Robert visits Frank Lloyd Wright's Gordon House

[@mojodojo5533]

Thanks for posting this. Really enjoyed watching it.

[@NocturneVid66]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@Skashoon]

Every one of his styles are one-of-a-kind, from the smallest to the largest. I’ve seen all of his houses in Illinois, (including the ones he did on the side) and Taliessen West. Still want to see as many as I can. I take my time when going through each one. The joinery, nooks and views from several perspectives. Each has a life of its own. I was lucky that two of his designs were built near my house in Rockford, Illinois. One of his last was finished after his death. It was built for a handicapped man and I passed it everyday while attending college. The second is a small mausoleum in Belvedere, Illinois just east of Rockford. I’d like to someday visit his designs in Wisconsin and of course, Fallingwater. Would have loved to visit the Imperial hotel he built in Japan. Sadly, it was destroyed. He even designed the dinnerware for it. Some relics survive to this day. From his ‘Art glass to his statues, his genius was apparent. When I see comments from some small-minded people, who know nothing of his style, concepts and imagination, it disgusts me. The kitchens were built for utilitarian purposes, not some lavish chef’s home, bedrooms were for sleeping, not some romper room for the elite to lounge about. His designs focused on form follows function. Especially his Prairie style homes, fitting into the landscape, preserving and following nature’s lines. He despised window coverings, so he created Art glass to provide filtered light, while preserving privacy. He loathed salt-box Victorian houses built in a box style with several walls and cut-up spaces. His design was to open a room and direct the observers gaze to a focal point, inside or outside the house. Compression and Expansion was a concept he used to showcase the grandeur of the room. It can be seen in his home and studio in Oak Park, IL. One goes through a long, low and narrow tunnel hallway to enter the playroom which is massive. Art glass skylights allow a filtered light to illuminate the entire house. There is a gantry level walkway supported by counter-weights. The entire house embraces the huge Gingko tree in front. Even fireplace grates were specially designed to follow his format. Many of his designs also set on a 30 degree angle from NW to SE. This allowed the most light to enter the house throughout the day. Every detail was considered from the simplest to the most magnificent. Nothing was overlooked. Those students at Taliessen West lived outside the main compound and were required to design and build their living quarters in the desert. Some fantastic tiny homes were built by his students over time. Study his life and work and you begin to see the brilliance of the man. Yes, he had his faults, and was indeed a scalawag, but what he brought to architecture at the time, radically altered the future and transformed the art.

[@NocturneVid66]

Thanks for the great comments!

[@DarioCruz92]

Thank you for sharing. I'll have to visit this place when I'm in Oregon.

[@NocturneVid66]

It is well worth the visit.

[@joanscott9323]

Thank you very much for a very nice video!!! I like how you give a wealth of information and wonderful photos, along with the drawings etc! I really appreciate, too, how you give a diverse collection of specifics, and your narration is really nice!!! For those of us who enjoy His work, but are not experts, your narration gives a great overview, and lots of information to explore!!

[@NocturneVid66]

Thank you Joan. I always was concerned that the video was too talky, and it put people off. It's good to hear that the narration was appreciated.

[@MrMorokiatt]

You did a great job showing the house. Thanks!

[@wddub9075]

Oh my gosh!! They moved the entire house? Real skill to dismantle and rebuild the entire structure in a new location. Wow

[@NocturneVid66]

I suspect it was just the second floor and other wood bits. The foundation and masonry are new.

[@davidpierce5594]

@@NocturneVid66 Yes, it was only the entire second floor that was moved. See video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGO6f56ZlKxsask It took them 3 days to move it at about 3-4 miles an hour around 26 miles from it's original location. Only the cement slab and the concrete block on the first floor are (perfect) reproductions. Everything else, glass, wood, fixtures, etc. are original. It was quite the task to dismantle, catalog, number, pack, move, then re-install it all. The house had to be off the property in less than 90 days. (D.P. - Vice President of the Gordon House Conservancy and docent)

[@SteveWille]

Robert… if you are ever in Wisconsin, I’d recommend trying to stay at FLW’s Seth Peterson Cottage. It is far simpler/smaller than the Gordon House, but staying in a FLW house for a night will give you a new perspective on his work. My lasting impression, having stayed there now many years ago, is that Wright’s spaces demand a certain “surrender” on the part of the occupant. I can only describe it as a kind of zero-sum game being played between Wright and the occupant.

[@NocturneVid66]

Steve, I'd love to stay a night at the Peterson cottage. I think it was William Wesley Peters who said it packs more architecture per square foot than any other building he could think of.

[@haroldjones9321]

Carport steel pipe supports easily remedied by replacement rectangular columns of the same block construction. Just continue the cantilevered effect to the rectangular columns of cement block. Horizontal and vertical aspects are preserved.

[@davidpierce5594]

Wright wanted the carport roof to have a more "floating" appearance and thus used steel pipe supports. They have angled metal decorative elements on them that repeat the 15 degree angle of the design of the fretwork. (D.P. - Vice President of the Gordon House Conservancy and docent)

[@wildcolonialman]

Excellent.

[@NocturneVid66]

Thank you, Simon.

[@wddub9075]

Oh my gosh. There’s almost always a sense of simplicity and efficiency in FLW design But those perforated windows look like a nightmare to clean.

[@NocturneVid66]

I have seen some designs where the window is a bottom-hinged awning type that swings down inside the house for ventilation or cleaning. The perforated plywood remains stationary.

[@davidpierce5594]

wddub9075 - Indeed it is . . . on both the inside and outside! (D.P. - Vice President of the Gordon House Conservancy and docent)

[@davidpierce5594]

@@NocturneVid66 If only! The fretwork is an immovable single unit comprised of a single pane of glass with routed out word on both the inside and outside, thus making cleaning difficult on BOTH sides.

[@NocturneVid66]

I'm sure Usonian owners could tell us a lot about which vacuum attachment works best.

[@davidpierce5594]

@@NocturneVid66 Specifically the ones that work best for getting spiders and their webs out of the fretwork :)

[@bobmitchell8012]

He was not “probably “ Americas greatest architect, he WAS the WORLDS Greatest Architect......Period.

[@NocturneVid66]

I agree Bob.

[@helenfajardo810]

Pinakagusto ko semple lang ,maraming halaman 🙏😇

[@rogercotman1314]

Beautiful presentation ............. car ports were FLR's style ............ the steel poles, used there, do seem to detract from the richness of the house ...............

[@NocturneVid66]

I didn't find them too obtrusive. They give an illusion of the entire carport roof is floating in air.

[@jamesmcinnis208]

@@NocturneVid66 I know what he means. Not necessarily obtrusive but from the perspective of today almost cheap looking in comparison to the rest of the house.

[@davidpierce5594]

Wright was the "inventor" of the carport. He said your car was not a horse and it didn't need a 'barn.' You simply needed a roof over your car to protect it. Also, Wright didn't like garages (nor basements or attics) as they just added to construction costs and they just collected stuff! (D.P. - Vice President of the Gordon House Conservancy and docent)

[@rogercotman1314]

@@davidpierce5594 I liked, "'..... just collected stuff!" ......................

[@glennmartin6492]

Can Lego make a set where you can assemble Usonian houses?

[@glennmartin6492]

So many designs with a wide flat roof overhang with a stepped up central section. Look at the hat Wright is wearing at 0.39 sec. Coincidence? I think not.

[@NocturneVid66]

The famous pork-pie hat.

[@MigaMotors]

Nice video, Robert. Do you know what the external cinder block color is? How carefully did FLW control color such as that?

[@NocturneVid66]

It had a coat of paint when I saw it. The paint color was beige. The Brandes house in Washington has blocks from tinted concrete; they are a pale pink.

[@MigaMotors]

@@NocturneVid66 Thanks. I was just wondering if FLW had a specific color scheme for the exteriors as he did for the (red) interior floors, etc.

[@NocturneVid66]

I think Mr. Wright's preference was for a natural-colored block, but often a coloring agent like Colorundum would be added to the mix. I think many customers painted the block houses after his death so the walls would have a better moisture seal.

[@davidpierce5594]

Wright specified the color for the house. It was repainted after the move as it has sat empty for a number of years and was in bad shape. The paint color had to match the original EXACTLY. It's somewhat a "peachy beige" color. Wright specified the floors be the Cherokee Red he dearly loved. (D.P. - Vice President of the Gordon House Conservancy and docent)

[@jimcrawford3185]

​@@davidpierce5594 Too much red

[@wernerdanler2742]

Why did you not go upstairs?

[@NocturneVid66]

I did and there are still photos in one of my 2 videos of the Gordon House.

[@NocturneVid66]

I have some upstairs shots in my slideshow video of the Gordon House. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oGWnYWyanc9mgdE

[@MrFirdyboy]

Thanks

[@baronsilva8927]

was that a KFC chicken bucket? 0:20

[@NocturneVid66]

They obviously stole the design from Wright.

[@rolo6932]

Mark Twain was right, Baron, "It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt”

[@NocturneVid66]

@@rolo6932 Perhaps you'll like this great video better than mine. kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6OyYouYpq6tfc0

[@rolo6932]

@@NocturneVid66 I`ve seen it! Thank you so much!

[@modelleg]

I'd put bollards in front of those carport pipe columns. ...just saying.

[@ozzietadziu]

If you had to spend any amount of time in that kitchen, you wouldn't think that it is NOT claustrophobic.

[@NocturneVid66]

Felix, the kitchen ceiling is a huge skylight 16 feet up; it never felt confining to me.

[@ozzietadziu]

@@NocturneVid66 Not everyone is sensitive to confined surroundings. When I visited the Gordon House 3 years ago, the first thing I noticed when entering the kitchen was the lack of a window to the outside. I felt like a rat entering a very stylish trap.

[@NocturneVid66]

That's understandable. Felix, my only bout of claustrophobia was ducking to enter the stairwell. Our 5'-6" guide was the only member of the tour who didn't need to duck down. . Perhaps Mr Wright could have put some clerestory windows where the kitchen mass projects above the Living room roof. I think that would conflict with the monumental look of the masonry masses Mr. Wright was going for. I'm sure if the customer had asked nicely enough, he would have done so.

[@ozzietadziu]

@@NocturneVid66 I wonder just how much client suggestions would be tolerated by FLW. These were Usonian houses, designed to be affordable, and Mr. Wright, considering his high opinion of his time and talent would spend too much energy on tinkering with his plans.

[@jeffreyanderson1851]

@@NocturneVid66 Wright would have ignored any client requests. Period. His only concerns were with the aesthetics. His houses are masterpieces and his history is populated with several disillusioned and unhappy clients, some of whom never even moved in. 🙄😱