The house incorporates most of the familiar Wright features: a carport rather than a garage, an open living plan with the dining area flowing into the living room, indirect lighting, built-in cabinets and bookshelves, small bedrooms and baths. The house has modular cast-concrete tile walls, inside and out, above-ground 4-by-4-foot-square concrete slab floors, embedded with hot water pipes that produce radiant heat. Much of the furniture is built in to fit the house, and wide windows offer views of the landscape.
The roof is suspended over interior walls by clerestory windows. Corner windows are mitered glass, and the ceiling continues in an unbroken line from the inside of the house to the exterior.
Wright made some design concessions for the Browns. He designed the living room to accommodate Ann Brown's two small grand pianos; Ann taught piano, and used one piano for herself and one for her students.
The 19-foot-long galley-type kitchen is larger than most in Wright homes. Wright gave Ann a choice of having kitchen windows or more cabinets, and Ann chose cabinets. She also wanted space for a washer and dryer in the kitchen area.
Lengthening his usual compact Usonian design to 130 feet, the architect also added a bedroom and bath for Ann's father on the end opposite the carport. The room's elaborately designed ceiling has a chapel-like quality, perhaps intentional because Ann's father was a minister.
When Wright added the father's room and bath, he also added a maid's room and tiny half-bath. The Browns used the maid's room as quarters for a college student, who provided baby-sitting and household help in exchange for room and supper. Curtis and Kathy use it now as a small guest room.
The maid's room is the only one in the house with a flat roof. It also is the only room that does not look out over the lake.
Wright designed one spacious room for the Browns' three sons to use for sleeping, playing and studying instead of the three small bedrooms he originally planned. Two sets of bunk beds were installed in one corner of the room, which the Browns called the playroom. The Curtis-Smiths stored the beds, and Curtis uses this space as his office.
Curtis and Kathy brought a china cabinet, antique marbletop table, Javanese table and a grand piano into the house. Most of the other furniture — including the dining room table, coffee table, modular couches and hassocks — was designed by Wright and came with the house.
The couple was delighted with the house and its spaciousness, but there was work to be done. The house was 50 years old and little had changed.
Major renovations included a new roof, furnace and boiler. Lighting was upgraded throughout. They installed a skylight in the kitchen and LED lights above the kitchen counter and brought in a new refrigerator, double-drawer dishwasher, four-burner gas stove, microwave oven and washer and dryer.
"Yes, the remodeling and appliances were expensive, and there were unique challenges, but that's par for the course for Wright houses. And we think it is worth it," Kathy said.
An 86-foot-long hallway with 48 feet of closets along the walls is one unique feature of the house. Curtis pointed out piano hinges on doors and other cupboards throughout the house.
Bunk Beds With Couch On The Bottom
ReplyDeleteThere are many kinds of bunk beds, and these beds for kids can easily be used to enhance the look of their room, add more space, and complete the interior design of their bedroom. It is important that you know what to look for when shopping for beds for your kids.