Affordable Wright Inspired midcentury
I have to admit that, though I find it to be a fine house, I don't think I'd want to live in it. The living room is too open for me, with not enough definition of space between it and the dining/kitchen area.
Grant Hildebrand, in his wonderful book The Wright Space: Pattern and Meaning in Frank Lloyd Wright's Houses, talks about how Wright always had his fireplaces in some kind of sheltered space and never right out in the open, especially in the Prairie years (think of all the inglenooks). I think that lack of "arrival" and "shelter" is what keeps me from loving this.
I hope whoever buys it appreciates it though. It's a fantastic house and should be gently restored.
Grant Hildebrand, in his wonderful book The Wright Space: Pattern and Meaning in Frank Lloyd Wright's Houses, talks about how Wright always had his fireplaces in some kind of sheltered space and never right out in the open, especially in the Prairie years (think of all the inglenooks). I think that lack of "arrival" and "shelter" is what keeps me from loving this.
I hope whoever buys it appreciates it though. It's a fantastic house and should be gently restored.
Not often do we find an interior that almost demands a specific furnitectural intervention. The magnificent and unique furniture centerpiece that now
graces the living room at Hollyhock House might be uncharitably characterized as redundant -- or at least not vital to the functioning of that room -- but
something of the kind, symmetrical or not, designed to screen the entry from the hearth, could make the difference in this house between malfunction and
success -- as I see it from afar.
The piece could be as simple as a combined head-high screen combined with a table or case on the entry side and a seat or cabinet -- or both -- on the
living-room side. Or it could grow into something resembling the Hollyhock assembly, centered on the fireplace and reaching out toward the entry and
kitchen on one side and the "music room" on the other, providing case work, surfaces and seating as needed.
S
graces the living room at Hollyhock House might be uncharitably characterized as redundant -- or at least not vital to the functioning of that room -- but
something of the kind, symmetrical or not, designed to screen the entry from the hearth, could make the difference in this house between malfunction and
success -- as I see it from afar.
The piece could be as simple as a combined head-high screen combined with a table or case on the entry side and a seat or cabinet -- or both -- on the
living-room side. Or it could grow into something resembling the Hollyhock assembly, centered on the fireplace and reaching out toward the entry and
kitchen on one side and the "music room" on the other, providing case work, surfaces and seating as needed.
S
Yes. Among the exterior photos I do not find one showing the door with the rotated-square lite in it.
The aerial view shows the hexagonal element with two wings, and other structures, all partially obscured by trees that somehow don't seem nearly as numerous in the realtor photos.
The house is at the center of the first photo:
The aerial view shows the hexagonal element with two wings, and other structures, all partially obscured by trees that somehow don't seem nearly as numerous in the realtor photos.
The house is at the center of the first photo:
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Roderick Grant
- Posts: 11815
- Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 7:48 am
I would enjoy rereading what you wrote on that subject. Unfortunately, Wright Chat's library has lost the bulk of its "card catalog" -- and in this case Google doesn't seem to offer an alternative to finding past work.
Perhaps you recall a thread where you might have committed your thoughts to digital ink ?
In the meantime, there's some interesting and admirable writing on Hollyhock in this thread (see in particular page two, middle) . . .
http://wrightchat.savewright.org/viewtopic.php?t=8714
S
Perhaps you recall a thread where you might have committed your thoughts to digital ink ?
In the meantime, there's some interesting and admirable writing on Hollyhock in this thread (see in particular page two, middle) . . .
http://wrightchat.savewright.org/viewtopic.php?t=8714
S