Wright Chat

Dec 1982 Fine Homebuilding , pp 27-33. Scans provided by Pat Mahoney. The two pages containing drawings may be enlarged by opening them in a new window on your device. http://sdrdesign.com/HughesFHB1128227.jpg http://sdrdesign.com/HughesFHB1128228.jpg http://sdrdesign.com/HughesFHB1128229.jpg http:/...

It's always a pleasure to see the house and read about it. The sliding doors, as can be seen in the photos, are canvas on wood frames, not glass. The "sleeping baskets" on the roof---one can be seen in the exterior photo---were later enclosed and probably not much used. Schindler would hav...

He has been consulted. His furnishings for the Lamberson house are quite handsome; the veneers are straight-grained (flat-sawn or plain sliced). Fir or cedar, rotary cut to render clear whole-piece face (WPF) panels, are fall-back substitutes under review. This is the material I'm trying to match: h...

Quite likable; not Wright. The seller should show or disclose any marking to the underside of these pieces.

S

This thread contains the story of a recently-completed Usonian repair project, necessitated by a small roof fire that occurred in July of this year at the Bazett-Frank residence (Hillsborough, 1940). The story starts, for me, with the search for the right plywood . . . We go back to the beginning--...

We have scans coming from another source, I believe, perhaps made on a large-bed scanner. But your diligence is appreciated ! I like the way that the re-done Wright Chat user interface works, as far as image presentation is concerned: photos are seen on the page at a decent size, and enlargement is ...

Well, we get some fresh photos out of the deal, anyway. Gee those bedrooms and other private spaces are nice. Wright did "mid-century contemporary" as well as any architect in the country---many of whom no doubt were influenced by buildings like this when they were published. It remains to...

100 photos, a possible real estate record; 73 are of the house. Living room and bedroom Jones-designed cabinetry remains, in addition to that in the bath; the copper bath counter is an indication of the special nature of the house ? If more suburban tract houses were of this ilk, we'd be living in a...

I'm glad to hear that ! Yes, the house deserves a savior. Do keep us informed if and as you can . . . I'm still remembering my day at Fawcett, some years back when it was on the market. Crosby Doe was occupied with a potential owner---or at least an interested visitor---so I wandered the spread on m...

My only quibble with that would be, "one of Wright's later Usonians." Later than the early Jacobs, Pew, Sturges, Rosenbaum examples---but in 1952 hardly the last of the line, with many more adventurous models yet to come ?

S

Heh-heh---duplicating my own efforts from the previous page. Hmmm . . .

S

Seeing the perspective brings to mind similarities between this house and the nearly contemporaneous Lamberson house: Y-shaped plan on a triangular planning grid, asymmetrical hipped roof, irregular central masonry mass, brick-enclosed terrace at left, bedrooms in foreground, triangular carport beyo...

Paint wouldn't take the kinks out of those curves, or correct the out-of-plane joints on exterior faces. Some things (like repairing glued furniture joints) have to be done right the first time !

Ah, well, they could always plant ivy---inside as well as out ?

S

"Shouldn't be," unqualified, is a bit strong. There are times and places for variegated color, and others where uniformity is assumed and desired---like the paint job on a car, for instance ? As for the Usonian floor, I would think an effort at consistency and uniformity would be desirable...

Too bad that the bones of the thing---those cast-in-place concrete arches---weren't more carefully crafted. The architect must have winced (if not plotzed). But, "Too late; have to move ahead" was the only choice. The choice of contractors and subs is crucial. Maybe the owner said "I ...