatever angle suited the roof construction. I recall those old houses, many no longer extant thanks to agribusiness bulldozing farmsteads throughout the area, with tiny bedrooms tucked under the roof, plaster planes creating abstract, almost origami, patterns much more interesting than the dull, formal rooms on the ground floor. Look at the ceilings of Taliesin to see the patterns of planes that generated the interior. Wright always talked about building from the ground up, from the inside out, when in reality he designed from the top down, from the outside in.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:17 pm

He certainly seemed able to dope out what was possible, in roofing complex volumes with equally complex roofs. Taliesin seems the crowning example. . .

I'm sure this is not the best illustration of your point, but I stumbled on this 1943 photo yesterday, in Bessinger's book:

This also illustrates one method of achieving a two-way cantilevered eave condition. . .

SDR

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:35 pm

Laurie Virr has drawn my attention to the Kindersymphonies playhouse project for the Oak Park Playground Association, of 1926, in which the same
diagonal-square plan was given six different roofs, for the six separate planned structures. Mt Virr amused (and instructed) himself by completing the
drawings of these six roofs, delighting in the genius that could conceive of such diversity-in-unity.

The project is rather inadequately illustrated in Monograph 5, p 34 and 35.

SDR

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 8:27 pm

I enjoy Mr Grant's take on Mr Wright's roofs -- but I see we're in danger of hijacking the thread, so I'll quote him in a new thread, about roofs.

SDR

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:56 pm

We just returned from our second stay at the house. Our projects included more removal of miniblinds, removal of the carpet in the living room, and another rendevous with Stafford Norris 111, who brought the second installment of furniture with him.

The carpet removal in the living room went relatively quickly, but what we found underneath was a previous owner's solution to making the carpet lie smoothly: filling in all of the grooves in the scored concrete with grout. They could have used a thicker carpet pad, but no!, they chose this insane solution. We spent most of our week scraping and scrubbing, using no chemicals or tools which might damage the color or texture of the floors. They also used carpet tack strips around the perimeter, which were nailed and glued to the floor. These nail holes will all need to be filled with matching red material, either grout or epoxy. We will definitely bring the floors back, and they already are beginning to look better. There were no cracks running across the concrete, which was a relief. We managed to get most of the concrete clean, but it will need a little more work next time we're out there.

Stafford's furniture turned out wonderfully, and the benches under the wall of windows help to complete Wright's design. The dining tables are a delight: one equilateral triangle and one hexagon, forming a pentagon when combined.

Built in shelves and bed in the master bedroom and desk and shelves in the living room come next.

I will send some pics to SDR for posting, but here are some at my Flicker site:

carpet removal:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31185895@N ... 011920866/

living room after some cleaning, showing furniture, and a few exterior pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31185895@N ... 015372072/

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Wed Aug 12, 2009 6:14 am

Peter,

What a delight your house is becoming! Spending a week scraping grout? You two sure know how to kick back and enjoy a holiday.

The floors look fantastic. It's always nice for some owners to cover original flooring with carpet in order to protect it for those who can later enjoy it.