Sturges house exterior

LFWrightFan · Post by **LFWrightFan** » Mon Sep 23, 2013 7:57 pm

For those who are interested how Sturges house is looking these days, at least from the outside.

http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=1254967 ... d%20Wright

dleach · Post by **dleach** » Mon Sep 23, 2013 8:15 pm

Not too good. What's going on?

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Mon Sep 23, 2013 8:22 pm

Really? It looks pretty good to me. The brick appears to be in fine condition, and the cantilevers are not sagging...
Only a bit of wear to the rough sawn redwood.

It might have been recently sanded and oiled...

dleach · Post by **dleach** » Mon Sep 23, 2013 9:24 pm

Not to be argumentative but, the wood is what I'm talking about. It looks to me like it has been recently neglected.

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Mon Sep 23, 2013 10:39 pm

Early image of Sturges by Pedro Guerrero:
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/ ... otogra.php

dleach · Post by **dleach** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 8:53 am

Perhaps you are right, Peter. I thought that I remembered a photo in a book I have that showed the Sturges wood siding varnished, a la Reisley. We are traveling at this time (Yellowstone today, Jackson tomorrow) so I can't research it.
In a brief online session last night all photos showed the siding as in your photo. How has that wood lasted all this time without better protection, even in California?

Roderick Grant · Post by **Roderick Grant** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 11:37 am

Jack Larson has owned the house for over 40 years. When he first bought it, the house was virtually black on the exterior and painted orange inside. The trellis over the balcony was sagging badly. The originally specified 2x12 beams that extend from the brick wall all the way out to the trellis were unavailable, so one-by boards of varying length were cobbled together (see Selected Houses 6, pg 138), and over the years began to fail. Jack hired Lautner do a major restoration job on it, including tucking some structural steel discreetly into the sagging trellis.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 7:42 pm

My favorite weathered (and sun-raked) view of the house -- a photo by Simon Clay published in 1999:

Another more civilized image -- no data:

Tom Ploch photo, published 1993:

John · Post by **John** » Wed Sep 25, 2013 12:37 pm

Is this the least-visited FLLW house?

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Wed Sep 25, 2013 12:47 pm

I would seriously doubt that. Do you mean drive/walk by, or interior tours?
L.A. is a major destination for architecture fans from all over the world. It is also right around the corner from the A. Quincy Jones Crestview Hills.

Our house, for example, is in Oskaloosa, Iowa!...

DRN · Post by **DRN** » Wed Sep 25, 2013 12:53 pm

peterm: Despite your house's "remoteness" I'm sure you've encountered some FLW enthusiasts, haven't you?

Reidy · Post by **Reidy** » Wed Sep 25, 2013 1:00 pm

Mathews in Atherton would seem to be the champion. Apparently no interior photos have ever been published.

John · Post by **John** » Wed Sep 25, 2013 3:45 pm

peterm wrote:I would seriously doubt that. Do you mean drive/walk by, or interior tours?
L.A. is a major destination for architecture fans from all over the world. It is also right around the corner from the A. Quincy Jones Crestview Hills.

Our house, for example, is in Oskaloosa, Iowa!...

I meant visits to the interior. I've seen some interior photos. I've taken some exterior photos.

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Wed Sep 25, 2013 4:25 pm

I see. It is possible that it has not often been open for tours. There was a great tour a few years back of some of the nearby Jones houses, but Sturges was not included...

DRN wrote:peterm: Despite your house's "remoteness" I'm sure you've encountered some FLW enthusiasts, haven't you?

Oh yes... a lot of drive bys, slowing down, with cameras out. Occasionally there is the brave one who will knock on the door...

I think if they drive all the way to Oskaloosa, I should at least answer it, no?

Reidy · Post by **Reidy** » Wed Sep 25, 2013 4:38 pm

Last public tour of Sturges that I heard of was in 1974, shortly after Bridges and Larson moved in. They got to the end of the first day and cancelled the second.