Exhibition Catalog - Lawrence Technological University

of the corners are mitered, which is a difficult task
in itself but extremely arduous when combined
with inclined walls. They are a testament to Harold
Turner’s precise craftsmanship.
Entry
The house’s entry is unobtrusive, tucked beneath a
low-hanging carport roof barely six-and-a-half feet
high, and flanked by a plain brick wall and vertical
slit window. Wright partially relieved the sense
of compression by punching a skylight through the
roof just in front of the doorway, but the overall effect
is still cramped. Upon entering the house one
first passes through a small foyer, which extends
the constricted height of the carport, before stepping
into the loggia where the space dramatically
opens up to two stories.
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Photograph by Harvey Croze
Loggia
The interior arrangement similarly reveals typical
Wrightian gestures. The house consists of three major
areas: public – where guests might be allowed; intermediate
(the loggia) – to serve as a transition between
outside and indoors as well as between the
two other areas of the house; and private, consisting
of three bedrooms and two bathrooms. These
three zones are distinguished by their size, shape,
and relationship to each other.
The loggia is a light-filled wonder. Its skylit ceiling allows
views of the sky and clouds above, just as a wall
of French doors on the south side offers a prospect
of the hillside and wooded surroundings and a bank
of windows in the west wall exposes a view into the
upper part of the first bedroom. A third feature, the
“light well,” dominates the room at floor level. It consists
of windows set flush with the floor, surrounded
by a short wall of lapped boards that mimics the
wooden walls found throughout the house. When
opened, the windows offer a view to a small reflecting
pool below, and allow cool air to circulate up
and through the main rooms. Elizabeth called the
light well “an organic air conditioning unit.” 44 The
light well is integrated into the wall and turns the corner
from the loggia into the living room, visually connecting
the two rooms. The short walls around the
opening also screen the circulation path from the
closets and restroom along the loggia’s north side.
Photograph by Balthazar Korab
The loggia also demonstrates Wright’s effort to unify
interiors and exteriors. It is the most transparent room
in the house, with a wall and ceiling that present
only a minimal barrier. Wright employed a trellis
outside the loggia to enhance this connection. The
trellis over the rear entry to the loggia is an extension
of the skylights inside, using the same pattern
of framed openings, which serves to extend space
beyond the walls of the house and blur the distinction
between inside and outside.