Modern Photo of the Week - Vintage Allen-Lambe House by Frank Lloyd Wright

Name: Allen-Lambe House http://www.allenlambe.org/
also known as the Henry J. Allen Residence
Allen was Governor of Kansas from 1919-1923 and a United States Senator from 1929-1930
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
Year Designed: 1915
Builder:
Year Built: 1918
Size:
Location: 255 North Roosevelt,Wichita Kansas
Type: Residential
Style: Prairie Style (this is a very late FLW Prairie Style House)
Status: Excellent and open for tours by appointment
Photographer: Unknown

Henry J. Allen Residence, located at 255 North Roosevelt. This residence was designed by architect, Frank Lloyd Wright in the Prairie House style. It took two years to complete. Allen was Governor of Kansas from 1919-1923 and a United States Senator from 1929-1930

Modernism at Risk - Kivett and Myers

I was in the Crossroads area of Kansas City, MO the other day when I saw the Kivett and Myers and McCallum designed commercial building in the Mies Van Der Rohe manner, with clean lines and walls of glass. . .
I stopped, got out of the car and took theses snapshots of the building. Click on images to enlarge.Upon closer inspection, I could see deteriorating elements such as cracked and missing blocks on the "light and shadow" lower facade. . .Many metal frames are rusted and up close you can see the differed maintenance. This is a great looking little building done in 1961. Sorry for this last shot, the sun wasn't cooperating. I wanted to show the juncture of the tiles and the way the tile wall kind of makes your eyes vibrate. Note the door with cool handles.It looks as if it feels taken for granted, so many cars pass by daily. We can ill afford to lose another K & M designed building. We should be celebrating K & M buildings, but unfortunately we've watched some of them deteriorate and/or get torn down.

The Cover Boys of Modernism

What a photo! I wish I was a fly on the wall for this photo shoot.

Can you name all of the Design Stars of Modernism in this photo from Playboy Magazine without looking? Perhaps their chairs give you clues to their identities. The furniture from left to right is, Herman Miller Serving Cart (unknown model), circa 1950s; Dunbar 5480 "A" Cane Back Chair, 1954; Knoll 70 "Womb" Lounge Chair, 1948; Knoll 421 Small Diamond Chair, 1950; Herman Miller DCM Chair, 1946; "Caribe Hilton" Open Armchair, 1949.

And the Cover Boys of Modernism from left to right are, George Nelson, Edward Wormley, Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Charles Eames, Jens Risom. Some were life long friends, others were serious rivals and competitors. Bertoia worked for Eames at one point, but had a falling out. Saarinen and Eames designed the groundbreaking designs for the New York MoMA's Organic Design in Home Furnishings. Eames and Nelson were the primary designers for Herman Miller.

The egos that must have filled the studio while taking that picture. How did they get all of these Design Heroes in the room together? Or did they get them together. Maybe it is two or more photos joined together. There is a peculiar gap in the middle, but that could be the photographer planning ahead for the gutter of this two page spread.

A while back I purchased this July, 1961 issue of Playboy Magazine that contains this article and photo spread and I think it is the best Playboy centerfold ever. This is Modern furniture P O R N. I told my wife that I just bought the magazine for the pictures, not the articles.

Cars of the Presidents

Gearing up for the big day on January 20th, I took a look into the past. Lots of changes over the years! From CBS News: "The 2009 presidential limousine provides the Secret Service with a valuable asset in accomplishing its protective mission by affording its occupants the highest level of protection," a statement from the United States Department of Homeland Security read. The 2009 Cadillac Presidential Limosine has run-flat tires, a sealed interior to ward off a chemical attack and more bulletproof glass area than past presidential limosines. "It looks different [from past models] and it is different in some ways, but it's pretty subtle," General Motors spokesman David Caldwell told Hotsheet. "Although many of the vehicles’ security enhancements cannot be discussed, it is safe to say that this car’s security and coded communications systems make it the most technologically advanced protection vehicle in the world,” said Nicholas Trotta, Assistant Director for the Office of Protective Operations. CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller reports that the new limousine is the first of seven that were ordered from Cadillac by the Secret Service. In a radio interview with CBS News, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan calls the new limo a "state of the art vehicle that gives the highest amount of security and safety to the occupants."

Probably the most famous Presidential limo in history is the Kennedy Lincoln Continental.

Eisenhower had different car styles for different reasons. President Eisenhower's 1950 Lincoln Cosmopolitan.

1952 Chrysler Imperial Presidential Parade Car


The New York Times has a great Collectible Car slide show and history. Hail to the Chief!!

Modern Photo of the Week - Dodge House

Name: Dodge House
Architect: Irving Gill
Year Designed: 1916
Builder: Unknown
Year Built: 1916
Size: Unknown
Location: Kings Road, West Hollywood, California
Type: Residential
Style: Modern
Status: DEMOLISHED, 1970
Photographer: Unknown

I conclude my photo homage to the The Best Houses of All Time in L.A., with house number 9, The Dodge House by Irving Gill. The Dodge House is the only house on the list to be demolished, and while this is a tragic loss in itself, I think that overall, the fact that this is the only house on the list that has been demolished, says a lot about the state of preservation in California. They have embraced the heritage of their Modern Architecture. We could learn a lot from groups like the LA Conservancy and their Modern Committee (ModCom). One of my New Years Resolutions is for KCMODERN to become more active in the Kansas City preservation community.

There has been quite a conversation over at Lotta Living about what was the first "Modern" house and whether the Dodge House was a "Modern" house at all... I say yes... What do you think?

Modern House Tour - Eames-Saarinen Case Study House #9 For Sale

My view of the north elevation or garage face of Case Study House #9 from Chautauqua Lane


My oblique view of the west elevation and side entrance to Case Study House #9 off of Chautauqua Lane


My view over the hedge from Case Study House #8 to the south elevation of Case Study House #9

Recently I wrote about the sale of Eero Saarinen's Miller House and the fact that a Saarinen designed house was about as rare as it gets. Well it appears that the Eero Saarinen and Charles Eames designed Case Study House #9 is for sale in LA. The only caveat with this, you must buy the 9700 square foot, relatively new modern house adjacent to it. It seems that the owners of the Barry Berkus designed house have been using the Entenza House as a guest house or maids quarters, depending on who you talk to. The whole thing will only cost you a cool $14 million!

The home was designed by Saarinen and Eames for the publisher of Arts & Architecture Magazine, John Entenza. Entenza had this house designed and built for himself and documented the process in a series of articles in his magazine about the Case Study Houses.

With this house, you will be in some enviable company on Chautauqua Boulevard in the Pacific Palisades of California. The home of Charles and Ray Eames, Case Study House #8 is next door. Case Study House #18, the West Residence by Rodney A. Walker is next door the other way and Architect, Richard Neutra's Bailey House, also known as Case Study House #20 is across the lane.

For the professional Photo Tour of the Entenza house and the attached new house click here.

To see the listing for the house click here.

Bonus Modern Photo of the Week - Chemosphere

Name: Chemosphere House (Leonard Malin Residence)
Architect: John Lautner
Year Designed: 1960
Builder: Unknown
Year Built: 1960
Size: 2200 square feet
Location: Torreyson Drive, Hollywood Hills, California
Type: Residential
Style: Organic Modern
Status: Excellent, good ownership and recently renovated
Photographer: Unknown

Well, to continue our recent expos'e on The Best Houses of All Time in L.A., here is number seven on the list. At one point this home by Architect, John Lautner had fallen into disrepair as a rental property. It was then purchased by German book publisher, Benedikt Taschen of Taschen Books. The Chemosphere house was renovated by Silver Lake firm Escher Gune Wardena, who are said to have updated the windows and floors, but otherwise tried to retain the original feel of the house. This house has also had a Hollywood career as a film location appearing in the TV series The Outer Limits and the movie Body Double. Facsimiles of the house have appeared in the Simpsons, Cars and the movie version of Charlie's Angels to name a few.

See the Yanda House for the Kansas City relationship to the Chemosphere.

Modern House Tour - Cindy Epping's Eichler Home


Photos by Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times

Well, it seems like we have been looking to the LA Times a lot lately, but I could not resist adding Cindy Epping's Eichler Home, which has recently been in a both Apartment Therapy and the LA Times. KCMODERN loves seeing these original kitchen designs still being used. It appears that Cindy's dog, Ruby is the star of the Times photo shoot.

Joseph Eichler was a California home builder who built Modern homes and who's career closely paralleled Kansas City builder, Don Drummond's. Both builders used the same architect and sometimes even the same plans. But more on that later.

Click Here for the LA Times Home Section Tour

"Modern" Photo of the Week - Gamble House

Name: Gamble House
Architect: Greene and Greene (Brothers, Charles and Henry Greene)
Year Designed: 1907-1908
Builder: Unknown
Year Built: 1909 (custom furniture completed 1910)
Size: Unknown
Location: Pasadena, California
Type: Residential
Style: Bungalow
Status: Recently Restored
Photographer: Unknown

For the official website, photos and tour info about the Gamble House Click Here

For a Behind the Velvet Ropes Tour of the Gamble House by the LA Times Click Here

OK, so it may not be a "Modern" house with a capital M, but it is number six of the The Best Houses of All Time in L.A. mentioned earlier. I consider myself a modernist, but this Greene and Greene house really influenced me in my early career. And while it's plan is not Modern it does represent a movement towards a new architecture and away from the traditional styles of the day. It has been labeled as, The Ultimate Bungalow by recent authors. Movie buffs may also recognize this house and its garage from the Back to the Future Movies.

Bartlesville Christmas-Wright and Goff: Then and Now

There are great buildings in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. You can drive around and see some very interesting architecture. I can't mention architecture in this town without mentioning the Price Tower, Frank Lloyd Wright's "Prairie Skyscraper", very artistic and great scale...They now have a hotel and restaurant on the top floors and a very cool museum on the first two floors.
Nearby is the Bartlesville Community Center designed by Taliesin Architects, notably Wes Peters, Wright's son-in-law.Frank Lloyd Wright and Bruce Goff is ever present in the town, whether it's work by them or architects influenced by them at the University of Oklahoma or other schools nearby.
I had heard Goff's Motsenbocker house had sold recently and went by to check it out... Very interesting house and plan...at the rear of the house, on the second floor which is ground level, it has a pool... now real estate beige, the original was redwood stain and a turquoise trim with beautiful masonry...
Just north of Bartlesville is a town called Dewey. That is where Goff's Comer house is located, it is in nearly vintage condition. These two homes were designed one after the other...Comer and Motsenbacker, in 1957, which is interesting to compare how Goff reacted to different programs, budgets and sites.Two doors down the street from the Motsenbocker house is a David Runnels(architect from Kansas City) designed house that was remodeled by Bruce Goff in 1959. From the front, it's all Goff in this extensive remodel, from clear glass ashtrays in the doors and wood panels to strong geometric elements in the overall fabric of the design. (click on images to enlarge)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Do You Remember...the first time you saw the movie, "The Day The Earth Stood Still"? I sure do...I watched it on our black and white television, in the living room of our house in Tulsa, OK, the winter of 1960. "We have come to visit you in peace and goodwill", said Michael Renne, as Klaatu the alien, in this 1951 science-fiction thriller. It was scary in a strange way, somehow the aliens were more reassuring than the humans... We went to the Leawood Theatre, in Ranchmart Shopping Center, the other day to see "Marley and Me".(Don't go see this movie unless you love to cry. As a pet owner, I thought "Old Yeller" was bad, this movie takes the cake)
Inside the refreshment area of the theatre was the owner, Wade Williams' collection of memorabilia from the movie, "The Day the Earth Stood Still", and standing behind velvet ropes was Gort himself... ...The alien's huge, silent but deadly robot He hardly did anything the whole movie but stand like a sentinel, and it still scared the heck out of me. I must say it was cool when he melted the soldiers' weapons with his ray-beam.
I grabbed the camera and here is a shot of Gort and one original of many posters used for marketing the show. The poster is mounted in a wall frame and some of the frame obscures the edges. Interestingly, on the poster the studio depicted Gort like King Kong, carrying away Patricia Neal who was conveniently attired in lingerie...there is no scene like that in the movie...
Gort! Klaatu Barada Nikto!

Modern Photo of the Week - Stahl Residence - Case Study House 22

Name: Stahl Residence - Case Study House #22
Architect: Pierre Koening
Year Designed: Unknown
Builder: Unknown
Year Built: 1960
Size: Unknown
Location: 1635 Woods Drive, Hollywood Hills, California
Type: Residential
Style: Modern
Status: Good and still owned by the original owner
Photographer: Julius Shulman

I was inspired by the previous post about The Best Houses of All Time in L.A. and decided to include a photo of number five from that list. This is one project that I have not visited yet, so I will rely once again on "Uncle" Julius Shulman to provide the wonderful eye candy for this house. I specifically did not use a certain famous photo of that house. Can anyone tell me what photo I am talking about?

Via Shorpy

The Best Houses of All Time in L.A.

It seems customary these days for newspapers and blogs to present all of their top ten lists at the end of the calendar year. Here is one list that I could not help but post here.

The Best Houses of All Time in L.A.
According to the Los Angeles Times panel of experts
Click here for the LA Times Article

What intrigued me most was that all of the houses were Modern or near Modern (ala Gamble House). I also could not help but notice that most of these houses were on my list of must sees when I have been in LA. So I have included one of my photographs of each of the houses that I have visited along with the list.

1: Kings Road House, Rudolph Schindler, West Hollywood, 1921-22

2. Kaufmann House, Richard Neutra, Palm Springs, 1946

3. Ennis House, Frank Lloyd Wright, Los Feliz, 1924

4. Eames House (Case Study House No. 8), Charles and Ray Eames, Pacific Palisades, 1949

5. Stahl House (Case Study House No. 22), Pierre Koenig, Hollywood Hills, 1960
I have not been here yet, but will definitely see this on my next trip to LA. More on that later.

6. Gamble House, Charles and Henry Greene, Pasadena, 1908
I love the work of Greene & Greene, but I have not made it to Pasadena yet.

7. Chemosphere, John Lautner, Hollywood Hills, 1960
Believe me I will find this one soon too, but I hear it is very hard to see.

8. Kappe House; Ray Kappe, Pacific Palisades, 1968

9. Dodge House, Irving Gill, West Hollywood, 1916 (demolished 1970)
Well, since it was demolished when I was seven, I will just have to enjoy the photos of others.

10. Hollyhock House, Frank Lloyd Wright, Hollywood, 1921

Bartlesville Christmas

We gathered for Christmas at my wife's parents house. My In-Laws own a fantastic house on a cliff. It was designed by Jim K. Lorenson, architect, and built by the most respected homebuilder in the area at the time. According to The Oklahoman Magazine, who first published a story on the house, Lorenson had Bruce Goff as a mentor, eventually finding his way to San Francisco. There he focused on "seismic" architecture. It's a great tri-level house, or should I say "tree-level" on one of the highest vantage points in town...the more I'm there, the more I appreciate the views, the "light play" and the detailed finishes.The photo from one of the many decks gives a pretty good indication of why the original owners hired Lorenson...look at that rock shelf! (Click on images to enlarge)

THEN & NOW -- Bartlesville Christmas

It seems like yesterday, when again we were going to enjoy the beauty of a Bruce Goff jewel over our Christmas holiday in 1997. Waiting for a call to go over to Shin'enKan, the most "fantastic" piece of architecture built, we received a call that it was on fire and "it was bad." As you can see, it certainly was. We got as close as we could to take pictures of the fire and the aftermath. It was a very sad experience for my family. I think they all understood something very important had been lost. At least we were fortunate to have had a "relationship" with this work of art.
Needless to say and to make a long story short, the Price family sought out the best architects of the time. Bruce Goff was hired by Joe Price to design his home, and subsequent additions, ultimately becoming his Opus... Harold Price Sr., his father, had hired Cliff May to design the family home at Starview Farms, and at Goff's insistence hired Frank Lloyd Wright to design an office building, the Price Tower. Harold Jr. hired Wright to design his home, essentially creating an architectural theme park. The May designed house was in bad condition and razed by developers. The only remaining house is the Wright designed house called "Hillside".
The loss of Shin'enKan, by arson, was a major loss for students and enthusiasts of architecture throughout the world.
I visited the site, over the holidays, which had been cleared and the foundations filled in. Nothing had been built there, though the area has been subdivided and the affluent are building traditional houses nearby.

It was a melancholy moment, sad, but with wonderful memories...

THEN & NOW -- Drummond Builds Housing for Flood Victims

In response to the housing demand caused by the disastrous flood the summer of 1951, Francie Drummond designed this house plan (there were variations, Gier Sloan, Architect may have been involved) for quickly built and inexpensive housing. (See vintage photo -- sorry photo is stained) Slab on grade foundations, flat roofs and minimalist styling helped keep costs down. Don said they had no land costs and the homes were sold for around $2,000. He said he built around forty of the houses in Kansas City, KS.
They may not exist anymore, we have been unable to locate them, but a nifty little enclave of homes near 55th and Maple, Mission, KS, resemble the flood houses. I remember some were built with flat roofs, others gabled. Now, all have gabled roofs.
Comparing the photos and disregarding the gabled roofs, vinyl siding and shutters, you can almost see the flat roof and similar window treatment. Sadly, most have lost their crisp modern styling.

Modern Photo of the Week - Cocktail Hour at the Spencer Residence in Santa Monica, 1950

California Modern: 1950
Photograph by Julius Shulman

And Now For Something Completely Different... How about leaving wintery Kansas City for a little sunny California, Mid-Century time capsule photographed by "Uncle" Julius Shulman!

As if we did not have enough distractions to waste our time on the internet, here is one more. Caution, I wasted a good hour browsing through this one.

I recently discovered Shorpy "Always something Interesting", a photo blog that continually posts interesting vintage photos and then allows it's viewers to contribute funny comments to go along with the photos. Recently Shorpy posted some great Mid-Century Modern picks, so I thought I would grab this one by my favorite architectural photographer Julius Shulman.

I particularly like browsing through comments for the photo above which include, "The guy in the suit and sandals looks like a cross between Woody Harrelson and Hugh Hefner." And "Is that SHAG carpeting on the chair? And why is Mr. Spencer wearing Birkenstocks with his suit?" Other comments include,"This is reminiscent of the mood of the old TV Show, Hugh Hefner's Penthouse Party. It was all so chic and stylishly sophisticated." And, "this is so totally Southern California that I can't stand it."

My favorite comment: "The future was going to be so cool, and look what we did with it."

via Lotta Living

THEN & NOW -- Conecting the Dots- Ralph Myers House



I agree with Robert, I'm a big fan of Kivett and Myers work. Though the firm did very little residential work, Ralph Myers designed his own home, as seen here in the newspaper, built by Don Drummond in Prairie Village, KS in 1947. The house featured passive solar heating through the large south windows and outdoor living on the "protected" patio. The recent photo is as close to the angle of the vintage photo as I could get. A privacy fence blocks any view of the alterations that enclosed and changed the original intent of the design. The house has additions and modifications that make it unrecognizable as originally built.