Lamberson House Restoration

Roderick Grant · Post by **Roderick Grant** » Fri May 29, 2009 4:19 pm

My grandparents had a car with a crank, too, but it was in the front of the car, and was used to get the thing started. Oscar would start cranking, yelling at Ruby, "Adjust the throttle! Damn it Ruby!" Just getting Tin Lizzy started was an event. Ah, good times.

egads · Post by **egads** » Fri May 29, 2009 7:40 pm

I'm reminded of the comedy of my parents launching a boat. "the other way! no the other other way!"

Jeff, your waiting to drive is saving your parents a fortune in teen auto insurance.

Jeff Myers · Post by **Jeff Myers** » Fri May 29, 2009 7:48 pm

That is what I keep telling my parents and I always say, it saves me from having to buy a car or keep a car up and running. I was test driving one day in a parking lot,no one around but I was with my dad,I was driving in circles,purposely to get the feel of the wheel, and on turn 6 I lost focus and ran over 2 curbs and my dad was yelling to STOP, but for some reason I did not hear him. I came within 2 feet of hitting a lamp post. That same year,2005 and 2 months earlier, I had a bike wreck and scraped my head and knee but I was okay and did not need to go to the ER, the point- I was going around in circles then to and blanked out. Transportation and me don't get along. Walking is always healthy.

egads · Post by **egads** » Fri May 29, 2009 10:17 pm

One rarely actually drives in circles. (except for parking structures) There are people who have inner ear issues that make them especially predisposed to motion sickness.

(peterm, sorry to hijack your thread into the "old guys talk to the teen thread")

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Sat May 30, 2009 12:12 am

No problem- I'm amused! And to think it all started with mini blinds, then flocked wallpaper, now cars. It's the stream of consciousness thread...

Jeff Myers · Post by **Jeff Myers** » Sat May 30, 2009 12:17 am

Oh well walking does you good. Peterm: I am sorry for hijacking the thread maybe we should continue this subject about driving on a email chat.

RA · Post by RA » Sat May 30, 2009 9:41 am

Peterm,

Are you going to replace the baseboard heater with anything? If it was added after completion, there may be a good reason for the addition of the heater. These houses are notoriously drafty and the heating can be inadequate in spots. If you are just going to eliminate it, you may want to first experience some really cold weather there while turning it off as an experiment. If it is needed, you could build a wooden cover for it which matches another wooden grate detail if there is one.

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Sat May 30, 2009 10:01 am

Our plan is to remove it, and cap off the copper pipes in the coat closet which feed the unit. We will try it for a winter and see.

We are in the process of building the benches which were designed to sit below the windows. The windows and the heater can't coexist. The 4' long benches will run the whole length of the wall, angling into the mitered glass corner, and on the opposite end the angled wood coat closet, 12" high with 2" thick tufted buttoned cushions. This wall will make so much more sense this way. They will be upholstered with the same red fabric as the hassocks.

If we need more heat, we might be able to come up with a lower baseboard heater still allowing the benches to sit up against the wall.

RA · Post by RA » Sat May 30, 2009 11:15 am

Is the heater original?

At Glore in the living room, there are built-in benches below 13 foot high windows. The original heating there is integrated into the built-in seating; it supplemented the radiant floor heat. There is a 6-7 inch deep wooden slatted grate behind the top of the benches. This allows the heat to escape. With proper design and insulation, one could have the heat escape from behind or below the bench.

Lower profile baseboard is available as well as products which look like flat bars which run hot water. These are the lowest profile but quite costly and have less BTU's.

After a winter you will have it thought through. Always best to go slow with such decisions as you are doing.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Sat May 30, 2009 11:28 am

That's not a bad idea. While not as pure, the house with those baseboard heaters may be a more reasonable place to live, in the winter -- and it would
be a shame to throw out an already-in-place and vital (?) amenity, which might just have to be re-introduced later (worse case scenario).

The nice thing about the geometry of the bench wall is that the benches will "slide" in and out from the wall, without changing total length of the run. So
your decision about the heater can proceed or delay, independent from their construction.

Perhaps just painting the existing heater(s), assuming they operate well -- maybe Cherokee Red ? -- and then making a linear grill to fill the gap behind
the bench tops. . .?

SDR

Education Professor · Sat May 30, 2009 11:39 am

peterm....I appreciate your thoughtful efforts to restore Lamberson to the state that Mr. Wright intended. You discussed restoring the fireplace in a previous post. Do you (or anyone else) have any photos of its original state? Did it resemble fireplaces like the one in Zimmerman?

Thanks,

EP

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Sat May 30, 2009 11:44 am

The heater is not original and is pot ugly. It has to go.

The benches with cushions will only be 14" tall and the heater is more like 18" tall. If we need a baseboard heater in that spot, we will reduce the height, and it might disappear with the benches in place, (yes maybe cherokee red, or a wood grille). It is important esthetically to see the brick above the cushions of the benches. This also means eliminating the outlet strip (not original) which runs the whole length of the wall above the heater.

I also think that the room will heat up more in the winter when the carpet is removed, because there will be solar gain when the sun hits the concrete floors.

Education Professor-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31185895@N ... 304466440/

Here is the only photo that I have of the original fireplace (almost)...
The copper hood was added, but it was not what Wright drew. The original design was tall and open, but it didn't draw well. Wright then designed a copper hood with a "board and batten" construction, but the Lambersons built this instead. With today's fireplace fans, I am confident that we can go "hoodless" and eliminate the extra added bricks.

Paul Ringstrom · Post by **Paul Ringstrom** » Sat May 30, 2009 2:06 pm

Peter,
In the archived construction drawings are there enough fireplace details to bring it back to the original design?

Also, your radiant heat will work better without the wall-to-wall carpeting.

Jeff Myers · Post by **Jeff Myers** » Sat May 30, 2009 4:33 pm

I can see the ghost lines of the brick on the fireplace. Is there anything behind the bricks that cover up the original fireplace opening.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Sat May 30, 2009 4:49 pm

A line of "soldiers" (upright bricks) in the middle of a wall is a good clue to the location of a former header (top of opening).
Wright often used this traditional detail to demark the beginning or end of a vertical brick surface (i.e., top of building or garden wall;
bottom of wall at window, door or fireplace opening.)

SDR