Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum House

[AlvinRosenbaum]

The Rosenbaum House

In 1991 the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy meeting in Grand Rapids awarded its very first Wright Spirit Award to Mildred (“Mimi�) Rosenbaum, honoring her as an original Wright homeowner who had demonstrated outstanding stewardship in the conservation of her home, the Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum House in Florence, Alabama.

At the time that Mimi left her house at 81 years old, she was the oldest original client who had remained in her house and Mr. Wright’s and Taliesin longest-lasting client (its occupant for 58 years), living as Wright had intended; that is, growing her usonian house as her family grew, the only Wright usonian house with a Wright-designed addition, the essence of Wright’s “kit-of-parts� philosophy for usonian living.

The Rosenbaum family entered into a contract with the City of Florence, Alabama in November 1999. The terms of that contract have never been disclosed by either the City of Florence nor the Rosenbaum family.

Now that a decade has past under their stewardship, it is time to provide documentation to correct the record of considerable misinformation that has occurred in the press, in at least one book and in the interpretation of the house. These errors have deprived Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum of the credit they deserved in the protection and celebration of Frank Lloyd Wright’s complete oeuvre, not just architecture but for the importance of their specific Wright expression to public history.

Either on these pages or on a dedicated Rosenbaum House website, I intend to provide documentation that I believe will be useful to the owners and stewards of other Wright properties. Important to this story are Mimi’s friends and my colleagues, many who were subsequent recipients of the Wright Spirit Award, including those who have passed away over this past decade, Katherine Jacobs (WSA 1992), Loren Pope (WSA 1997) and Edgar Tafel (WSA 1995), my Taliesin friends Indira Berndston (WSA 2007), Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer (1997) and to Stefan Nagel (2004), who helped us create the Frank Lloyd Wright Rosenbaum House Foundation in 1988 and those friends and neighbors who worked for its protection for a decade prior to the house’s transfer to the City of Florence.

I was with my mother at the monumental Steelcase headquarters in Grand Rapids in 1991 when she was honored by the FLWBC, then doing research on Usonia: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Design for America that was published by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1993.

Growing-up in a Wright house and briefly serving as a Taliesin apprentice, I later became a regional planner and have been engaged over the years in the particular challenges in the protection of fragile structures and cultural landscapes, first for the National Park Service and now for the World Bank and others. I applaud the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy for its work and plan to contribute to this Wright Chat dialogue.

Alvin Rosenbaum
Silver Spring, MD
August 1, 2010

[Palli Davis Holubar]

Mr. Rosenbaum, I look forward to more of your thoughts and documentation from both your joyful personal experience and your practical and academic perspectives on the architectural American problem Wright sought to solve. Your book is a significant resource for all interested in Usonians.

In particular reference to the Taliesin Perf Project, your remembrance of the perf "eye music" patterns, quoted in the book, brings the innate delight of Usonians alive.
Thank you for joining this forum.

[DavidC]

Hello, Mr. Rosenbaum:

Welcome to the Forum and thank you for posting and sharing your thoughts and experiences. I have a special place in my heart for your mother and your parent's home. My wife and I had the pleasure of spending a few hours with her about 15 years ago. She very graciously showed us her truly wonderful home and sat with us to answer all of our questions. Afterwards, she asked if we could drive her over to a gathering that was taking place at a nearby relative's house (one of your siblings, if I am remembering correctly). She talked of your father, the family and the home - and it was obvious just how much she loved all three. Why, she even autographed a copy of your book for us! It's a day and a memory we will always treasure. And that day - and your parent's home - became the time that my focus on Wright did a complete shift from Prairie to Usonian.

Also, we recently had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Shavin at her beautiful home in Chattanooga, TN. She spoke very highly of the friendship that she and her husband had with your parents - and how helpful they were in sharing their experiences with Wright and Taliesin as they prepared to build their own home.


Again, welcome Mr. Rosenbaum - and I look forward to your participation.


David

[Paul Ringstrom]

Usonia: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Design for America
http://product.half.ebay.com/Usonia_W0Q ... prZ1109049

[Roderick Grant]

Glad to have you with us. I met your mother on a few occasions. She was a delightful woman who truly understood what she owned and what FLW meant by it all. It's always distressing to read misinformation about FLW and his work, and there is so much of it. Whatever errors you can correct and submit to permanent record will be helpful.

(One teensy correction: The "kit-of-parts" you refer to, which so skillfully informed the natural growth of your parents' home was not unique to your house. Reisley, McCartney, Berger and Hanna extended theirs with FLW-designed additions and adjustments. Additions and alterations to other Usonian houses were either unbuilt, done for subsequent owners or designed by other architects.)

[SDR]

Among the many thousands of photographs of architectural works which I have viewed over the past half century, there is one which has moved me the most, and it is this one:

[DRN]

SDR:
I too have been struck by this pic since I first saw it as a wee junior high schooler perusing The Natural House. Looking at it with fresh eyes, I see the photographer carefully positioned the shot to accentuate the qualities Wright found important. The carport is viewed on a diagonal, thereby maximizing its apparent length, the elevation of the camera aligns the roof planes with the horizon allowing them to appear longer than they really are, and the location of the tree in the background, visually accentuating the masonry mass which anchors the composition, is likely one of the happier accidents in the history of architectural photography. A great shot indeed.

[SDR]

Indeed. The dirt road and driveway speak to the early date of the image. Everything is so elemental. This is one of the s e x i e s t architectural images of all time, to me: a simple wood and brick spaceship, landed (temporarily ?) on a sloping plane of grass somewhere "in the country." Or, better, to quote Paul Rudolph, writing about Fallingwater :

"One senses that the house 'grows' from the ground but, paradoxically, it also 'hovers.' It is the first space ship, majestically gracing its lovely valley for the rest of time. It is so real, so tangible, so palpable, so wrought of permanent materials, and yet, simultaneously, it has a mythical quality, as if it exists only in one's dream."


S

[DavidC]

It is a wonderful photo - of a fantastic home. Thanks for posting it, SDR. I wonder if there is an original copy somewhere - with crisp, sharp focus and contrast?

Looking to the right side of the home, one (in this case - me) can certainly see nautical ship visual analogies.


David

[SDR]

Right. I don't know who took the photo -- too early for P Guerrero, I think. It's published in a couple of places, notably Hitchcock and "The Natural House"
-- even fuzzier in the former. Maybe someone knows where the largest and sharpest reproduction can be found. . .?



A much later view, pre-restoration, with roof flashing and extended chimneys. . .

[Roderick Grant]

It isn't too early for Guerrero, who photographed contemporary Pauson, but his book, "Picturing Wright", doesn't have any Rosenbaum photos. I would place it second after Fallingwater, my own first encounter with FLW.

[Paul Ringstrom]

I rather like the definition that the roof flashings provide to the roof planes.

SDR,
You may be able to obtain a copy of the original from: Pedro E. Guerrero Photography
P.O. Box 2361
Florence, AZ 85232
Fax: 520-868-0057

Contact: Ms. Dixie Legler
[email protected]

If you email him a copy of the b&w above he could at least identify if it is his work.

[DRN]

I don't have it in front of me, but do know there are photo credits listed at the back of The Natural House.

[SDR]

Thanks, DRN. So, the early photos of Rosenbaum are by G. E. Kidder-Smith.



SDR

[DavidC]

G. E. Kidder Smith - Wikipedia


David