Wright Chat

For anyone who may have an interest:

1912 House Beautiful Magazine / Home Photos & Floor Plans / Frank Lloyd Wright


David

Would love to know what house, by which architect, is depicted in Plate K . . .!

S

Page 89: "Plate K illustrates a clever ceiling fixture by the same designer [FLW], consisting of a wood framework secured to the ceiling with metal and glass shades dropped down on their own silk-covered cords."

The text doesn't say which house it is, but a review of Prairie fireplaces might give a clue. Certain elements might also tell, such as the view of a neighboring room in the background, the scale of the space (modest), the flat ceiling, the design of the table, etc. One thing that wouldn't help is the hanging light fixture; I am sure that if it had survived, it would be famous.

Third image shows a Waverly Electric car priced at $3,500. In 2019 that would be $92,856.80!

The light fixture that Roderick Grant wonders about looks like the one in the Beachy house dining room.

The text on that page will scare the daylights out of you, as it is about "unusual" ways to light up a home. Acetylene gas and gasoline gas are discussed in some detail. Yikes!!!!!

Jogger appears to have nailed it . . .

https://william-zbaren-9hua.squarespace ... f7xdaq55pt

There are two unique wooden ceiling light fixtures there; the glass lampshades are, predictably, hung at a
common level in the early photo. Are these pendants able to be slid along their horizontal carriers ? Does
the corner fixture swing or swivel ?

That's it.

I have wondered why that dining room is so huge, close to 30' long. Did Beachy have a lot of children, or did he entertain on a grand scale?

Plans in Monograph 2 show the breakfast alcove that appears in the photo I linked; plans in Taschen are perhaps earlier, as the nook is removed from the
dining space and is labeled "pantry."

Both W A Storrer and B B Pfeiffer are at pains to mention the copious amount of preliminary paper for this commission to be found in the Taliesin archive
---though Storrer addresses directly the possibility that this might be a Griffin design, he then dismisses the idea based on the presence of those studies.
None of this is to say that Griffin might not have conceived of the house, or drawn it in Wright's absence (he was in Japan with the Willetses at the time).

Perhaps a study of the sketches and drawings, and the lettering thereon, would shed additional light on the matter. Viewers could be excused for thinking
of Griffin when seeing the house for the first time. Lettering on some interior sketches in the Monograph is unusually crude . . .




photo 2008 by Peter Gossel











© 2009 by TASCHEN GmbH and by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation; monootone plans © 1993 by William Allin Storrer

As I recall from visiting the Beachy house on the FLW Housewalk in May (a bunch of times!!) the sections of the light fixture were meant to slide back and forth along the rail to illuminate the main table or multiple tables that were pushed together. The dining room has two small tables and one large one that can all be put together to make a giant table. Two types of chairs, some with taller backs and some with shorter backs could be arranged as one wished. It's an impressive space!!

Thank you. As a furnituremaker I should have studied this more thoroughly by now---but it seems that these pieces (light fixtures, tables, chairs) represent
one of the more complete examples of Wright's experiments in flexible and accommodating dining arrangements---in any period of the work including the
Usonian, where we know that a number of houses have tables composed of individual units which can be ganged together. The sliding light fixture, on the
other hand, seems to me unique in Wright's career.

S

I don't recall that any of the Oak Park or River Forest houses have a sliding light fixture.

That last perspective sketch of the Beachy house looks to be dated 1900.
Is that possible?

Sliding light fixture, very cool.

wow - those shots by Zbaren - really good.
I had NO idea the Chicago Stock Exchange Floor had been restored.
First time I'd ever seen that.
Where is it? Inside the museum?

Mr Wright added notes like the ones we see at the bottom of second (and less pertinent to the built house) perspective sketch, to many drawings, years after they were
"on the boards" at Taliesin. Some bear dates in his hand which are known to be incorrect---more often than not, placing the work earlier than the record would support.


Yes, those shots of Beachy are great, aren't they. This is one of those seldom-photographed works . . .

S

There are fireplaces in the living room and front bedroom above it. The flues serving those fireplaces are sent to the only chimney in the house.
Does that horizontal transport affect the efficiency of the draw?
Perhaps the flues are sloping somewhat in the shallow attic space?

The dining room certainly is the most impressive space in the house, but somewhat disjointed.
FLW solved that problem with a room-length mural, which was not executed. Too bad. It would have pulled the whole thing together.