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robotropolis

Xpost fr Decor - Tour of new Usonian at Florida S College

robo (z6a)
9 years ago

Just got back from touring the "largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in the world" at Florida Southern College. FLW designed 12 buildings on campus and a fountain. He also designed a house for faculty housing that was never built. The college JUST built it in 2013 as close as possible to the original specs. It was so far out of code they couldn't include kitchen appliances or a bathtub so as to ensure no one would ever live there.

1300sf, 2 bed, 1 bath

Front of the house - you enter through the carport. The transom windows right at the top provide light to the central kitchen and bath.
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The same textile concrete blocks were used all over campus. Many of the blocks had stained glass inserted making the house spectacularly beautiful inside.
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Compress and release -- walk down the hallway at the back of this room into the light-filled greatroom. I found it interesting that you enter the house at front but are immediately guided right to the back. All reproduction (FLW spec) furniture.
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View as you come around corner of hallway
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Tiny kitchen, no windows, open shelving, piano hinges on the slab doors.
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From the greatroom, a small back hallway leads to a bath (right), seconday bedroom with closets lining hall (straight back) and master bedroom with closets lining hall (left)
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Transoms in bath and kitchen
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I have a sudden burning desire for a corner French door. That would be cheap, right?
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Small detail example -- the open shelves align with the blocks horizontally and their supports align vertically.
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A few more pics and some more architecture from the campus.

A VERY comprehensive blog I just found about building the house

This post was edited by robotropolis on Thu, Dec 18, 14 at 19:24

Comments (10)

  • User
    9 years ago

    Love the stained glass inserts. And FLW was a fine designer of furniture too. Look at the corner UP-light, and the ottoman cubes, which are probably storage cubes.

    I love the clerestory windows up high. I think transom windows open, but clerestory windows do not? Anyway, they let in a lot of light without compromising privacy.

    A corner french door pair is neat. I achieved the same effect inside, not on the exterior walls, when I replaced two bedroom doors that were at the end of a dark hallway of MoccasinLanding. I hung two 20-light single doors, one for each bedroom. They were at 90 degrees of one another. It let in so much light to my dark hallway. One room was my study (it measured 8 x 9) and the other was a guest room seldom used, and I hung sheers on that door. Loved the way it opened up the space. Then the hallway could be my art gallery. And, I painted the hall ceiling as blue sky with some clouds and a few seagulls.

  • robo (z6a)
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I love the idea of putting doors that allow light into a dark hallway!

    Our guide said the top windows could provide ventilation? But I don't know how you would possibly open them?

    The barrel chairs were surprisingly comfortable.

  • User
    9 years ago

    Thanks for cross posting this thread here, Robo.
    Yeah, I haven't looked up the definition of transom, as compared to clerestory, but both are up high, and it seems that transoms have the hinges to open inward. It would be interesting to find out how he (FLW) designed his to open. He liked long rows of those windows in his designs.

  • rosefolly
    9 years ago

    I've toured a several FLW houses, including the Usonian near Portland, Oregon. And I have also been to the campus at Florida Southern University. I keep trying to like them but I simply cannot. Clever, perhaps, and I can admire that; but they are completely lacking in all of the qualities that appeal to me in a house - warmth, grace, and and a sense of timelessness.

    Home for some perhaps, but not for me.

    Rosefolly

  • jakkom
    9 years ago

    Thanks for posting this. I love FLW and his Usonian houses! By any chance did this one have the dropped rangetop in the kitchen, completely lined in stainless? I was so impressed with that, I really wished I could duplicate that in our home. Even my DH, who isn't as much a FLW fan as I am, thought that was a terrific idea.

    Such an interesting precursor to Mid-Century Modern. I think my whole (amateur) interest in architecture and interior design comes from a tour of the Robie House when I was a kid. I looked up at the indirect cove lighting using early fluorescent tube lights and thought, "Wow, that is AMAZING!" What a difference from the "one single fixture in the middle of the ceiling" that all our apartments had, back in the '50's and '60's.

    The Robie House is a multi-level urban home. There are no window coverings, because none are needed. The window glass is slightly angled, and there are built-in brick "awnings" integrated into the design. Nobody can see in, even at night!

    I really love how he used woodgrain as part of the overall design. A brilliant, brilliant man. If you ever visit Chicago, there are several FLW tours, including the Oak Park area where many of his designs remain.

  • jakabedy
    9 years ago

    I've toured several FLW Usonian houses, as well as several of the larger homes. I love them all. I appreciate the beautiful simplicity. While some might find the Usonians stark, keep in mind that the focus was on the main, typically open living/dining area. Kitchens and baths were utilitarian. Bedrooms, too, were small and fitted with built-ins to simplify what was meant to be only a sleeping chamber (some with desks for private study). But the living/dining areas are open, bright, hearth-centered -- often with a particular "spot" for a piano. They're meant as gathering places for friends and family. This is something that gets lost in modern homes with various "wings" and little living rooms and game rooms for various individual members of the family.

  • User
    9 years ago

    You know, a couple of years ago I got a neat book titled LIFE AT HOME IN THE 21ST CENTURY. It looked at the homes of 32 people and studied them as an archaeologist would. Where the favorite gathering spots were, where the personal objects were clustered, where the cooking and eating were done, and so on.

    I put the link to it below, where you might check it out. Jakabedy, I think you especially might find it interesting. Your post above has elements which echo what I read in that book. It is packed up now (until after the remodel) but it is one that I plan to keep and refer to as time goes by.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Book: LIFE AT HOME IN THE 21ST CENTURY

  • Shades_of_idaho
    9 years ago

    Love his designs. I also need to add glass doors to the hallway bedrooms and even the bath. As long as I am at it I might as well do the master too so they all match but we rarely close the master door.

    The little stained glass inserts are fantastic.

  • User
    9 years ago

    Oh my, shades...had not thought of your colored glass in the interior doors. That would be beautiful.

  • Shades_of_idaho
    9 years ago

    Well with all the stained glass down the hallway wall I would probably leave the doors plain.

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