He was such a genius at
First considering the plot of land a house was going to be placed on, and then designing a home to complement the contour of that unique piece of land. That home totally depends upon that unique piece of land for its beauty, and would not be as stunning on a typical flat suburban lot.
Most people and architects do the opposite of FLW -- they design their house to look like they want it to look like in the abstract, and then stick it on the lot whether it looks good there or not.
Originally that home was probably heated radiant style with hot water pumped through the slab floor so it would not feel cold and drafty. FLW did not believe in basements -- although the Dana Thomas FLW house in Springfield, IL has one (with a bowling alley). His interior walls were solid, comprised of the same building materials as the rest of the house, and integral to the structure. No pedestrian hollow plastered or drywall walls for him, so forced air heat with ductwork was not an option. But in many of his Usonian homes, that slab plumbing has long since worn out, and people don't want to tear up the original slab floor to fix it, so they resort to heating with electric baseboard heaters. The same considerations make it difficult if not impossible to air condition one of his Usonian homes too. When he was designing Usonian homes, air conditioning was not common yet. They are stunningly beautiful and ingenious homes, but in some respects impractical or challenging for everyday life as we know it.
Hopefully this wasn't too much of a crashing bore for those who already know all these things. :-/
Such a joy to see a FLW house kept original inside!
I wish he could have lived and designed buildings and homes forever.
First considering the plot of land a house was going to be placed on, and then designing a home to complement the contour of that unique piece of land. That home totally depends upon that unique piece of land for its beauty, and would not be as stunning on a typical flat suburban lot.
Most people and architects do the opposite of FLW -- they design their house to look like they want it to look like in the abstract, and then stick it on the lot whether it looks good there or not.
Originally that home was probably heated radiant style with hot water pumped through the slab floor so it would not feel cold and drafty. FLW did not believe in basements -- although the Dana Thomas FLW house in Springfield, IL has one (with a bowling alley). His interior walls were solid, comprised of the same building materials as the rest of the house, and integral to the structure. No pedestrian hollow plastered or drywall walls for him, so forced air heat with ductwork was not an option. But in many of his Usonian homes, that slab plumbing has long since worn out, and people don't want to tear up the original slab floor to fix it, so they resort to heating with electric baseboard heaters. The same considerations make it difficult if not impossible to air condition one of his Usonian homes too. When he was designing Usonian homes, air conditioning was not common yet. They are stunningly beautiful and ingenious homes, but in some respects impractical or challenging for everyday life as we know it.
Hopefully this wasn't too much of a crashing bore for those who already know all these things. :-/
Such a joy to see a FLW house kept original inside!
I wish he could have lived and designed buildings and homes forever.
