What would be your dream house?

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 7:53 pm

I think everyone should have their dream house, but in the case of organic architecture, reproducing that dream house in a different location could easily become a nightmare if the orientation is off, the views are not exactly corresponding to the fenestration, location of terraces, etc. To reproduce Pauson, for example, one would probably need to find a lot with unobstructed views in every direction.

But, then again, if we are talking about a dream house, then we must include the dream site!

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 9:10 pm

Pauson has restricted views to the west, presumably because there isn't much about the Biltmore panorama that makes up for the blasting western sun in the desert. Yet that view is celebrated in the entry sequence, with the balcony outside the front door taking it all in -- briefly. Admittedly, that isn't the way one would treat a view of the Pacific -- unless the house were built in a southern clime where no trees shaded the sea side of the house ?

I see nothing else about Pauson's fenestration which responds specifically to its desert knoll; Penfield -- which is oriented similarly to Pauson, but on a partly-wooded site -- or Trier, which is oriented 90˚ clockwise compared to Pauson, again on a quite different sort of site -- have quite similar sized and placed living-room glass.

I wonder what is present in the Pauson design which calls for endless views in all directions ? I can imagine the same envelope -- perhaps in different materials -- occupying the edge of a field, with a row of trees close to the western facade through which a hole with a specific view exists, corresponding to the entrance balcony . . .

SDR

dkottum · Post by **dkottum** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 10:21 pm

Fantasy? I need a winter home now, that would be Ludd Spivey in southern Florida, a much more delightful camping experience than our little Airstream.

doug k

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 10:26 pm

I wonder. Does you Airstream have insect screens on the windows ?

SDR

dkottum · Post by **dkottum** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 11:03 pm

It does have insect screens, but then a close look at Spivey elevations show it has them as well.

doug k

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 11:31 pm

Ah -- the elevation drawings in the Monograph are too small to read the lettering, but the section below does indeed say "screened" in the opening beneath the roof at upper left:

What happens when a Florida downpour flows into that chimney funnel ?

SDR

dkottum · Post by **dkottum** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 7:53 am

Here too, the small print indicates a "drain" channel around the bottom of the funnel. This odd little house is so different in concept it is hard to accept as a house, we tend to look at why it would not work rather than how it could. But it is among his most interesting designs, beautifully scaled and especially suited to its environment as a vacation and possibly retirement home for the client.

doug k

Rood · Post by **Rood** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 11:25 pm

SDR wrote:I'm with you. Why not have your dream house ? An opportunity to try one's hand at "doing right by Wright" -- and surrounding yourself with a bit of architectural heaven-on-earth. Just keep it to yourself that this is a Wright design -- nobody likes a copycat !

Wright did just that, repeatedly, reorienting the structure as necessary to suit the new condition. He was perhaps careful to keep the lie alive that each work is created only once, but certain designs were employed several times over, with minor variations . . .

http://savewright.org/wright_chat/viewtopic.php?t=3786

SDR

Pride goeth before a fall?

If it was a "lie" Mr. Wright was ultimately unsuccessful, as far as the Grants were concerned. Apparently their pride was fatally pricked when they discovered their house had antecedents ...

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Fri Jul 22, 2011 11:32 pm

The Grants became disillusioned with their house or their architect ? That's news to me. Tell us more ?

SDR

Unbrook · Post by **Unbrook** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 6:25 am

I would pick the Goetsch-Winkler house, or if that is not available-the Douglas House by Richard Meier on the shore of Lake Michigan.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 9:50 am

http://www.google.com/search?client=saf ... 8&oe=UTF-8

m.perrino · Post by **m.perrino** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:47 am

Ohhhh, what a brain teaser. It makes you think. I've really had to 'drill down', but here we go.... ( in no specific order ).

Gale: my Oak Park favorite, visited on tour once, stared at it a hundred times.
Pauson: live 20 minutes away - how great it would be to see it still there
Rosenbaum: the quintessential usonian - trying to find some way to get to Alabama for a visit
Sturges: visited once. dramatic siting. compact inside. basic. essential.
Peterson: there for a weekend several years ago, wish it was forever
Lykes: visited several times, both pre and post renovation, best execution of a circle - ever.

dleach · Post by **dleach** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 8:16 pm

No fair!!! You ruined the game by choosing the Douglas House...lol. It's in a league of its own.

Don

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 8:35 pm

Right -- though not necessarily to the taste of the dedicated Organicist ?

It's surely the most memorable of Mr Meier's houses, isn't it . . .

One would have thought that one of Mario Botta's masonry cylinders or boxes would be closer to the Wrightian heart.

http://www.google.com/search?client=saf ... =en&tab=wi

SDR

egads · Post by **egads** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 8:43 pm

Ever tried to hang art on a concave wall? It's not fun.

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