Louis Fredrick home, Barrington Hills, IL

Roderick Grant · Post by **Roderick Grant** » Thu May 19, 2016 11:16 am

Another house that eschewed the red floor is Fawcett. Mrs. Fawcett said she didn't want red floors because the brown dust that blows all over the area would inevitably be tracked into the house, and a brown floor would be easier to keep at least appearing to be clean. The wood also seems somewhat lighter than usual. For the lightest wood, see the Walton House in "California Romanza," pp 98-103, and FLW MCM, 306-309.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Thu May 19, 2016 12:17 pm

The woodwork at Fredrick is stained; staining is typically done to achieve a desired color and to make the various boards more uniform in hue and value.

The stain color used here reminds me of some Heritage Henredon pieces I've come across recently:

http://www.icollector.com/Frank-Lloyd-W ... r_i8513431

http://www.icollector.com/Frank-Lloyd-W ... r_i8513437

SDR

Sequoia · Post by **Sequoia** » Thu May 19, 2016 5:05 pm

JChoate to answer your question regarding the wood, Phillipine Mahogany and Rosewood are used throughout . This and many more questions can be answered by reading the details section in the Baird & Warner site that peterm linked on May 17 2016. It certainly answered unasked questions from myself.

JChoate · Post by **JChoate** » Thu May 19, 2016 7:42 pm

I went back and read the realtor's description on the Baird Warner website. The Phillipine mahogany makes sense with its uniform grain and exterior decay resistance. The Rosewood sounded far fetched, but then I spotted some on a wall in one of the bathroom photos.

The statement from the realtor that surprised me most, however, was the promise of "drawings from all of the built in furniture & cabinets by famous master woodsman George Nakashima". If there were any Nakashima built-in components in those photos I could not detect them.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Thu May 19, 2016 8:18 pm

Nor did I. The misused term "woodsman" is perhaps an indication of questionable scholarship in that regard ?

It's interesting that this house is so far off the Wrightian radar. It does not appear at all in "FLW MCM," for instance.

SDR

Paul Ringstrom · Post by **Paul Ringstrom** » Sat May 21, 2016 7:00 pm

SOLD, in three days on the market. Somebody knew what they wanted.

Paul Ringstrom · Post by **Paul Ringstrom** » Sat May 21, 2016 7:01 pm

That "PLAY" area could make a nice home office.

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Sat Jun 18, 2016 12:41 pm

http://chicago.curbed.com/2016/6/17/119 ... house-1958

It's a bit misleading when said that it sold within three days; it was listed here with Wright on the Market for months...

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:08 am

That could almost be a gravel drive, in the exterior photo. I think virtually every Wright residence should sport a crushed-rock drive -- or entrance court, at least. Maybe a long driveway could be stone pavers or cobbles, with matching crushed stone. The image is of a stream leading to a pool, partially surrounded by small shrubbery overhanging the "water," out of which the house arises . . .

SDR

outside in · Post by **outside in** » Wed Dec 14, 2016 11:08 am

easy to see the drooping roof eaves in this photo:

Looking at the original framing plan, the person responsible for the framing used "c" channels at the corners, but the channels only had 4 feet of backspan for an 8 ft. cantilever - but were very specific about running the sheathing diagonally from the corner to create a tight skin for support.

Why FLW avoided diagonals in framing is beyond me, but we decided to fix it as follows:

Cut through the existing framing to install steel:

New flitch beam:

JChoate · Post by **JChoate** » Wed Dec 14, 2016 11:45 am

Very interesting & brilliant solution. Thank you for sharing this.

outside in · Post by **outside in** » Fri Dec 16, 2016 9:46 am

Exterior woodwork is all Philippine Mahogany. The original owner used a semi-transparent stain that covered the grain. Wright's original specifications called out a clear stain.

JChoate · Post by **JChoate** » Fri Dec 16, 2016 9:49 am

beautiful restoration.
What's going on with the butt glazed corner window in the last photo?

outside in · Post by **outside in** » Fri Dec 16, 2016 9:53 am

the single-glazed corner glass was replaced (badly) with insulating glass - we'll be switching it back in the spring. Interestingly, most of the original glass in the house is narrow profile (1/2) inch insulating glass.

JChoate · Post by **JChoate** » Fri Dec 16, 2016 9:58 am

I live in an apprentice-designed Usonian-esque house with 9 butt-glazed corner windows that are all done with 5/8" insulated glass with a bead of black silicone sealant where they intersect. Not perfect up close, but from across the yard you can't detect it.
In the northern climes are there condensation issues with monolithic (single pane) corner glazing?