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Fawcett House Photos

California, For Sale Comments Off

Nov 072011

Here is a website with a few photos of the Fawcett House in Los Banos, California. The Fawcett House is one of the truly great usonian designs. The house is on 80 acres and includes a walnut orchard.

The home is for sale (asking $1,750,000) and the website for the house has a stunning collection of photos of the interior and exterior, a floorplan, and “The Fawcett House: A Memoir”, based on an interview with the home’s original owner.

The Fawcett Home is a reminder that, even as he worked on the high-profile Guggenheim Museum, Wright continued to design innovative, magical homes for all of his clients, not just the famous and rich ones.

There’s a Line Between “Marketing” and “Being a Jackass”. Guess Which Side of That Line This Guy is On.

Audio & Video, California, News, Opinion, Really? Comments Off

Oct 132011

The filmmaker behind the documentary Romanza, the California Structures Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright uncovered a trove of Wright-related items: “a group of never before seen artifacts that are sure to excite not only Frank Lloyd Wright fans, but electrify the imagination of the general public as well” (sic — hyphens my friends, use ‘em).

Do we know what they are?

Nope.

When will we see them?

At the premiere of Romanza, the California Structures Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

If Michael Miner discovered significant artifacts, good for him. If he wants to reveal them at a press conference in room festooned with posters for the film, force the reporters to sit through a preview of his film and regale them with the tale of tragedy and perseverance that was the making Romanza before revealing the astounding stuff he found — fine, he earned it. Yell it from a rooftop, take a victory lap or three. Be proud, push your movie, be a salesman.

But don’t taunt and tease. Don’t be a jerk.

Here’s the press release from the California Council of the AIA (who should be ashamed):

blockquoteRecently Discovered Frank Lloyd Wright Artifacts to be Unveiled Following World Premiere of New Wright Film

OCTOBER 12, 2011 BY AIACC LEAVE A COMMENT LOS ANGELES, CA — Michael Miner, Producer/Director of the new Frank Lloyd Wright Documentary “Romanza, the California Structures Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright” has announced the discovery of a group of never before seen artifacts that are sure to excite not only Frank Lloyd Wright fans, but electrify the imagination of the general public as well. According to Miner, “We found them completely by accident while working on the new film, and not in a place you would expect. They aren’t related to the California buildings, but I know that Wright fans everywhere will be genuinely ecstatic by their existence. They are truly profound.” The World Premiere screening of Romanza will be held Friday, October 21, 2011 at 8pm at The Alex Theatre in Glendale, CA. After that, Miner embarks on a 6 month national lecture and screening tour and will be bringing along the collection of Wright pieces. He adds “ I know those attending the programs will want an up close look. Fans of Frank Lloyd Wright are very passionate.” Michael Miner is the writer and producer of two other Frank Lloyd Wright documentaries: “Sacred Spaces, the Houses of Worship designed by Frank Lloyd Wright” and “A Child of the Sun, the West Campus of Florida Southern designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.” “Romanza” is the third film in what will be a total of seven in the Wright series. General admission is 25.00 advance purchase, 30.00 day of event. Student admission is 15.00 with ID. All proceeds benefit the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Tickets can be purchased at the Alex box office in person or by phone (818) 243-2539 12 noon to 5 PM Friday thru Sunday. Or by internet anytime at alextheatre.org. Contact and booking info: Michael Miner flwchildofthesun@att.net 972-556-9684 About “Romanza” – In 1909, Frank Lloyd Wright designed a summer home for George and Emily Stewart in Montecito, California, Wright’s first California commission, and his only prairie school building in the state. Thus began a 50 year relationship between Wright and the Golden State, a relationship that would last until Wright’s death in 1959…and even beyond. Wright designed more than 80 projects for California, and saw more than 25 built. The buildings were both grand and modest, public and private, and came from each major era of Wright’s 7 decade long career. “Romanza”, the third Frank Lloyd Wright documentary from Writer/ Producer/Director Michael Miner, is the story of that relationship. With unprecedented access to every California Wright building, “Romanza” journeys all over the state, from the Los Angeles textile block houses famous for their appearances in dozens of Hollywood films, to Wright’s only San Francisco commission, a building which he designed as a “glass of champagne”, from the cinder block homes of the San Joaquin valley, to the “Ship’s prow” home on the beach of Carmel bay, from Wright’s contentious relationship with oil heiress Aline Barnsdall, to perhaps the most charming of all Frank Lloyd Wright stories, the design for a doghouse in response to a 12 year olds letter. We visit all 25 buildings, including the 3 California “legacy” projects, built long after Wright’s death. Also included is substantial material on Wright’s unbuilt California work, some of the most fantastically imaginative structures he ever designed. California. Although he was more prolific elsewhere, in no other place did Wright better demonstrate his passion for the beauty, the magic, and the wonder, of the art form that is architecture./blockquote

Buehler House For Sale

California, For Sale, News No Responses »

Sep 302011

The Buehler House is for sale. The asking price for the Bay area Usonian, built in 1948, is just short of $5 million.

The home is situated on an estate size (2.3) acre property in the prestigious community of Orinda, California (Easy Bay, very close to San Francisco) featuring two streams and extensive Japanese gardens designed by Henry Matsutani, designer of the Japanese Gardens at Golden Gate Park. This large home (over 4,300 s.f. in the main house) has two bedrooms, three baths, large TV/recreation/bonus room plus a wine tasting room. The large daylight basement is suitable for a variety of uses. The living space has been described as one of the most spectacular of this period in Frank Lloyd Wright’s work. Built of concrete block and redwood the house sits gracefully on its spectacular site with views of the koi pond and the extensive gardens. All original Wright-designed furniture and documentary information included in the purchase. The estate has just undergone an extensive restoration with no expense spared.

The condition of the house is, according to this article from the San Francisco Chronicle, astounding. After a fire in 1994 the home was restored by the same apprentice who oversaw the original construction. The house since fell into disrepair, and a recent round of restorations costing $500,000 has just been completed.

The authenticity of the house is protected by an easement granted to the Frank Lloyd Wright Conservancy, ensuring that the new owners will work with the conservancy on any changes to the home. The easements also ensure that the house will be open to public at least one day a year.

The website for the house includes a photographic tour, map and full details of the the property.

In 2003 The New York Times printed an article about the Buehlers and their house:

Today, Mrs. Buehler can often be found in the living room reading newspapers below a ceiling whose angle, rising from 6 feet to 14 1/2, brings to mind the thrust of the nearby Hayward fault. At night Mr. Buehler ambles out to his telescope on the patio or peers at the moon as it glows through stylized perforated windows. Even now, Mrs. Buehler said, ”the house is pretty conducive to feeling all is right with the world.”

When the house was built, she recalls, Wright arrived to inspect it in his cape, with a fob and a cane. Occasionally he banged on walls and furniture for emphasis. As they recall it, he told them, ”I’m happy to see you’re living in the house satisfactorily.”

Fifty-four years later, they still are.

Tour the Buehler House

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Jul 232011

The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy is offering a tour of the privately-owned Buehler House in Orinda, California on Saturday, July 30.

From the Conservancy website:

In 1948 Maynard and Katherine Buehler began construction on the house designed for a large property in Orinda, California. The land included striking contours, mature trees and two streams. Maynard Buehler, an inventor and business owner, required a large workshop. Wright designed the three bedroom house with one of the most dramatic living room spaces created for a Usonian. The octagonal room is covered by a square roof dramatically cantilevered off of columns encased in lapped redwood board that grow outward as the boards build on each other. The craftsmanship was initially exquisite and the home has just been completely restored to very high standards. The breathtaking gardens were designed by Henry Matusatani, designer for the Japanese Gardens at Golden Gate Park, with bridges over the streams. There are also several auxiliary buildings, including a greenhouse and tea house. Daytime tours include the house and immediate grounds. The entire garden will be open for the Saturday evening tour and reception with wine and appetizers served on the terrace.

Tickets are $125 including the reception, or $50 for only the tour.

Contact Deborah Vick at (415) 814-3126 or Dvick2@me.com for more information.

This site includes a virtual tour of the home, and a map of the house’s location.

The home will soon go on the market (the Buehlers, only owners have both died). When the house was badly damaged by fire in 1994, the Buehlers turned to Walter Olds, the apprentice who oversaw construction in 1948 to rebuild the house. The New York Times told the story of the house and its comeback after the fire in this 2003 article.

2004 Video of the Ennis House

Audio & Video, California, Restoration/Renovation Comments Off

Jul 192011

KCET has reposted a story on the Ennis House from 2004, including an interview with Eric Lloyd Wright and Franklin DeGroot It’s video footage we’ve all seen, but it’s footage we haven’t seen enough.

The house has been stabilized since this was filmed; the Ennis House Foundation has spent more than $5 million to stop the decay. Millions more is needed, but the new owner, Ron Burkle, has committed to restoring the house.

Ennis House Sold to Ron Burkle

California, For Sale, News Comments Off

Jul 162011

The Ennis House, on the market since 2009, has been sold for $4.5 million . The buyer is Ron Burkle, an investor (and part owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins), Burkle ranks as #347 on Forbes list of riches people in the world (that makes him as rich as George Lucas, richer than Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump, Mark Cuban and Stephen Spielberg).

Burkle has committed to continuing restorations; public access to the house for 12 days a year was granted by a conservation easement to the Los Angeles Conservancy.

Built in 1924 (the last of Wright’s four Myan-themed textile block houses), plagued by problems most of its life, the house was severely damaged in the 1994 earthquake and then by heavy rains in 2005. It made the Nation Register’s list of most endangered historic properties in 2005.

The Ennis House Foundation has spent millions on stabilization efforts. It placed the house on the market in 2009 for $15 million, lowered the price to $7.5 million and then to $6 million.

Link Dump

California, Iowa, Louis Sullivan, Pensylvania, Wisconsin 1 Response »

Jun 182011

Edgar Tafel’s gift

Article and nice collection of photos of Sullivan’s National Farmer’s Bank in Owatonna, Iowa.

Updates at Wright in Racine

A Marion Mahoney Griffith article by Alice T. Friedman — I didn’t have time to read this (remind me about it when I get back) but it looks seriously good. Great stuff for your Sunday morning.

A video tour of a “Suntop” house.

NYT visits Wright in LA.

What we missed at Wright and Like .

La Miniatura

California, For Sale Comments Off

Jun 062011

Speaking of the Wright real estate market (and Sunday Style sections)0, here’s an article from the Los Angles Times on La Miniatura (the Alice Millard House) in Pasadena, California:

“My eye had fallen on a ravine nearby in which stood two beautiful eucalyptus trees,” Wright later wrote. “The house would rise tall out of the ravine gardens.” The two eucalyptus trees are still there, forming a cathedral more than 100 feet high over a lily pond in the gully. As he envisioned it, “Balconies and retraces would lead down to the ravine from the front of the house.” The way the house is matched to its setting is often compared to Wright’s more famous Fallingwater, the Pennsylvania house poised over a waterfall. True to his word and his eye, in building the Millard house Wright created a landmark residence that belied his preference for the horizontal. It made a singular vertical impression, evoking a Maya monument rising from the jungle when viewed from the downhill side. The design exemplified Wright’s quest to find an indigenous American architecture following a six-year sojourn in Japan, and it signaled his continuing interest in the pre-Columbian culture of the Maya, an interest that dated to his work in Chicago a decade earlier. Vertical spaces created between exterior columns outline casement windows and doors, contributing to the building’s general upward thrust. The low ceilings so familiar to fans of Wright are here too, a challenge to anyone taller than 6 feet. Millard wanted an “old world” European elegance but allowed her architect to indulge his affinity for Maya-inspired decorative frieze and architectural massing — as long as she could add her own touches, visible today in the ornate fireplace screen in the living room, the carved Italian doors and the crouching stone lions guarding a covered walkway. Circulation in the house revolves around a central chimney, with the main entry at the middle level of three, and all three bedrooms in the main house stacked to face Prospect Crescent. Some would say the mezzanine, which provides passage to the master bedroom while overlooking the two-story-tall living room, offered a glimpse of the plan for the Guggenheim Museum 36 years later. The unorthodox layout is as intriguing as it is disorienting, causing some first-time visitors to lose track of where they are and how rooms relate to one another.

The Millard House is for sale, asking is just short of $5 million.

Yep, Still There

California, For Sale, News Comments Off

May 312011

One of my automated searches coughed up a six-month-old article on the Millard House in California (La Miniatura).

I’ll just note that more than six months later, nothing more has been heard from the mysterious foreign buyers who planned to move the house to another country.

I’m so tempted to write “I told you so”.

Fixing Up the Hollyhock House

California, Events, News, Restoration/Renovation No Responses »

May 062011

The third phase of restoration work on the Hollyhock House will begin after Memorial Day. The work is expected to take 18 months, and the tour schedule will be curtailed during that time .

For this round, to cost $4.3 million, much of the work is routine and will be invisible to the public, but it will protect the house from water damage in the future (the first two phases, completed in 2005 repaired damage from an earthquake in the mid-90s). Other work, while subtle, should warm the hearts of Wright fans:

Some of Hollyhock House’s geometrically patterned stained-glass windows will be sent out for special restorative cleaning, and the porch’s concrete floor, installed during a 1970s renovation, will be replaced by oak that matches the original 1921 floor trod by Wright’s client, Aline Barnsdall. The work list also includes repairing cracks in two fountains on the grounds, which could pave the way for them to be refilled with water for the first time in years — although Herr says that the entire project budget may be used up on the house itself, leaving it to future fundraising to provide for the fountains’ revival.

The money for the restoration comes from a variety of sources, including nearly half a million from the “Save America’s Treasures” program of the National Parks Service.

A private effort to restore the gardens and landscaping of the house will begin fundraising in June. The Friends of Hollyhock House will kickoff a $500,000 drive on June 10. Tickets can be purchsed on-line ($65), or bought at the door ($80). Eric Lloyd Wright is planning on attending the event.

“Having the gardens restored would give Hollyhock House back its curb appeal,” Herr said, especially the drive-up area called the Motor Court. “It’s now a sort of hideous piece of blacktop. Plantings would give it a completely different feel.”

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