Wright Chat

My wife and I attended a New Year's Eve party at the home of a non-architect friend of mine from my college years. Just as we entered our host's house, our host greeted us with "I have something for you." I was handed a large plastic bag that contained six yellowed 16"x20" Strathmore boards, each with a 13 1/2" x 9 1/4" b&w photo mounted to the upper left corner. My friend said, "These are for you if you want them, the mother of a friend was moving to a small apartment and couldn't keep them, but wanted them to go to someone who might appreciate them...they are pictures of a house she lived in, in the 1950's that was designed by Bruce Goff." I looked at the first photo and immediately recognized the house to be Goff's 1939 Frank Cole in Park Ridge, Illinois. I thanked the host and her friend and put the pictures in the back of our car.

When we got home, I looked up the house in David DeLong's book, and there were two of the six photos reproduced, albeit cropped, in the book. The illustration credits lists the two matching pictures as having been provided by Alfonso Iannelli, Jr. It is my understanding Iannelli's studio was in Park Ridge, and that he was friend and collaborator with Goff. The photos appear to be professionally composed and lighted.

I'll scan the photos and send them to SDR for posting, if he would be so kind once again. I'm posting these as the Goff designed furniture in the photos may be of interest in the context of recent discussions about Usonian furniture which seems to have been an influence to Goff with this house.

Wow, what an amazing story! Great gift! I would love to see the photographs, thank you for sharing this story!

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Wonderful house. It's great to have these period images.

In addition to its Usonian material palette and (ditto) furniture-design influence, DRN notes the circular motif seen throughout the structure, inside and out. Another theme is the right triangle; that triangular chimney is well-nigh unique, I'd say. Goff's expressionism is under considerable restraint at this early date, isn't it . . .

There are corner windows as well, though they're pretty much obscured in these photos by the insistent draperies. The architect has done pretty well in placing glass where it will not intrude too much on the privacy of occupants; can anyone suggest strategies for "plugging the gaps" (in privacy) in this house, by means other than fabric ?

SDR

unique design... I do wonder what the ornament is to the left hanging off the roof, I have seen them in some of Goff's later designs.

Planting trellis ? There appears to be a screened porch atop the concealed garage; if that's the south or west end of the structure, some shade to the porch would be welcome . . .

SDR

DNR:
Do you have an address for this house? I can have a friend check to see if it is still in existence.

Paul--sadly, this home is no more:

http://www.prairiemod.com/prairiemod/20 ... house.html

Address is/was 910 Hastings Street Park Ridge.

I'm not so sure the house was demolished...a look on Google Earth and Google Maps street view shows the house Prairie Mod references, but in the street view, the angled brick chimney is still visible and from Google earth the plan seems like Goff's though substantially enlarged from the front and back. Given how unusual flat roofs are in residences, I find it hard to believe a person wanting a modernist house would tear down the original only to rebuild a new one with a similar though enlarged form. I suspect this is a case of the original being enlarged beyond recognition.

Is this another property waiting to be restored -- by stripping off dozens if not hundreds of square feet of added enclosure, revealing the native gem hiding within ?

The title of this opus could be "Spots Before My Eyes" -- owing to the combination of copious amounts of knotty pine boarding, with a row-of-dots decorative motif to the custom furniture, a zig-zag-portholed entry door, and (finally) multiple installations of hanging ivy (?) -- culminating in a Mystery Plant veiling the diagonal chimney breast . . .

SDR

It would be great news if the original home was only buried and not demolished. Seems a little more research needs to happen on this one to determine how much is left...

I came across the following recent images of the house now standing at 910 Hastings Street in Park Ridge, IL 60068 to help us all see if it is the real (but remodeled) Cole House or if only a few elements were saved in a "redo":










via http://tours.vht.com/Viewer/PhotoGaller ... &Style=CBI

In the second new photo, the one with a full view of the fireplace, the ceiling beyond has approximately the same pitch as in the original house. The near end of the chimney mass, though, is one brick wider than at the same spot in the original.

The broken-up ceilings in the newer photos, and random placement of walls, columns, etc, would seem to support the contention that the original house became this one, over time. And, the nearest neighboring structure, visible in rear views of both versions, seems to have a similar roof -- with the addition of a dormer ?

SDR

Some notes:

The "mystery plant" at the fireplace in the b&w photos is not a plant, it is small pine cones hung like beads with thread.

Thanks Prairie Mod for finding the recent photos...they lead me to believe with some level of certainty that the original framing is buried under all that drywall and additional construction.

As to the brick chimney being deeper on one side, I should note that modern building codes do not allow framing members to bear on masonry chimneys as was the case when this house and many of Wright's Usonians were built. Additional framing for the additions and other remuddling may have needed to bear in that area and the brick of the chimney may have been toothed and expanded to hide a lally or two.

A fine example of devolution.