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Storrer's interior photo shows the stair before restoration (see page 3 of this thread) and the route from front door (left) to living room (fireplace
visible). See plan (page 2). A great thread to revive, it seems to me; such beautiful work by outside in et al . . .
My favorite part of the reno are the gravel pans they placed under the gutter drains. Not sure why it struck me so, but it's a very clever solution to a common problem. You can see a couple of them in the last shot. Stole that idea for my own house ...
The Mary W. Adams house and Ward Winfield Willits house received recognition from Porsche on BuzzFeed for 13 Chicago Design Destinations You Won’t Find On A Boat Tour (#3). The E-Z Polish Factory is also on the list (#7).
The photo of the Mary Adams residence makes clear Wright's intention to free the roof from the walls and let it sail outwards. He must have been pleased with this particularly successful go. And why do we feel that this can't be a flat roof, from this angle ? Is it due in part to the knife-thin and rising fascia treatment ? I note that downspouts have been added . . .
One laughs out loud when confronted with the chosen view of the E-Z Polish factory ! Where is the principle facade, with its stark and meaty weave of glass, spandrels and piers ? (And how was that neighboring building's roof, now gone, flashed against the bottom of the upslope window on Wright's building ?)
Finally, can those who decry historicist anachronisms like the Harper Library reading room or the Bond Chapel really turn their backs on such work as this, with a haughty sniff ? I cannot . . .
Is E-Z in use or vacant? Looks like the neighborhood is a functioning industrial area.
I was always intrigued by the exterior views of the Baha'i Temple, but when I finally got around to visiting it, the interiors disappointed.
Bond Chapel looks like Sainte-Chapelle in Paris might have looked if it had been built in London. Sometimes modern Gothic gets the blue wrong. James Renwick's St. Patrick's Cathedral in NY has magnificent blue windows, while Cram's St. John the Divine's windows are an acidic hue that is not divine at all. Bond's windows have a rich hue.
Both of Storrer's photos show all of the windows of E-Z Polish bricked in. The color photo is nice; some glass reappears. How about a complete overhaul and re-glazing ?
Highgate builders recently put some side by side before and after photos of the Mary Adams rehabilitation on their website. On the bottom of the page is a link to photographer Erika Johnson's full set of before and after photos. Huge thanks to outside in for his excellent expertise as the restoration architect and his significant background with a huge range of Wright projects!
