Glore Family Room Photographs

[pharding]

These are photographs of the completed Family Room Addition that my architecture firm, Harding Partners, did on the Charles F. Glore House in Lake Forest, Illinois. The addition was inserted underneath a 7"6" tall covered terrace. The floor of this space and the 1987 outdoor terrace were lowered by 24". The cost of construction was $110,000. We also designed alterations to the master bathroom that reversed it back to the original FLW design which created a more spacious bathroom at a modest cost. This Frank Lloyd Wright House was sold to an architect and her husband saving the house for future generations.






The above images are copyright 2007 by Hedrich-Blessing and may not be used without the written permission of Paul Harding FAIA.

[LikaComet]

Beautiful Paul. The massive columns are very strong elements. I'd like to see a closer image of the square pierced "textile" band that caps what appears to be a coarse brick wall.

You the Man. . ....

[dkottum]

Thanks Paul for the photos of your excellent alterations. Something is always lost when this is done, but it is fully understandable how this may be a preservation method in that it brings the house in line with a changing American lifestyle, and puts it in the hands of people with the means and character to appreciate and care for it. It appears that this may be reversed, should the need ever arise, and that ought to be a consideration of anyone who must expand or alter their FLLW home.

Doug Kottum, Battle Lake

[SDR]

I wish the carpets on the new floor could be trapezoidal or parallelogrammatic -- but that's a minor nit to pick. Looks very nice. I assume that the brick columns are original ?

Was there a minimum ceiling height that had to be observed, by code ? Two feet seems a more than adequate expansion.

SDR

[JimM]

Beautiful Paul. The massive columns are very strong elements. I'd like to see a closer image of the square pierced "textile" band that caps what appears to be a coarse brick wall.

You the Man. . ....

Very, very well done. I believe the "columns" were original elements, as well as the pierced blocks. The lowering of the floor was a master stroke, since the elevation change adds visual interest to the expanded space, in what otherwise may have become too compressed a feeling-considering the low ceiling in the existing gallery. The entertainment island as an element around which the new space flows works great, and the contemporary usonian wood detailing harmonizes with the obvious sleek, airy look Wright created in the design.

As good as could be done.

[Eric Saed]

Nice. Very nice.

[dkottum]

Question for Paul Harding. A frequent inquiry here is the coloring of the concrete floors. What method and product did you use, in and out? Looks very good.

Doug Kottum, Battle Lake

[pharding]

....It appears that this may be reversed, should the need ever arise, and that ought to be a consideration of anyone who must expand or alter their FLLW home.

It is designed and detailed to be reversable if a future owner chose to do so.

[pharding]

I wish the carpets on the new floor could be trapezoidal or parallelogrammatic -- but that's a minor nit to pick.

That is exactly how we designed them. Unfortunately the owner simplified the design.

I assume that the brick columns are original ?

The brick columns and the precast concrete/cast stone windows are original.

Was there a minimum ceiling height that had to be observed, by code ? Two feet seems a more than adequate expansion.

We exceeded the code requirements by lowering the floor and terrace by 24"

[pharding]

...the contemporary usonian wood detailing harmonizes with the obvious sleek, airy look Wright created in the design...

The detailing of the entertainment center replicates the details used elsewhere in the house. There was substantial discussion with the Owner about the height of the unit. The Owner wanted it taller and thought it could go off module. I wanted the space to flow around it and work with the optimal height for the TV. The height, as it was built, is absolutely perfect given those parameters. Richard was wonderful to work with in that if I felt strongly about something and he felt strongly that it should be something else, he would say "all right just like me think about it". More often than not after thinking about what I recommending he would defer to my recommendation. Not every time, of course, but on the things that really mattered he and I got it the way that it should be. Richard was very, very conscience about doing the best thing for the house as Wright designed while addressing serious shortcomings that potential buyers voiced. He would have made more money on the house had he sold it to developers as a tear down which he could easily done. The site is unbelievably cool, beautiful, and large enough for two homes. I felt bad for him that a very outspoken poster here gave him a lot of grief for his noble intentions. He certainly didn't deserve that. Prior to his purchase of the house it had 8 owners within a very short period of time. No good deed goes unpunished.

He and I are going to collaborate on some speculative development in his new location. We have talked about ideas that we can use that are derived from Frank Lloyd Wright and this wonderful house. We will use the principles of Frank Lloyd without becoming a legacy-like project.

[dtc]

Paul,
Since you removed two feet from grade, 4 inches of concrete mat, gravel and soil ,did you need to lay up brick to the lower sections of the masonry columns?
If you did the work can not be detected---it is great!

Super job.

dtc

[pharding]

Paul,
Since you removed two feet from grade, 4 inches of concrete mat, gravel and soil ,did you need to lay up brick to the lower sections of the masonry columns?
If you did the work can not be detected---it is great!

Super job.

dtc

Thank you. Yes we had to add brick which were cut down to 1 1/2" thick after the concrete column was cut back to receive the brick. We had to also contend with pipes coming out of the bottom of the "wet" columns.

[RJH]

KEY DESIGN FLAWS:

(1) Violation of Wright’s key concept of staying true to the modular nature of the structure.


(2) Something just doesn’t appear correct with the board and batten wall unit. Looks as if there is no “indent� on the batten. Board and batten appear flush.

(3) Wright’s entire concept and design intent of the cantilever totally destroyed here. View from the great room pre-addition used to allow for a highly dramatic interior scene of the balcony cantilevering the outside terrace area. Key cantilever drama now eliminated. See photo below.



(4) Wright’s design of glass windows going into brick walls pillars destroyed. You can see the vertical line in the photos, which now filled in with mortar. If I were the homeowner, it would anoy me to look at that every day because it would make me wonder how beautiful it must have originally been.

(5) Wright would have never left a huge concrete mass block under the TV. This area would have been reserved for a wall of low cabinets and used for storage.

(6) The vertical fins on the very top of the wall unit was a stolen idea from Wright’s Max Hoffman house. They are also the wrong dimensions and the very bottoms should not have been cut at an angle (plus if it were to be cut, it should have been cut at 60 degrees to match the theme of the house and not 45 degrees.). I suspect Wright didn’t use vertical fins anywhere else in the Glore house and is as different as apples and oranges. Furthermore, vertical fins should have been extended longer (down to lower cabinets – if that route were taken, or lower in general).

(7) Hard to tell from small photo, but it appears that leaders were added near vertical mullions so rainwater can drain from top balcony. I suspect prior to the addition, rainwater would drain through 2� x 12� protruding downspouts – which would create an icicle affect in the winter. Even if no leaders...Wright's effect still lost.

- B&B wall unit is designed wrong. B&B walls are usually 6 boards high and not 5.

(9) Architect made the mistake of accepting and designing the addition in order for the house to appeal and sell to the “mass public� and not the homeowner or Wright minded buyer.

[karnut]

Amen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pharding]

The project just received a Design Excellence Award for Historic Preservation from the American Institute of Architects, Northeast Illinois Chapter. The project follows the national historic preservation standards and is easily reversible should a future owner decide to do so. Our client is quite pleased with the results and our service. This was all done for $110,000 which is a bargain by Wright Restoration standards. The client did a very noble thing for Wrightdom and saved the building from becoming a teardown in one of the most expensive areas of the US.