FOR SALE / FLlW Legacy Program House

RJH · Post by **RJH** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 5:55 pm

This is one of only 14 from Wright's original designs since his death in 1959.

http://www.robinsonrealtors.com/FLWright

And...

More pics/details here:

http://www.robinsonrealtors.com/listing ... tID=563426

DavidC · Post by **DavidC** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 6:18 pm

Is it just me, or does this "certified legacy house" have both a mish-mash and sterile look/feel to it when compared to actual period Wright-built designs??? (the stark-white walls don't help things at all - and are there any other Wright homes with "stacked" clerestory window panes such as in this one?)

David

RJH · Post by **RJH** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 6:26 pm

If memory serves me, this design was orginally for the E. Lansing project. It should look like G-W House in terms of brick and other materials. Wright designed it for a professor. I'm sure if somone looks in the Monographs it can be seen.

Ed Jarolin · Post by **Ed Jarolin** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 7:07 pm

If this is a representative example of what the legacy program produced I for one am glad it is dead. A pale imitation of the Wright esthetic at best and that is being kind.

All that drywall, or it could even be real plaster, as the interior wall material. Ugh! Even within the context of this house it is easy to see how much richer the block wall areas are. And, unless my monitor is way off, the pumpkin colored version of Cherokee Red just doesn't cut it. The obvious cost cutting measure of using dropped headers in certain areas defeats the spatial flow, as shown in the photo of the tiny bedroom. Not shown in the realtor photos, but as remembered from a newspaper article of a few years ago, are the positively tiny cantilevers employed to support the deck.

I briefly meet the owners back in 2001 and they were very enthused about the project. After seeing the results here, I have to wonder if living with this has cooled their ardor and is the cause of the selling of their 'dream home' after such a short time. If so, I can certainly understand their disappointment.

Ed Jarolin · Post by **Ed Jarolin** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 8:02 pm

A quick look through various references yields Pope-Leighey, Gorden, Bachmann-Wilson and Affleck using the glazed fretwork panels in a stacked manner. At B-W this stack is still essentially a clerestory. At Gordon panels form the majority of several walls. At Pope-Leighey a vertical stack drops from clerestory height to one unit short of floor level. In the bedrooms of Affleck the stack is separated by intevening solid wall boards; 4 fretwork units with a solid between each.

pharding · Post by **pharding** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 9:53 pm

One more example of why the Legacy Program is awful.

Collinst3 · Post by **Collinst3** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 7:45 am

Are those gutters I see? Tsk tsk tsk.

outside in · Post by **outside in** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 9:16 am

Actually, there are many Wright homes with gutters, like Martin and Willits BUT the most odd aspect of this home is that they copied the chairs for the Seth Peterson Cottage, which are not Wright-designed. Either the owners were very fond of a non-Wright chair, or they made a little mistake!

Eric Saed · Post by **Eric Saed** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 9:52 am

Yeah, boy...that house sure is crappy. I wouldn't want to live in it at all. I sure hope someone buys it for the land and builds something sensible, like a French Colonial with a decent size master bath and a chandelier in the entryway.

DavidC · Post by **DavidC** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 10:03 am

In some ways, it looks like they couldn't decide between having a Prairie or a Usonian - and (of course) ended up w/ neither.

A "Prair-sonian", perhaps?

Ed Jarolin - thanks for the info on the "stacked" clerestories.

David

jlesshafft · Post by **jlesshafft** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 10:05 am

I for one, like it. Is it pure FLW - no. Is it better than 99.999% of new houses being built today - YES.

Someone mentioned the floor color...on my calibrated monitor they look correct.

Someone mentioned the drywall/plaster. I'd like to see an occasional wood clad wall, but most usonians to me are too dark with all the wood walls. I prefer a bright and light interior.

As to the chairs...would you prefer american colonial furniture? What about all the FLW houses that have Eames or other modern furniture?

As the saying goes...if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all.

Reidy · Post by **Reidy** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 10:15 am

I second the previous, and I commend the agents for not trying to pass the house off as authentic Wright as so many would.

(Just the same, all that white has got to go.)

JimM · Post by **JimM** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 10:29 am

Ah, the dilemma of these houses. Who can deny their superiority over what's available (except for their bloated cost, and that they seem to go out of their way to make them look "track housey")?

But their direct and crass comparison to FLLW's work does not change my mind. If this was not a Legacy house, I'd advise colored walls and give deserved kudos.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 10:33 am

I'm in that camp on this one, I guess: call it an improved ranch house and let it go at that. It probably beats the generic suburban ranch house of fifty years ago and counting -- but I don't see how Taliesin or anyone else could mention this house and Usonian in the same breath. Perhaps the floor plan would make their point, but not to me.

The interior color is cold but the furnishings give it some life, spirit, and blessed consistency.

Frank Lloyd Light ? Would the Old Man have come down to this in his very VERY old age. . .? Let's hope not.

Tsk tsk. Real estate literature is already full-up with bogus mentions of the architect's name. For Taliesin to jump on the bandwagon seems unforgivable.

SDR

dkottum · Post by **dkottum** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 12:23 pm

As it turned out, one of the faults of the Legacy Program was that it allowed three versions of an original FLLW design, with only one of these versions requiring an exact building of the original design (brought up to current code). That design was then "retired" and another could not be built. Another version allowed no changes in dimension or design, but interior adjustments could be made, such as combining bedrooms for a larger one. The last version allowed many changes. The program had no limit on the number of these modified plans that could be built.

If TA had limited the Legacy Program to unaltered FLLW plans, the outcome may have been more favorable. Many would still condem it, no matter how honestly and perfectly it was done. Some would accept it for what it is and enjoy it.

This appears to be the 1939 Newman house project for Usonia I in Michigan, that includes Goetsch-Winkler and a design for Erling Brauner. The Newman and Brauner designs were similar in design and materials to G-W. The Brauner design was modified for the original client in 1948 to have concrete block instead of brick, and a hip roof instead of a flat roof. We now have an updated version of the Newman house, also changed to concrete block and hip roof. This is not in the same league as the original concept, but nit-picking limited to the wall and ceiling color, I could be quite comfortable in it. (If it were here at Battle Lake.)

Doug Kottum, Battle Lake, MN

Wright Chat

FOR SALE / FLlW Legacy Program House

FOR SALE / FLlW Legacy Program House

stacked fretwork panels