Did Wright typically specify (or prefer..) crushed gravel to concrete as the flooring surface under his carports? I have seen continuous gravel from the driveway into the carport, only concrete or blacktop for both, or gravel for the drive with concrete under the carport...
It would seem that he would prefer a continuous uninterrupted surface?
Spencer with all gravel:
http://www.sothebysrealty.com/eng/sales ... n-de-19809
Goetsch-Winkler hybrid:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mishpo/3840835268/
Samara drawings specifying brick driveway:
http://www.samara-house.org/house3.htm
Auldbrass with crushed red gravel:
http://www.peterbeers.net/interests/flw ... dbrass.htm
Our house drawings (Lamberson) show a gravel drive and court, but it is not clear from the drawings what he intended for the surface under the carport. Presently, we have blacktop for the drive, and concrete (appears to be original) under the carport...
Gravel, concrete (continuous surface?) in Usonian carports
I recall reading somewhere that Wright prefered gravel to hard paving of driveways with concrete or asphalt. Paving in carports can be problematic: the cars always move in about the same spots and can compact the paving causing ruts in stone or asphalt...stone is easy to rake, asphalt is a problem; concrete in residential carports often cracks in cold climates...not sure why, but inadequate slab thickness, drainage, or reinforcing, probably play a part; cars are also quite incontinent, fluid stains on gravel are easily raked, the same stains on red tinted concrete could be harmful to the finish.
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Paul Ringstrom
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Roderick Grant
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Paul, I saw that episode, too. Looks like the best of both techniques: the look of gravel with the stability of asphalt ... without the ugly black showing.
I cannot believe FLW ever intended more than one material to be used from street to carport, gravel being the prefered material, asphalt, never. But that's the sort of detail many clients and builders may not have appreciated. The disadvantage of gravel is that it required constant tending.
I cannot believe FLW ever intended more than one material to be used from street to carport, gravel being the prefered material, asphalt, never. But that's the sort of detail many clients and builders may not have appreciated. The disadvantage of gravel is that it required constant tending.
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news- ... uage=en-US
Could be healthy for one's spiritual path?...
Could be healthy for one's spiritual path?...
The Bedford HousePaul Ringstrom wrote:I saw an episode of This Old House where they laid a asphalt drive and covered it in gravel and rolled it into the warm surface. It created the nice look of a gravel drive with a more solid base and most likely easier to snow plow.
David
Peterm,
We are fortunate that Dobkins never changed the original #57 gravel. He had it installed in 1954, and of course maintained it all those years. We have continued to add to it from time to time as well.
We love the look...from the apron, down the drive, to the forecourt, flowing right into the carport.
It acts as one large French drain.
Wright was right again!
We are fortunate that Dobkins never changed the original #57 gravel. He had it installed in 1954, and of course maintained it all those years. We have continued to add to it from time to time as well.
We love the look...from the apron, down the drive, to the forecourt, flowing right into the carport.
It acts as one large French drain.
Wright was right again!
If "down" is the literal condition at Dobkins, dtc, is there any problem of migration of the gravel, from above to below ?
I've never been intimate with a property paved with gravel so can't speak to its issues under various conditions and through the seasons -- but a gravel drive has always seemed a mark of distinction to me -- a luxury, no doubt ? The only drive, in any event, to provide its own unique and delightful "musical" accompaniment to an arrival ?
As a novice Wrightian -- so green that I wasn't aware of a Wright residence in my own home town -- the first sight of the property, with its pink granite gravelled drive, was a wondrous surprise -- likely my introduction to the seductive material reality of his work.
On a more mundane note, the interface between gravel paving (is that the right word ?) and surrounding lawn has a troubling quality; I'm trying to recall the most satisfactory solution to this boundary condition. Stone curbing ? Too "formal" for a Usonian, perhaps. Brick curb ? A row of stones would have to be awfully well done to convince. Never a row of railroad ties, unless perhaps on the up-hill side of a sloping site ? And what to contain the opposite verge ?
Perhaps the gravel must be treated as though it were a form of waterway, contained between slightly raised banks of grassy soil and/or ground cover ? If the drive must be level with the lawn, I guess a minimally-seen but sturdy metal divider must separate the two materials . . . ?
SDR
I've never been intimate with a property paved with gravel so can't speak to its issues under various conditions and through the seasons -- but a gravel drive has always seemed a mark of distinction to me -- a luxury, no doubt ? The only drive, in any event, to provide its own unique and delightful "musical" accompaniment to an arrival ?
As a novice Wrightian -- so green that I wasn't aware of a Wright residence in my own home town -- the first sight of the property, with its pink granite gravelled drive, was a wondrous surprise -- likely my introduction to the seductive material reality of his work.
On a more mundane note, the interface between gravel paving (is that the right word ?) and surrounding lawn has a troubling quality; I'm trying to recall the most satisfactory solution to this boundary condition. Stone curbing ? Too "formal" for a Usonian, perhaps. Brick curb ? A row of stones would have to be awfully well done to convince. Never a row of railroad ties, unless perhaps on the up-hill side of a sloping site ? And what to contain the opposite verge ?
Perhaps the gravel must be treated as though it were a form of waterway, contained between slightly raised banks of grassy soil and/or ground cover ? If the drive must be level with the lawn, I guess a minimally-seen but sturdy metal divider must separate the two materials . . . ?
SDR
Congratulations!dtc wrote:Peterm,
We are fortunate that Dobkins never changed the original #57 gravel. He had it installed in 1954, and of course maintained it all those years. We have continued to add to it from time to time as well.
We love the look...from the apron, down the drive, to the forecourt, flowing right into the carport.
It acts as one large French drain.
Wright was right again!
So, the size of #57 is somewhere between a nickel and a quarter? Is yours red-pink or grey?
Also, do the edges just fade into the surrounding landscape or are there neatly defined borders created by some sort of edging or curb?
Is any portion of your drive steep?
To address some of SDR's questions about gravel drives I contribute the following:
1. Gravel is migratory, even with the very shallow slope of the Sweeton drive. A normal South Jersey summer sees about 9" of rain; this summer we have had a whopping 25" to date, much of it from downpours. A shallow swale which drains the yard west of the house (much of it roof water) flows to the drive, as does the majority of the runoff from the carport and living room roofs, turning the drive into a stream. I believe I have a wheelbarrow load of fine red gravel to shovel up from the parking lot to the west of the house so far.
2. Edging: I installed aluminum spikes and edge strip down to a depth of about 5" at the primeter of the drive and court to minimize stone in the grass and roots in the drive. The grass and other flora are slowly overhanging the edging and softening the edge which was a bit harsh when first installed. Weeds are inevitable.
1. Gravel is migratory, even with the very shallow slope of the Sweeton drive. A normal South Jersey summer sees about 9" of rain; this summer we have had a whopping 25" to date, much of it from downpours. A shallow swale which drains the yard west of the house (much of it roof water) flows to the drive, as does the majority of the runoff from the carport and living room roofs, turning the drive into a stream. I believe I have a wheelbarrow load of fine red gravel to shovel up from the parking lot to the west of the house so far.
2. Edging: I installed aluminum spikes and edge strip down to a depth of about 5" at the primeter of the drive and court to minimize stone in the grass and roots in the drive. The grass and other flora are slowly overhanging the edging and softening the edge which was a bit harsh when first installed. Weeds are inevitable.