For Sale: George W. Smith House by FLW

[Paul Ringstrom]

It never surprises me the shear ignorance and incompetence of most Realtors. This house is listed with one (bad) exterior photo and nothing else to attract a potential buyer.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandho ... 8010401775

[SDR]

Amazing: for once, they DO have a Wright-designed structure---and they don't mention it !

I usually look for a Zillow listing, as they have whatever photos are available, at the largest available size, and more complete information.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/404- ... 5691_zpid/

S

[Roderick Grant]

Maybe Zillow decided that interior photos would dissuade prospective buyers.

[pmahoney]

After visiting, I see the value of this house as a largely intact interior, very few alterations but certainly not pristine. How much original fabric remains in any 1896+/- Wright design?

[SDR]

Has any interior photography ever been published, as far as we know ? Oh--Storrer has a photo of the dining room.




Photo and plan © 1993 by William Allin Storrer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W. ... llinois%29

S

[SDR]

I assume that diamond-pane glazing was not uncommon in the late Nineteenth Century in America; a sort of generic leaded-glass pattern, then as now ? Would Wright already be looking at British vernacular/Craft Architects' work ?

I could have sworn I recently saw a photo of this house from the rear---but nothing shows up on Wright Chat Search. Where else ?

S

[pmahoney]

Storrer’s plan is close to correct but not accurate at the stair which is recessed from the entry and splits to access the kitchen. There is also a dropped ceiling with flanking cabinets between the sitting room and the dining room. The sitting room fireplace is ironspot Roman brick and eight feet wide.

[SDR]

Pat M sends us two photos of George W Smith, with more images to follow. Thank you !





I always scratch my head at Prof Storrer's stair arrows, which defy convention by pointing down, not up. Of course, it turns out that roof pitch indications in plan point down . . . so perhaps a "foolish consistency" was the culprit ?

S

[pmahoney]

Here is an entry from the Advocacy page

https://savewright.org/exploring-the-ge ... ith-house/

[DRN]

Great work John and Pat!

The page will help potential buyers see the possibilities of a restoration. There is a lot there under all the paint. A direct link to the Smith Advocacy page from the Smith Wright on the Market listing might be a good idea if the real estate agent is agreeable....
For the house to be a convenient place in which to live today, I'm seeing a portion of the store room near the stairs being a possible location for a half bath off the entry, and a full bath being set up on the third level.

[SDR]

Indeed. Further, if a five-bedroom house exceeds a new owner's requirements, and that owner is amenable to such improvements, the attic level might be opened up a bit as well . . .?

It is interesting to compare Storrer's speculative plans with those found in situ. And a more recent re-roofing matches in color the previous one, despite neither presumably reflecting the original condition---in hue if not in pattern ?


Photo 1968 © B Korab

Bravo to John Waters for his more-than-merely-adequate SketchUp modeling; delicious renderings sans extraneous entourage. The very first thing that caught my eye in the Smith exterior is something easily missed (by me, anyway) in photographs: a slight batter at the second-level floor line. Wright wouldn't be found letting materials push him around, or even suggest dimensions, in the Prairie work---but could that inward step simply be the result of switching from 6" studs on the first floor, to 4-inch ones above ? Nah---he wouldn't be using 2x6s anywhere they weren't absolutely vital to public safety . . .!

The formal play at the fireplace wall---in-and-out peek-a-boo with cabinetry and windows---is a delight, and likely unique in the work as were so many of Wright's inventions. Won't it be wonderful to see this restored to its original appearance ?

(The windows as seen in photos generally have their sash parting rails at or just above center, rather than slightly
below. The fireplace masonry appears to be further recessed than is seen in the model---minor points in a major feat of model-making.)

S

[SDR]

There's a pretty significant valley between the porch roof and the south wall of the front bedroom. Too bad this aerial photo doesn't show it well. There must be a major cricket there . . .


Photo © 1999 by Simon Clay

The architect chose to omit third-level dormers on the street side of the main roof. The model tour notes that the top-floor front room is "currently unfinished"; perhaps that room was used only as storage space, from the start ?

S

[SDR]

This morning we have a plan of the GW Smith house as published in The Architectural Review in 1890---thanks to DRN, and to Pat Mahoney for forwarding to me for posting.

Pat writes: " Dan Nichols located a very small plan published in 1890 by Robert Spencer in an extensive article on Wright in the Architectural Review. Although not captioned the plan appears almost identical to the George Smith house as it exists today." ". . . there are three first floor plans, the bottom matches Smith, the middle matches another house designed for Charles E. Roberts in what was then Ridgeland (Oak Park today). I think Smith was built from a house plan designed for Roberts."



Compare to the recent as-found plan drawn by John Waters:

© 2022 by John Waters/FLWBC

A portion of the magazine article:





The above plans, rotated 180º to match the usual published orientations:

[SDR]

The "Condict Building on Bleeker Street" mentioned near the end of that Architectural Review piece is none other than Sullivan's sole NYC commission:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayard–Condict_Building

S

[Roderick Grant]

1890?