Galena, Il. Nusonian by Genesis Architecture, Llc.

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 8:08 am

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/42964781 ... t=gallery2

modern-eyes · Post by **modern-eyes** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 8:31 am

I was just going to mention this article too. I think they really came close on this one. I think minor changes like the roof pitch, the stone switched to brick, the front door hardware, the kitchen cabinet doors(or maybe just the hardware), I also like when the built-ins have individual cushions instead of the long ones here. I'm also not sure if the concrete floor should bleed out the front like that. All in all I think this is a really well done house, and I am only nit picking.

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 9:12 am

Yes... And the great thing is they kept the scale. The master bedroom is intimate, bucking the trend of cherry picking some of Wright's most obvious details, but then super sizing the spaces.

I was amused by naming the tv room "the sanctum".

I think I miss the low parapet wall around the terrace. I remember when we were rebuilding ours, and we had finished the slab but the wall had not yet been erected, how odd that felt. The terrace wall creates an extra room and extends the house walls outward, increasing the apparent expansiveness of the composition.

But, all things considered, a fine job... All in 1340 square feet, the size of many custom house garages nowadays.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 10:48 am

Sweet. Nice design and flawless execution. Those floors are almost too perfect to believe ! (Perfection translates to "fake-looking" for some, apparently !)

The comments reveal that many people would have to visit this house to appreciate it. Computer room ? Doesn't everyone (but me) use a laptop, now ? Surround sound -- why not ? The sanctum looks great.

Cheers to Mr Dahlin and to his enlightened clients. A really compact house like this one is so rare -- and just what Sarah Susanka, the author of The Not So Sig House, was talking about . . .

SDR

SREcklund · Post by **SREcklund** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 12:56 pm

Maybe it's just me, but I thought the use of perf boards went a little over the top in terms of too much of a hat-tip to Mr. Wright, but a very respectable interpretation of the concept. Love the layout and the orientation - the tip of the terrace pointing to the setting sun; must be an amazing experience to watch.

Considering Usonians were _intended_ to be inexpensive, it would be interesting to know what it costs to design and build one in the 2010's ...

Paul Ringstrom · Post by **Paul Ringstrom** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 1:31 pm

Ken Dahlin has done beautiful work in the past with much larger houses. It is good to see that his firm can produce a small Wrightian design as well.

I thought the house was fabulous, but as with all Wright Chatters I have a couple of things that I would have done differently too.

1) The limestone is too formal as opposed to Wright's Fallingwater-style random layout. Replacing it with red brick, as suggested above, would maintain the formality but be more expected from that choice of material.

2) The contrast between the clear cedar wall covering on the interior vs. the knot-hole covered cedar on the exterior bothered me. It would seem to be more consistent to pick one or the other.

Kudos to Genesis Architecture!

I wonder what the $/sf was?

clydethecat · Post by **clydethecat** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 2:21 pm

Paul Ringstrom wrote:
I wonder what the $/sf was?

That's the big question. Will this 1340 sq ft house cost as much as a 4000 sq ft McMansion?

pharding · Post by **pharding** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 2:38 pm

It is money well spent. Quality over quantity. Also the impact on the environment for construction and operation is much less than a McMansion.

DavidC · Post by **DavidC** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 4:33 pm

Really nice take on a Nusonian. My biggest quibble is with the stone, also. I think it comes off looking too antiseptic - and too 'veneer-ish' (to coin a new term).

Thanks for posting this, Peter!

David

Roderick Grant · Post by **Roderick Grant** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 5:35 pm

The only things I would alter are the size of the 2 acre lot and the landscaping. Eventually, like Jacobs II, this house is likely to be swamped with development, and the 2 acres will seem too small. The landscaping would look better if it were native plants rather than a traditional lawn.

Notice that the carport has not yet been constructed. Perhaps they plan to add that at a future date, and at the same time enclose the terrace with the wall shown on the plan.

Macrodex · Post by **Macrodex** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 5:37 pm

Looks kosher, however, the stone is too smooth, i.e. it's missing the Wright-flavor of having pieces stick out here and there ala Fallingwater, Kentuck Knob, etc.

Roderick Grant · Post by **Roderick Grant** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 6:05 pm

Macrodex, I would suspect that's because it's stone veneer. The cost of a solid stone wall must be daunting.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 7:12 pm

Nice thick veneer, judging by the outside corners. We object because it doesn't look like Wright -- but it's not a bad choice otherwise ? The small scale of the units suits the minimal size of the building.

We're uncomfortable with Wright being copied, and uncomfortable when it isn't Wrightian enough ! What's a fellow to do . . .

I could do without the double-specie veneered door, I think. Paul R had a good comment about the various wood textures. The token perfs are nicely done.

SDR

Paul Ringstrom · Post by **Paul Ringstrom** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 7:58 pm

SDR wrote:We're uncomfortable with Wright being copied, and uncomfortable when it isn't Wrightian enough ! What's a fellow to do . . .SDR

Yes, that indeed is the problem.

I lean to the side of the argument that the Nusonian should either incorporate Wrightian elements done properly (i.e., in the manner of Wright) or pick a different non-Wrightian material altogether, e.g. the stone work.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 10:34 pm

Let's be glad it doesn't look like this :