Book: "Growing up in a Frank Lloyd Wright House"

DavidC · Post by **DavidC** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 8:16 am

(via PrairieMod):

GROWING UP IN A FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT HOUSE BY KIM BIXLER â€“ HARDCOVER

David

KevinW · Post by **KevinW** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 11:01 am

Great.....more leaky roof stories.

ScottCLE · Post by **ScottCLE** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 3:57 am

The same thing popped into my mind before hitting the link. I then noticed the leaky roof reference in the description on the book jacket.

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Sat Dec 29, 2012 11:44 am

Ummm, never noticed this before, but would like to see a transverse section through the middle of this house. Interesting cascade of windows ribbons.

Paul Ringstrom · Post by **Paul Ringstrom** » Tue Mar 26, 2013 2:18 pm

I just finished reading the book and found it quite entertaining and informative. Lots of historical and restoration photos.

I seems that if the house had not been acquired and restored by the current owners that the house would not have survived another ten years.

The author appears to be going cross country making presentations including Marin County Civic Center, San Francisco, San Jose, and Pleasanton, CA in March. Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo and Ithaca, NY and D.C. in April and NYC and Oak Park in May. http://kimbixler.com/news-upcoming-events/

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Tue Mar 26, 2013 10:08 pm

Tom, the set-back clerestory glass plane is unusual for the Prairie period, but it becomes a mainstay of the flat-roofed Usonian houses . . . where the windows are generally less than half as tall as they are here.

SDR

Roderick Grant · Post by **Roderick Grant** » Wed Mar 27, 2013 1:14 pm

Did anyone see the documentary on the Boynton House that aired on PBS last night? Didn't get on here in L A, where PBS is locked in perpetual fund-raising. We get plenty of Patti Page singing "Tennessee Waltz," but not much else.

DRN · Post by **DRN** » Thu Mar 28, 2013 9:32 am

According to their website, PBS's WHYY Philadelphia aired the program at 5PM (EDT) Sunday, March 24. It will be rebroadcast on WHYY at 5PM (EDT) Sunday, March 31. PBS affiliates are known to rebroadcast shows at irregular times, check your local station's website schedule grid....the Rock, Rhythm and DooWop and Dr. Wayne Dyer "waterboarding" will stop sooner if you make a pledge.

I missed this first time around...I'll try to watch it on Sunday.

Paul Ringstrom · Post by **Paul Ringstrom** » Thu Mar 28, 2013 10:29 am

The PBS station that produced the video is WXXI from Rochester, NY.

The name of the video is: Frank Lloyd Wright's Boynton House: The Next Hundred Years

I have not been able to find out if it is available on DVD.

Duncan · Post by **Duncan** » Fri Mar 29, 2013 12:08 am

I picked up the DVD form an architectural colleague the last time I was in Rochester. The DVD has the main program and several specialized out takes - one is a room by room tour, etc. It is very worthwhile. It may be available from WXXI or the Landmark Society of Western NY.

DRN · Post by **DRN** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 9:10 am

I watched the Boynton house documentary yesterday on Philly's PBS station. The program focused on the the current owner's efforts to purchase the house and his direction of its professional restoration. The previous owners (parents of Kim Bixler, author of the new book) were not the focus, and were more of a cameo appearance. The Chatter over-debated pergola and garage/outbuilding were a minor footnote in the last 5 minutes or so.

Little or nothing was said about the current owner's background or profession, but it became clear he and his wife had either done this before, or had become intimately involved and "well schooled" with the process. The restoration was comprehensive and meticulous from base structural repairs to restoration of ALL interior finishes, leaded glass, and wood trim. I got the sense color/finish restoration was possibly not as forensically accurate as Mr. Harding's effort at Davenport, but the effort expended was tremendous and result looks great. Of particular note was the arrangement with the Wright furniture...it is not owned by the owner of the house. When the house was sold in 1977 to Ms. Bixler's parents, the furniture was being sold separately and was beyond the Bixler's reach. A local historical/museum organization purchased the furniture in '77 and maintains an agreement with the owner of the house to place the furniture in the house. The nature of the house restoration allowed for the organization to send the furniture to a preservation specialist for conservation.

Well worth watching if you can.

Paul Ringstrom · Post by **Paul Ringstrom** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 10:23 am

Kim Bixler's book reveals that the new owners have restored something like 12 previous residences.

Paul Ringstrom · Post by **Paul Ringstrom** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 12:27 pm

http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 19390/1003

Rood · Post by **Rood** » Sat Nov 30, 2013 1:19 pm

Anyone like me not having seen the Boynton documentary before... PBS TV has scheduled a repeat airing in Phoenix at 8PM, 25 December 2013 ... Christmas Day Eve ... on PBS WORLD. Check your local schedule.

Paul Ringstrom · Post by **Paul Ringstrom** » Sat Nov 30, 2013 6:48 pm

Kim Bixler is scheduled to speak in Mason City on February 20, 2014.

The DVD of that PBS special is extremely hard to come by. I wonder why?