1955 Brochure for 'The House that HOME Built'

KCMODERN friend, Scott Butterfield did some serious scan work of 'The House that HOME Built' brochure to let us share it with our readers. The promotional brochure was designed and printed by NBC for participating builders to use in their marketing of 'The House that HOME Built.' Kansas City Modern Builder, Don Drummond gave the brochure to Scott's parents in 1955, when they were thinking about having Don build them a house. Don Drummond signed the back cover for Scott at a soiree during the Drummond Weekend in 2006.

Also note the math notation on the last image from 1955 to Scott's parents, "1680 square feet x $15 per square foot = $25,200." That is not a bad price for a Jones and Emmons designed home that was also built by Joseph Eichler. That would be $200,000 to $275,00o in today's dollars depending on what conversion you use. I would hate to have to try to build it today for $275k!

As I have mentioned before Jones and Emmons Architects went on to design the X-100 and Case Study House #24 for Joe Eichler.

Enjoy 'The House that HOME Built' in all its Mid-Century Modern goodness!

If you have not read it yet be sure to check out this article on 'The House that HOME Built.'

Better Homes & Gardens Decorating Book Cover - 1961- Modern Illustration

Wow it has been a while since I posted. Attribute it to Post Runnells Tour recovery I guess. Lets kick things back off with and image or two.
What can I say about this image from the cover of the 1961 Better Homes & Gardens Decorating Book? It just oozes Mid Century Modern Goodness! The primary colors, the MCM art, the Nelson bubble lamp, the sofa, the tables, the fruit bowl all make me drool. It even has a copy of BH&G magazine on the coffee table.... This kind of artwork makes me wish I lived in that era. This might have been the best two bucks I ever spent on a book.

Crosstown Center Proposal by David B. Runnells, Architect & W.G. Roeseler, City Planner

Not much is known about this unbuilt urban renewal project, except that it was to be located roughly where the Power and Light District is now near the Sprint Center Arena and that it was designed by Environmental associates which was a partnership between David Runnells, AIA, Architect and W.G. Roeseler, AIP, City Planner. The project demonstrates early 70s style semi-brutalist architecture not unlike the built Crown Center urban renewal projects.

When Mid-Century Modern was Green - A Climate-Wise House for the Missouri River Valley by Architect, David B. Runnells - Part 2

Name: A Climate-Wise House for the Missouri Valley - Stuart Williams Residence
Architect: David Benton Runnells
Year Designed: 1949-1950
Builder: Unknown
Year Built: 1950-1952
Size: Unknown
Location: South Kansas City, Missouri
Type: Residential
Style: Modern, Passive solar heating and cooling
Status: Good
Photographer: N/A
Illustrator: Unknown

Scanned from an article, "If You've Too Much Climate Try Climate Control" and "A Climate-Wise House for the Missouri River Valley" in the May 1950 issue of House Beautiful magazine.

When Mid-Century Modern was Green - A Climate-Wise House for the Missouri River Valley by Architect, David B. Runnells - Part 1

Name: A Climate-Wise House for the Missouri Valley - Stuart Williams Residence
Architect: David Benton Runnells
Year Designed: 1949-1950
Builder: Unknown
Year Built: 1950-1952
Size: Unknown
Location: South Kansas City, Missouri
Type: Residential
Style: Modern, Passive solar heating and cooling
Status: Good
Photographer: N/A
Illustrator: Unknown

Scanned from an article, "If You've Too Much Climate Try Climate Control" and "A Climate-Wise House for the Missouri River Valley" in the May 1950 issue of House Beautiful magazine.

Fabric House Elevations by Architects, David B. Runnells and Ralph Rapson

Ralph Rapson Quote from Ralph Rapson Rules, Architecture magazine, March 15, 2005

Rapson’s focus on affordable housing predates the Greenbelt project (Arts+Architecture Case Study House No. 4). ”In the 1930s, David Runnells and I designed an earth-sheltered house we called the Cave House. We also entered another competition with a fabric house, where I made an ill-advised comment that no longer would the architect be necessary because people could simply go to the hardware store, buy their fabric, and roll out their house. Charlie Eames was on that jury, and said that we were thrown out of the competition for that particular comment.”

Many thanks to Ralph's son, Toby Rapson and Grandson, Lane Rapson of Rapson Architects for giving us permission to use these images.

For more images like these read, Ralph Rapson: Sixty Years of Modern Design by KCMODERN friend, Jane King Hession.

Fabric House Model by Architects, David B. Runnells and Ralph Rapson

Text taken from the competition presentation:

A Fabric House

Basically this house is and insulated tent, all roofs and walls are insulated fabric panels that allow the utmost flexibility in planning and design. A completely plastic wall such as this “roll fab wall” permits Mr. A., with a wife, two children, and a particular site and living requirements to practically “mold” his house to suit his changing and varied requirements. While on the other hand Mr. B., a professional man with no children, and entirely different living requirements and site, can, just as easily, with the same material, wrap himself in his own individual shelter.

From this it is easily seen that the basic purpose of the roll fabric wall and roof is to
allow absolute and complete planning for infinite human requirements as to construction. The prefabricated roll fabric is placed over a skeleton of light, stamped metal. The structural members are a system of tele-pipe similar to present day airplane sections. A tele-pipe system allows and almost infinite placing of walls and roof.

A mechanical package contains all of the necessary bathroom, kitchen, heating and electrical requirements. Radiant floor heating panels are placed in the floor construction and are completely demountable. Electrical panel boxes, likewise are placed in the floor. The floor is chemically treated tamped earth laid over six inches of crushed rock bed on which any floor covering such as linoleum, canvas, etc., can be laid.

The entire system becomes thus becomes one of maximum planning, maximum economy, maximum demountability.

Fabric House Drawings by Architects, David B. Runnells and Ralph Rapson

About a month ago I received a box of papers and a couple of portfolios from David Runnells daughter, Jill (Runnells) Grose. One of the most interesting things in the box was a hand made bound brochure with canvas fabric pages. Laminated to the pages were 8x10 photos of drawing boards and a model that Ralph Rapson and David Runnells made for a design competition presentation. The project was called the Fabric House and I was already familiar with the project because I had seen it briefly published in a September 1942, Architectural Forum article called "The New House 194X." The tent house project's service core unit (first explored in the cave house) had also been published in Laszlo Maholy-Nagy's book, Vision in Motion. But I was amazed to find this complete competition submission in the neat little fabric booklet. I have scanned the booklet and presented the pages here.

The plan is obviously influenced by the work of Alvar Aalto and is a conscious derivation of the earlier cave house plan. Note the refinements to the service core which now includes a kitchen.

The project is an interesting interpretation of how we might have dealt with the post World War II housing shortage.

Cave House Part 2 by Ralph Rapson and David B. Runnells

Here are a few more Rapson sketches of the Cave House by Ralph Rapson and David B. Runnells. Again we see that great Rapson hand at work. As always in Ralph's perspectives, you have to love the caricatures of people he added to his drawings.

Thanks again to Ralph's son, Toby Rapson and Grandson, Lane Rapson of Rapson Architects for giving us permission to use these images.

For more images like these read, Ralph Rapson: Sixty Years of Modern Design by KCMODERN friend, Jane King Hession.

Cave House by Ralph Rapson and David B. Runnells

Another competition entry was put together by Rapson and Runnells in 1939 for a "Cave House." This foray into the earth sheltered or earth contact genre may have been 35 years ahead of its time. It wasn't until the mid-1970's that the idea of a passive solar, earth sheltered design would come into the mainstream consciousness.

The design also featured a modular, self contained service unit, holding the homes heating, water heating and bathroom functions all in one factory made unit. An improved version of this service unit idea would continue on with another Rapson-Runnells partnership called the Fabric House.
It is clear that the plan of this house was also heavily influenced by Finnish Architect, Alvar Aalto. This would be expected of students in the studio of Finnish immigrants, Eliel and Eero Saarinen, but we also know that Runnells was recently back from Scandinavia. Both Runnells and Rapson were known to be found of the work of Aalto, especially his furniture.

Special thanks to Ralph's son, Toby Rapson and Grandson, Lane Rapson of Rapson Architects for giving us permission to use these images.

For more images like these read, Ralph Rapson: Sixty Years of Modern Design by KCMODERN friend, Jane King Hession.

Kawneer Store Front of Tomorrow Design Competition, the Sequel

Here are a few sketches by Ralph Rapson of the Kawneer Store Front of Tomorrow Design Competition that he and David Runnells submitted. I think that the influences of Alvar Aalto are even more apparent in these sketches than the final presentation we showed previously. The bundled column to the right of the first drawing and the biomorphic, free form, floor platform and dropped ceiling are right out of the Aalto design vocabulary. I also really love the sketches by Ralph Rapson. He had an amazing hand.

Special thanks to Ralph's son, Toby Rapson and Grandson, Lane Rapson of Rapson Architects for giving us permission to use these images.

For more images like these read, Ralph Rapson: Sixty Years of Modern Design by KCMODERN friend, Jane King Hession.

Kawneer Store Front of Tomorrow Design Competition by Ralph Rapson and David B. Runnells

In 1939, while attending Cranbrook and working in the Saarinen offices David B. Runnells and Ralph Rapson were teaming up and doing architectural competitions. One of these competitions was the Kawneer Store Front of Tomorrow Design Competition. Their joint effort yielded them a honorable mention with the heavyweight jury, which included retail architecture giant, Morris Ketchum and Bauhaus Architect, Mies van der Rohe. My favorite part of the design was that it was to have a translucent structural plastic ceiling with adjustable louvres that were controlled by a solar electric eye and by the heating and electrical system controls. The louvers were meant to act as insulation, light and heat reflectors and blackout blinds.

The full color brochure of the winning projects reported:

Honorable Mention

Ralph Rapson and David Runnells designers, Bloomfield, Mich.

In contrast to the First Honorable Mention, the design was not only competent but brilliant to the point of fussiness. The group shopping lobby, the store front and free-standing displays, the large 'controlled lettering,' the small scale signs, the structural details, and choice of materials are excellent.

"In particular, the jury liked the detailed store front -- where the 'open-faced' shop is partly hidden by a screen wall used as a background for the show window. Often an open interior may reveal that the store is empty of customers, thus scaring away possible shoppers. Here the partial openness gives and interesting glimpse of the interior combined with a good foreground."

"However, the designers did not know when to quit. Their plan, with its elaborate system of angular walls and glazing is as 'busy' as the strained tilting of the same walls in elevations."

"The designers apparently assumed a parking lot to the western end of the store group plot; this was considered permissible within the program."

Case Study House No. 4, Greenbelt House by Architect, Ralph Rapson

Name: Case Study No. 4, Greenbelt House
Architect: Ralph Rapson
Year Designed: 1945
Builder: Unbuilt
Year Completed: Unbuilt
Size: 1800 sq.ft including enclosed courtyard space
(living, dining, kitchen, 3 bedrooms and 2 baths)
Location: Hypothetical urban lot
Type: Residential
Style: Modern
Status: Unbuilt
Illustrations: Drawn by Ralph Rapson, found in various online sources.

Ralph Rapson was one of only two Architects from outside of California to be tapped to design a Case Study House for John Entenza's Arts+Architecture Magazine. Case Study House No. 4 was as boldly modern as any of the California designed and built studies. Unlike its siblings, Case Study No. 4 was designed for a more urban lot and thus had a more introverted design. It focused its attention to an interior courtyard space instead of focusing outwards to a great landscape or view. The house was made up of two pavilions, one for sleeping and one for living, bisected by a glass covered courtyard. Rapson named this central space the Greenbelt. The design was to have either a wood or steel frame and standardized wall panels

Light and heat were to be controlled in the glass roofed courtyard with adjustable louvers, a theme explored by Rapson with David B. Runnells a few years earlier in the Kawneer Storefront competition. Some design sketches also suggest that the roof might be passively cooled with water ponds or sprinklers, another reoccurring theme with Runnells and Rapson.

Rapson was known for adding such whimsical touches as jeeps, commuter helicopters and caricaturized people to add life to his renderings.

Rapson did finally get this design built in 1989, for an indoor exhibit, Blueprints for Modern Living: History and Legacy of the Case Study Houses at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. Rapson passed away on March 29 2008. He was still practicing architecture the day before his death at the age of 93.

My Favorite Matsumoto

I just love Matsumoto's own house. But this is simply, the most awesome drawing! Obviously the editors of Progressive Architecture Magazine felt the same way about it when they put it on their cover in March 1959. I purchased this magazine for the cover alone.

I have shown this to some of my clients who wanted some new cabinets in their Kansas City house by Matsumoto's partner, David B. Runnells. It is great Mid-Century Modern, period styling!

David B. Runnells House Tour and Party - Save the Date for Our Mid-Century Modern House Tour

KCMODERN's David Benton Runnells House Tour and Party will feature at least six Modern Houses by the architect. The dates of the events are
September 19, 2009 for the Runnells House Party and
September 20, 2009 for the Runnells House Tour.

Last call for the KCMODERN Martini Modern Party and Tour: William S. Beckett, Architect

Name: James Kemper Residence
Architect: William Sutherland Beckett
Year Designed: circa 1951-52
Builder: Unknown
Year Completed: 1953
Size: Unknown
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Type: Residential
Style: Modern
Status: Excellent

Last call for the KCMODERN Martini Modern Party and Tour: William S. Beckett, Architect. You can safely RSVP and pay in advance at:

http://www.acteva.com/go/kcmodern

Online ticket sales end at noon on Sunday, June 14, 2009. The remaining tickets will be available at the door on June 14 at 4:00 PM, the day of the event.

William S. Beckett, Architect - Shoor Residence

Name: Shoor Residence
Architect: William Sutherland Beckett
Year Designed: 1951
Builder: Unknown
Year Completed: 1952
Size: 1000 sq.ft. (2 bedrooms and1 bathroom)
Location: 12336 Deerbrook Lane in Brentwood, California
Type: Residential
Style: Modern
Status: Standing in unknown condition
Photographer: Julius Shulman

Beckett did a low budget house of 1000 square feet for $11,800 in 1951-52 at 12336 Deerbrook Lane in Brentwood, California. The flat roofed Shoor Residence was a very small two bedroom, one bath home on a steep lot. The exterior of the home featured a forty foot long glass wall looking out at a private terrace and the canyon below. That juxtaposed nicely with the much more solid stucco wall facing the street. The most prominent features of the interior were a freestanding triangular plan fireplace that tapered as it rose to the ceiling and built-in cabinetwork which divided the open plan. This house was featured with photos done by Shulman in the book Quality Budget Houses by Katherine Morrow Ford and Thomas H. Creighton. This is also the only William Becket House listed in the most recent version of An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles by David Gebhard and Robert Winter.

Offices of William S. Beckett, Architect - Case Study House Era Architect - Mid-Century Modern Architecture

Name: Offices of William S. Beckett, Architect
Architect: William Sutherland Beckett
Year Designed: circa 1949-50
Builder: Unknown
Year Completed: 1950
Size: Unknown
Location: 9026 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, California
Type: Office
Style: Modern
Status: Standing in unknown condition
Photographer: Julius Shulman

William S. Beckett began his professional career as chief designer for Sumner Spaulding, the architect of Case Study House #2 for Arts + Architecture magazine. Around that time he was also on the faculty at the University of California.

By 1949, William S. Beckett had opened his own architectural practice in Los Angeles. In 1951, he designed his own architectural offices located at 9026 Melrose Avenue. The magical black and white Julius Shulman photographs of this building were widely published in the architectural press. The building garnered him an AIA National Honor Award, First Award in 1952, one of only three given nationwide that year. This prestigious award made his reputation as one of the architects of the stars and Beckett set off on a career designing many celebrity homes in Beverly Hills and other exclusive neighborhoods in LA. The new posh international style modernism of the office set the tone for his designs for his A-list clients. This small modern office building is still standing today.

William Sutherland Beckett, Architect - Raymond Evans Residence

Name: Raymond Evans Residence
Architect: William Sutherland Beckett
Year Designed: circa 1951
Builder: Unknown
Year Completed: 1952
Size: Unknown sq.ft. (4 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms)
Location: 1255 Angelo Road, Beverly Hills, California
Type: Residential
Style: Modern
Status: Excellent
Photographer: Unknown

Another Early success for William S. Beckett was a house design for Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Evans at 1255 Angelo Drive in Beverly Hills. Evans was known for writing Oscar winning musical masterpieces such as Doris Day's Que Sera Sera, Dinah Shore's Buttons and Bows, and Nat King Cole's Mona Lisa. Completed in 1952 it was built of redwood, brick, glass and stucco on the exterior. The interior was done in plaster and cork walls and asphalt tile flooring over a radiant heated concrete slab. In plan the most dominant feature was a pair of solid curving walls-- one curve facing the front entry court and the other facing a private terrace at the rear of the house. A signature triangular fireplace was included here as well. The house which had an enclosed bridge connecting the main living areas to the sleeping pavilion was well documented in Architectural Record, Record Houses 1956. Mr. Evans lived in the house for 55 years until his death in 2007. The rather small house recently sold and the asking price was 9.995 million.

Please join us for a tour of Kansas City's only Beckett designed house this Sunday, June 14, 2009, 4:00 to 6:00 PM at 6612 Wyoming, Kansas City, Missouri. Admission is $20 in advance with reservations made at www.acteva.com/go/kcmodern. A featured Martini and other beverages will be served. A portion of your admission will go to the Historic Kansas City Foundation.

KCMODERN Martini Modern Party and Tour: William S. Beckett, Architect

KCMODERN will host a Martini Modern Party and Tour at the home of Scott Francis. Come tour this 1953 Modern home designed by California Case Study Era Architect, William Sutherland Beckett for the James Kemper Family. Beckett was best known for his Modern Celebrity Homes in Beverly Hills for A-listers like Charlton Heston.

Please join us for this fun event on Sunday, June 14, 2009, 4:00 to 6:00 PM at 6612 Wyoming, Kansas City, Missouri. Admission is $20 in advance with reservations made at www.acteva.com/go/kcmodern. A featured Martini and other beverages will be served. A portion of your admission will go to the Historic Kansas City Foundation.

More info about William S. Beckett and updates about this and other events can be found at http://www.kcmodern.blogspot.com/ or call 913.262.5056.