Duncan House

dtc · Post by **dtc** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 12:18 pm

Had a wonderful stay at the Duncan house this past weekend.
These pics of the Duncan roof I believe are very similar to the detail found at the Sweeton house.
I recall a discussion by DRN and Wright Chatters about replacing this original detail.

I will have more about the Duncan house after the pics are posted.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 12:58 pm

dtc's photos:

context photos:

DRN · Post by **DRN** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 1:31 pm

The Duncan house was originally constructed with red roll roofing and battens like the Sweeton house...its current incarnation substitutes three tab shingles for the roll roofing, I'm not sure why.

After I visited the Duncan house a few years ago, I tried several times to contact the owner/builder, Mr. Papinchak, but to no avail. I wanted to ask him what type of roof was on the house when he dismantled it; if roll roofing was not available or not desirable for the rebuild; and if he had laid an ice shield/or other membrane beneath the roofing and battens. I was hoping I could learn from his experience in my eventual attempt to return Sweeton to some form of the original roof detail.

Unbrook · Post by **Unbrook** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 6:29 pm

Did you take photos of the interior?

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Mon Jun 03, 2013 10:29 pm

Additional pics from dtc:

dtc · Post by **dtc** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 5:58 am

descriptions of additional pics:

Entry doors w/ door stops and reflection of photographer.

View of carport, and main masonry mass from the bedroom wing (public side).

View of 2 story, main terrace (private side).

Main terrace off of living room space.

Sequoia · Post by **Sequoia** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:26 am

DRN, I witnessed some of the dismantling of the Duncan house. The roofing was not as it is now, it was just regular asphalt shingles laid flat. I remember the house was generally in need of some TLC.

dtc · Post by **dtc** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 6:39 pm

Some general observations of Duncan house.

The batten profiles of the exterior are not the ones used indoors.
Exterior are considerably larger and painted.

The interior concrete mat is scored where there is no carpet.
No scoring for exterior terrace mats.

The overall spaces within seem generous, large in fact...no sense of compression and release.
The design feels conventionalized as compared to his other early usonians.

I wonder how much input was Marshall Erdman's?
Many of the prefabs were designed with 2 car garages and full basements.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 7:03 pm

Erdman I interiors

DRN · Post by **DRN** » Wed Jun 05, 2013 8:35 am

I wonder how much the budgetary decision to use standardized Andersen windows drove the modular proportioning of Wright's Erdman houses leading to a different "feel" about them?

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Wed Jun 05, 2013 10:44 am

The architect (?) seems to have customized the sash; I'm not crazy about the resulting appearance.

SDR

Paul Ringstrom · Post by **Paul Ringstrom** » Wed Jun 05, 2013 10:53 am

IMHO: I thought the quality of the reconstruction was excellent.

The fact that the exterior batten (current photo #2 above) does not line up with the clerestory window sill is probably due to the use of stock windows. Still troubling.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Wed Jun 05, 2013 11:09 am

I was referring to the original design, with its two mis-matched lites. The position of the (off-)center division doesn't seem to have a purpose; it doesn't align (for instance) with any other architectural element. Why did Wright choose that configuration, do you suppose ?

SDR

Roderick Grant · Post by **Roderick Grant** » Wed Jun 05, 2013 12:59 pm

The Anderson Twindows determined the scale, as DRN points out. The windows were not customized, which was the whole point; the standardized sash saved money. The slight enlargement seems to be the result of the scale being adjusted beyond the usual 2'x4' to accommodate the windows. The McBean House, while very fine indeed, felt to me a bit over-sized, although I didn't feel that quite so much in the one-story versions I've visited.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Wed Jun 05, 2013 1:45 pm

It's hard to believe that what we see in these houses was a standard Andersen configuration, isn't it ? What's odd isn't the width but the height, and, specifically, the different heights of the two lites in each window . . .

One would have thought, if the central mullion (muntin ?) were to be offset for some reason, that reducing the lower pane to 16" (if that's the vertical module) would have been the architect's choice. Nearly equal is just messy -- and unWrightian, as I see it.

SDR