Wright Chat

Noticed the collector quality magazines on the coffee table ... something I wouldn't leave lying around with crowds of visitors. To whom do they belong?

Interesting, Rood. Perhaps they are reprints ? The cover of the Forum (?) is glossier than I would have expected.

Thanks, David. I didn't realize there were as many as ten Wright houses subject to possible moves. Can we name them ?

Another slab-related flaw, and not one any architect would have countenanced: the three low risers to the front door are battered back at a considerable angle. Anyone designing steps knows that risers should be vertical if not actually recessed -- to prevent tripping, by leaving room for the toe of the user's shoe. Perhaps very low risers are exempt from this consideration ?

SDR

SDR - not sure where my brain came up with 10, but I do know of 7 (if you count Pope as two times).

Wright homes that have been (successfully) moved:

- Stockman
- Duncan
- Arnold Jackson
- Gordon
- Pope (twice)
- Bachman-Wilson

(if anyone can think of any others, please add to the list)


David

SDR wrote:
Another slab-related flaw, and not one any architect would have countenanced: the three low risers to the front door are battered back at a considerable angle. Anyone designing steps knows that risers should be vertical if not actually recessed -- to prevent tripping, by leaving room for the toe of the user's shoe. Perhaps very low risers are exempt from this consideration ? SDR

One characteristic of these wide steps is that anyone approaching or leaving the door will typically navigate the steps at an angle, not head-on. It's one of the advantages of low risers and wide steps ... When approached at an angle t's not necessary to slow down or shorten your stride. Having said that I'd agree the battering is unnecessary, and potentially dangerous.

I have many such steps on my terraces, and almost always negotiate them at an angle

Delightful. Anecdotal evidence like this the architect should have readily available, in order to design well. Not everything can be found on the pages of (Architectural) Graphic Standards. . . yet !

I have written before about the broad stride one can enjoy while negotiating such steps. I guess that is best experienced on the bias, as you suggest. How about when approaching a stop -- like an entrance door. One isn't loping then . . .

SDR

The 1974 edition of Storrer's catalog says that the River Forest Tennis Club was moved in 1920.

Hmm. I guess there were several removals during the early period. Wasn't a Lake Delavan cottage moved ?

SDR

The ad-hoc committee on Lamp House includes dear friends of mine, but I liked the idea that was put forward at one point by the apartment developer, Apex, to make the refurbished Lamp House a landscaped club house or guest house for the project, a social gathering place for meetings and cocktail parties for the tenants (or reservable by the tenants) and possibly a hostel for one or two overnight guests of tenants. Make it a special place that everyone could share, buy into and enjoy as a special perk of living there.

That's the kind of thinking that can save a building from irrelevance and destruction . . .

SDR

Could the Mosher House be marginally considered as a "Moved House"? The original design was for a site near the Willits house north of Chicago. Mr. Mosher worked for Mr. Willits. He changed jobs and brought the plans with him to Wellington, Ohio. There is anecdotal information that part of the house was delivered to the new site on a train.

Storrer has determined the Mosher house to be by the hand of Mr. Wright. The end result was something far different from the original design. Is it a moved house?

Past owners to flavor Wright house


David

SDR, none of the Delavan houses have been moved, but the Walter Gerts Cottage in Whitehall, MI next to the lake was nudged to a part of the lot that accommodated a lower level double garage. The house was gutted and remodeled beyond recognition.

One problem with moving Lamp, as made apparent from Google Maps, is that it is in the process of being hemmed in so tightly that moving it will soon become next to impossible. There buildings from the south all the way around to the NW already, and construction going on in the SW area. It could be squeezed between two houses facing E. Mifflin St. with cooperation from the corner house, but otherwise it would have to be sliced up into narrow bits to fit through the narrow approach. Not reasonable. Depending on the current state of the construction site (one can never be sure how current Google Maps is), it would appear that, with cooperation, that would be the only avenue of escape.

Frank Lloyd Wright house reborn at Crystal Bridges


David

Frank Lloyd Wright House Opens at Crystal Bridges


David

BWCB 15•10•15 Tarantino - [3:48]


David