James Ingraham Clark Residence by Runnells Clark Waugh and Matsumoto Architects

Name: James Ingraham Clark Residence
Architect: Runnells Clark Waugh and Matsumoto Architects
James Ingraham Clark, Project Designer
Year Designed: circa 1947-48
Builder: Don Drummond
Year Completed: circa 1948
Size: Unknown
Location: Leawood, Kansas
(Greater Kansas City Area)
Type: Residential
Style: Modern
Status: Good
Photographer: Gene Hook
Photos scanned from and article excerpted from: The American House Today : 85 Notable Examples Selected and Evaluated by Katherine Morrow Ford and Thomas H. Creighton, Reinhold, 1951, pp 134-135

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

Built for one of the partners in an architectural firm, this house of the James Ingraham Clarks is planned carefully for expansion as the family grows. It turns away from the street – originally a quite thoroughfare which has since became much more busy, partly because people come to see the house – and faces towards the south and southeast on a sloping site which ends in a wooded creek bed. When the house was built there was one child; now there are two, and family plans are for two more. Hence it was desired that the house could grow both in bedroom accommodations and in living space. Facing the street is a “core” which will not change: utility rooms, kitchens, laundry and garage. Past these rooms as one enters the house is a living room which is at present reasonably large, but certainly not oversized. In the future, as the plan indicates, this room will be extended, and even may have a porch on the end as a final expansion. The solution to the addition of bedrooms is made possible by a steep drop of fifteen feet in the site at the point where the bedroom wing breaks from the main house. Under the present two bedrooms there is now an open terraced space which, can, when the family has grown, be converted into a lower bedroom floor with three rooms. Mr. Clark is thoroughly objective about the value or lack of value of a number of ideas that went in the house. Orientation for sun control, studied mathematically, has worked out excellently. Plans to use a certain amount of site prefabrication – panels constructed on the property and raised into place – did not work so well, because of unfamiliarity of the available labor with this system. There is “nearly too much: storage space in cupboards, drawers and shelves. These are minor troubles, however. In general the dry-wall construction, the acoustic ceilings, the efficient kitchen layout, and the orientation have worked very well.

RUNNELLS, CLARK, WAUGH & MATSUMOTO, ARCHITECTS

Before You Buy a House by John Hancock Callender

Back in 2004, co-blogger Scott and I went to California to visit with Don Drummond at his home in Carmel, California. After an entire day of chatting about his years building Modern homes in Kansas City, he began to look for some old magazines and books about his projects in KC. He took us to a hall closet, which had some of his wife's books on design and there was this book with the Revere Homes from Prairie Village, KS on the cover. It was called, Before You Buy a House, by John Hancock Callender. My heart skipped a beat with excitement when I saw it. Seeing my enthusiasm, Don offered to give me the book. I resisted the tempting offer, suggesting that he give it to one of his children or grandchildren instead. I did except his offer on another fabulous book, but that is a story for another day. Ironically, I found the same book on the shelf of Stephen Ritchings, another Mid-Century Modern enthusiast and friend in California later that same weekend. Making note of the title, I immediately ordered a couple copies of this rare title from used book sellers upon my arrival back home.

This has proven to be one my favorite titles in my extensive vintage architecture book collection. It has early 1950's homes by many of the great house designers and builders of the time. Most notably. there is extensive coverage of the early Eichler homes by Anshen and Allen and Jones and Emmons in California. Also of note are homes in Hollin Hills, Alexandria, VA by Architect, Charles M. Goodman and Builder, Robert C. Davenport. Closer to home, there are projects in Arapahoe Acres, Denver, CO by Architect, Eugene R. Sternberg and Builder, Edward B. Hawkins.

The book is titled Before You Buy a House: How to Judge, How to Value, How to Decide by John Hancock Callender and authorized by the Architectural League of New York and the Southwest Research Institute. Published by Crown Publishing, New York in 1953.
160 pages, 34 Houses and developments, 211 black-and-white photographs, drawings, and plans, and an Evaluation Checklist prepared by The Housing Research Foundation.

Because some of these homes will be on the upcoming KCMODERN Runnells Modern House Tour I thought I would share this book with you. Here are the pages from the book pertaining to the Revere Home by Architect, David B. Runnells and Builder, Donald H. Drummond.

Eero Saarinen Shaping the Future - Exhibition in St. Louis

Three members of KCMODERN headed off to St. Louis this past weekend to see the exhibit, Eero Saarinen Shaping the Future at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. It was an exceptionally well curated show. My personal favorites were the GM and the Deere headquarters. The Modern furniture lover in me enjoyed the section on his furniture including the Organic Chair and the classic Knoll pieces such as the womb chair and the pedestal or "tulip" series. I recommend that anyone interested in Modern architecture or furniture should try to see the show before it closes on April 27, 2009. Otherwise you will have to catch it in New York in late 2009 early 2010. Also be sure to check out the book by the same name.

We also met up with a few Modern friends to tour some great Modern neighborhoods (thanks Dan, Grant, Nathan and Neil) and were surprised by some spontaneous invites into several really sweet Modern houses. We will take turns elaborating on the houses in the near future.

Modern Houses of the World by Sherban Cantacuzino - Modern Illustration

I just love this Mid-Century Modern illustration. Apparently many other people do too. It is the second most viewed image in my Flickr photostream. The image depicts the Milam Residence at Ponte Vedra, Jacksonville, Florida by Architect, Paul Rudolph. The house was designed in 1959 and built in 1960-61 when Paul Rudolph was part of the Sarasota School of Architecture. Later Rudolph would become the Dean of the Yale School of Architecture. The image is an abstracted brutalist elevation which has been used as cover art for the book, Modern Houses of the World by Sherban Cantacuzino. It is a great little paperback that shows many mid-century modern houses throughout the world.

Click here to see a photo of the actual house and here to see a rendering by the architect.