Book Description
Frank Lloyd Wright's Rosenbaum House book tells the story of the building's design, construction--which, like so many of Wright's commissions, involved high drama punctuated by humor--remodeling, and restoration. Written with lucid wit and plentifully illustrated with photographs and drawings, it is insightful and entertaining in equal measure.
Customer Reviews:
Helpful Guide to a Beautiful & Instructive Usonian Home.......2007-03-14
I offer warm praise for this informative book, which is now offered to students of Frank Lloyd Wright's work. Frank Lloyd Wright's 2nd, and most beautifully preserved, Usonian House must have startled the quiet Florence, AL neighborhood in 1940 when it appeared as a finely crafted Alien on its 2-acre corner lot. Supremely private from all public views, the exterior view reveals the design's fluid openness and elegant use of red Tidewater cypress wood, red brick, concrete, and glass. The young Rosenbaum family produced several children. So Mrs. Rosenbaum requested that Mr. Wright design an expansion of the original home, to incorporate their wish for a 4th bedroom (with its own bath), additional storage, an enlarged kitchen and laundry facility, and a playroom with extra integrated dining space. The finished product screams modernity, sleekness, horizontal flow, and intimacy, as the surrounding land plot appears to melt outward and flow from the intensity of the design of the dwelling. An enclosed Japanese Garden rounds out the entire concept of a spiritual and private enclave offering a quieting style and peace. Following a multi-million dollar historical renovation, completed in 2002, the house is now open to the public by appointment, and operated by the City of Florence as the finest small FLW home in the world. Based on traditional wooden Japanese houses--built around a Tatami Mat grid--all elements of the design derive from the repeated rectangle-grid floor forms that Mr. Wright determined for the grounding of the placement of doorways, halls, windows, book shelving, and elegant built-in storage cabinets. The house features one of the 1st cantilevered carport structures ever built in the world, the daring early use of flat metal roofs, original use of glass clerestory windows up to the roof line, extensive documentary photographs of the design features, and correspondence to and from Mr. Wright's atelier as ideas for the original structure and its expansion just nine years later emerged. The result is a supremely edited whole that will induce fascination and delight.
[I have introduced several groups of interior design students to the home and grounds. All groups have loved it! I also offer great praise for the remarkably well-informed docents at the property, who serve as the most delightful and elegant tour guides. These people absolutely love this home. They are well-versed regarding the history of the home, and are great admirers of the work of Mr. Wright. The docents also have the added learning, year after year, of speaking with an admiring Public from everywhere! Wright fans from all over North America and Europe travel regularly to visit and revisit the home. Wright scholars have rightly praised the renovation, which was overseen by the book's primary author, Barbara Broach. To speak with Ms. Broach is to have Lunch with the Voice of Experience with regard to historical renovation! Her love for the place is palpable.]
This book should be welcomed by Wright fans, and students of interior design, architecture, and real estate development. But better yet, schedule a trip to the home itself. And meet the docents. Contact with this house has completely transformed the images of what the students felt was even possible in a finely crafted home environment. What you will learn from the book is how all of this Art in architectural expression came to be. And the immense work required to rejuvenate the inherent Beauty of it all. Complete with scaled floor plans and beautiful photographs. Warmly recommended.
a nice addition to any library.......2007-03-10
very helpful for anyone building a model of the house (like i did) or to anyone interested in an early frank lloyd write masterpiece.
Rosenbaum House.......2007-01-12
Being intimately familiar with this house-family and location-it is with great pleasure that I rate this book 5 stars. As most people familiar with FLW houses realize, the problems with construction can sometimes be many-yet can be overshadowed by the problems encountered over the years with malfunctions and upkeep of the original design. These problems can be nagging enough to become monumental! This book pulls no plugs about these situations.This is pleasantly refreshing.
A great read for students of FLW houses or architecture in general--a must visit to the actual house for anyone anywhere--especially in the
South!
Filled with errors.......2006-12-16
This slight book is filled with outrageous factual errors and author's self-promotion. Sergeant's Usonian Houses and Pfeiffer's Select Houses are authoritative sources on the Rosenbaum House; or the National Trust's Usonia.
Saving a Frank Lloyd Wright House.......2006-12-10
To argue that Frank Lloyd Wright's house designs were anything less than spectacular is to look at the lines of the design rather than to the details of the construction. This delightful little book describes the Rosenbaum House in Florence Alabama.
Basically the house was one of the early Usonian homes that interested Wright a great deal in the years just before and after World War II. These were homes designed with spectacular design features but were small homes intended for the average family.
The Rosenbaum house was 1,540 square feet. It is a spectacular design, as you would expect. But built at what was then pushing the state of the art, the construction details were not quite up to the design aspects. The dead flat roof wasn't strong enough to remain flat, as it sagged it created catch basins that held water that the roofing material was not designed to keep out. Termites had their way with some of the wood. The heating system had never worked properly, and on and on. The building was condemned with the building inspector recommending that it be torn down.
The City of Florence bought the house, originally constructed with a target price of $7,500 and an actual construction cost of $14,000 for $75,000 and then spent $540,00 rebuilding it. The result is as spectacular as it was in 1940. It is a work of art.
Customer Reviews:
Very good book for the purpose it was written for........2007-06-05
This is a very good book for the purpose it was written for. Nice historical information about the development of Wright's Usonian homes.
More Usonians.......2006-07-23
My impetus for purchasing this book last month was a visit to the home my parents built in 1956 in New Jersey. They designed it themselves with a bit of help from books by Frank Lloyd Wright and others (his "Natural House", for instance), but the interpretation was their own. I was a middle-aged adult before I realized that the house could be classed among the "Usonians", although it was not a Wright commission, and this visit stimulated my desire to know more about the "real" ones. I bought this book as a start and agree with the other reviewers here that the book is a bit too "design-driven" to answer all one might want to know. But it is a basic book on the subject (published 1984--about when I discovered the Usonian possibility), and it covers well the principles of the Usonian: affordability, open plan on a grid, built-in essentials, and underfloor/radiant heating. The book's many appendices allow the reader to see how Wright organized his business and related to his clients. Twenty-two years after it was published this book is still a good starting point for learning about the Usonian house and Wright's commitment to 'everyman/woman'.
Nightmare.......2005-07-09
I asked a Usonian "fanatic" about buying this book, and he told me that he owned it, but "never could get through it." I bought it anyway, and now I see what he means. Excerpt from page 62: "Symmetrical implications of the wig-wam roof-form of the living area are immediately combated by the off-center core and built-in seat and table."
WHAT? After five minutes of staring at the floor plan, I finally deduce that this must be some reference to a group of unmarked "things" there in what must be the living room. Of course, nothing is marked, and I still can't be sure what this sentence means because there are no useful photos or sketches to clarify the point. Lack of decent illustrations makes this book a nightmare to read. Another example, Page 68: "... utility... sensations...and...materials all make the Pew house, for me, the greatest of Wright's late career." This is accompanied by a single 3" x 5" high contrast, B&W photo of the house from a distance, partially obscured by trees. The author calls it the greatest work of Wright's career, and it is impossible to tell what it looks like.
Thank goodness I also bought "The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion" so I can actually see some decent photos and floorplans. This book could just as well be written in Braille.
Usonian Plans and photos.......2005-01-21
This book was one of my earlier books on FLLW and used heavily in my undergraduate class at Iowa State University in my early 80's tenure there. The bbok had no other precedent at the time and is still to be considered the most complete text with the reader going away from the book with a good understanding of the usonians unique place in history. The construction method and inclusion of the Oskaloosa IA home is very helpful in understanding the mid 50's time period in America and the people's thoughts and images before them of available home plans at that time. I think the layout was fairly well done and photos were a little poor exposure, blurry, dark on some --however considering the originals were used as photos I don't think it's too badly done. It doesn't have ALL of his work and certainly doesn't show the 'projects' he designed that weren't built however more complete than any current titles which have the words 'USONIA' in them currently. Even though I own the newer 'USONIA' books also they aren't as fulfilling as this original book by Sargent. I'm sure you'll agree.
A good place to start.......2003-01-23
It seems that this important phase in Wright's illustrious career has not been given the attention it deserves. As Frank Sergeant noted, Wright was most proud of his Usonian Homes and actively promoted his vision of a "Broadacre City." Unfortunately, Sergeant's book was the product of the 70's. He offers a good text, but poor photographs and mediocre illustrations that don't give the reader a compelling vision of these homes.
Wright started with the Jacobs House, built in the late 30's, which got the ball rolling. With a lot of sweat and material contributions by the owners, they were able to keep the cost near the $5000 budget Wright had set. He wanted these homes to be affordable, clean, efficient dwellings that reflected his streamlined view of America. Wright abhorred the wasteful society America had become, and envisioned a "Broadacre City" that would satisfy Americans' insatiable appetite for detached homes, without destroying the landscape in the process. He incorporated many passive solar features into these homes, relied on natural materials, and as always created an open plan that characterized the democratic nature of society.
More enticing books are now available on Usonian homes, but Sergeant's book is a good place to start in getting an impression of the quality of these homes, and how they came to shape America's suburban lifestyle.
Book Description
One of the architectural problems that challenged Frank Lloyd Wright throughout his career was how to provide moderate-cost houses that were every bit as good as more expensive ones. His solution was the Usonian house. This book presents a dozen of these innovative structures that became models for so many American houses. The Wright-at-a-Glance series showcases the work of one of the world's best-known architects. Comprising twelve books in all, this series offers an overview of Wright's life, buildings, and designs.
Customer Reviews:
A little pricey, not enough content, but a nice 'little' gift........2007-06-28
This is a nice 'little' gift to give to a Wright fan, but it is not comprehensive enough to tell you what the whole Usonian thing was all about.
It would have gotten more stars if the price was a couple of dollars less.
Tiny, almost useless book.......2007-05-24
This is a tiny hard cover book. "At a glance" is an over statement. More like a drive-by book. The pictures can be found elsewhere (larger and more complete) and the historical info is nil (and also found elsewhere.) Had I know this I would have not wasted my $10.00 on this.
The Wright house for the rest of us!.......1999-07-09
This is a beautiful short introduction to the late and often smaller houses built by Wright after 1935, appropriately published in a purse-size book (part of a series). While less well known than his Prairie houses, these Usonians are the houses that YOU and I could afford! (Well...the smallest gem, Goetsch--built for $7,137.23--just sold for c.$225,000.) You will see here the beginning of many cliches of "modern houses:" single storys, open plans, lots of glass, dinettes, carports, etc. Only, these look beautiful! Why? Some idea of the awesome power of integrated design, inside and out, even at a tiny scale, is given in the small pictures of rich color. No "interior decoration" for Wright! Carla Lind is an extraordinarily evocative writer on Wright, and distills deep aesthetic insights into a brief focused text. If you like the magic you see here, then be sure to get Sargeant's book (Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian Houses) to understand how these are designed and built (or seek Susan J. Bandes, Affordable Dreams. Kresge Art Museum Bulletin 6. Michigan State University. 1991). Enjoy.
Book Description
2006 IPPY Awards for independent publishers selected this book as one the top three in Architecture.
The story of working with the legendary architect to build Kentuck Knob and life in this idyllic location.
An unusually complete chronicle of the planning, construction, and development of the house and site, plus the experience of living in a Wright masterpiece and mecca for Wright aficionados. Includes stories, 150 b&w photos, a color photo section, plans, original correspondence, and more.
Customer Reviews:
hagan house.......2006-01-31
THE PICTURES ALONE ARE WORTH MUCH MORE THAN THE PRICE OF THE BOOK-HAVING BEEN TAKEN BY A SHUTTER BUG--MR. HAGAN. THE BUILDING
OF THE HOUSE IS DESCRIBED IN DETAIL IN WORDS AND PHOTOS-FROM BARE
LAND ON A KNOB TO THE FINISHED PRODUCT. GREAT READ IN ALL PHASES.
A "must" read for devotees of Wright's work.......2005-06-07
Kentuck Knob: Frank Lloyd Wright's House For I.N. and Bernardine Hagan is the author's personal and detailed story of what it was like to be a client of and to work with the legendary Wisconsin architect to build the home known as "Kentuck Knob" and her life in this rural and idyllic location. Kentuck Knob is replete with stories, more than 150 b/w photos, 8 pages of color photos, insightful correspondence, and informative observations. Written by one of the last people still living who actually knew Frank Lloyd Wright and the experience of being a client of the great and controversial American architect, Bernardine Hagan's Kentuck Knob is "must" reading for devotees of Wright's work, as well as a seminal contribution to professional and academic Architectural Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.
Average customer rating:
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Frank Lloyd Wright's Hanna House, Second Edition: The Clients' Report
Paul R. Hanna , and
Jean S. Hanna
Manufacturer: Southern Illinois University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Architects, A-Z
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Wright, Frank Lloyd
| Architects, A-Z
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Design & Construction
| Home Design
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0809314169 |
Book Description
The Hanna house is a milestone in Frank Lloyd Wright’s career and one of the acknowledged masterworks of 20th-century architecture. The Hannas tell how they came to commission Wright, how they received his ingenious yet provocative design—based on a hexagonal pattern like a bee’s honeycomb—and how it was built all within their means. In this reprint of the 1981 MIT edition they also tell what it meant to live and enjoy life in this unprecedented structure that was eventually given to Stanford University.
Customer Reviews:
What A Story!.......2002-10-23
This book recounts, in meticulous and fascinating detail, the inside, untold story of the famous architect, and the not-yet-famous educators who dreamed of a home of their own that would grow with and around their young family. A wonderful read, full of personalities and the unexpected challenges of this daring young couple's audacious undertaking of building an "outside the box" home in the 1930s. Hanna Honeycomb house underwent careful reinforcement after it was severely damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and is once again available for docent tours. Contact Stanford University, where the home, long ago called "a monstrosity" by other faculty, remains a viable part of the education institution that sustained and grew the young homeowners and their infamous architect. The ashes of the writers, Jean and Paul Hanna, remain lovingly buried on the property, near the home they dreamed, built, adored, and shared with the world.
Book Description
Despite his grand achievements, Frank Lloyd Wright understood the needs of the typical American family. For them he designed the “Usonian Home” and proved that affordability and superb architecture could go hand in hand. With simple supplies and characteristic creativity, Wright devised elegant homes that belied their modest price tag. Take a fascinating tour of the best of these— including the inaugural Jacobs House (1936), which was besieged by visitors, all marveling at its ingenuity. Each was built on the same principles, but differed subtly, depending on the occupants’ lifestyles and local materials.
Customer Reviews:
Usonian Houses: Frank Lloyd Wright at a Glance.......2007-05-20
Not the same as the big coffee table books I have on Wright, but a useful tome. It is an overview of Usonian houses and if you only saw this book you would still be in awe of Wright's vision and design. I am particularly drawn to his furnishings and builtins in these houses.
Book Description
Usonia, New York is the story of a group of idealistic men and women who, following WWII, enlisted Frank Lloyd Wright to design and help them build a cooperative utopian community near Pleasantville, NY. Through both historic memorabilia and contemporary color photos, this book reveals the still-thriving community based on concepts Wright advocated in his Broadacre City proposals. Over the years, thousands of architects, scholars, planners, and students have visited the community, but no book has yet appeared on this remarkable site. Reisley, one of the original members of Usonia (and still a resident), has written the first full account to illuminate the events, problems, and passions of a democratic group of people developing a designed environment an hour from New York City and the ups and downs of working with America's most famous -and most famously volatile-architect.
Customer Reviews:
An Extraordinary Community.......2007-09-20
This is an excellent book: Well-written and thoroughly illustrated, it literally answered all my questions about this astonishing community in suburban NYC. Although I've walked through the community I now feel the need to return as a more informed observer!
Book Description
Chicago and the suburb of Oak Park are home to the greatest concentration of Frank Lloyd Wright designed buildings in the world. 96 of Wright's structures, chronologically presented from the master architect's earliest designs through more modern structures, are explored in 450 gorgeous color photographs and lively essays, along with a separate appendix highlighting the beach houses on Lake Delavan. In 1887 Frank Lloyd Wright moved to Chicago and began his work as a draftsman, eventually starting his own firm in 1893. During his enormously productive Chicago years (1887-1909) Wright developed and refined the ideas that would form his "Prairie Style." Frank Lloyd Wright's Chicago is a comprehensive guide that features the buildings Wright designed during this 22-year period—culminating with the iconographic Robie House, built in 1909—as well as others designed and built later in his career.
Average customer rating:
- Kind of a lot for a brochure
- Heroic Effort Saves Important Frank Lloyd Wright House
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The Gordon House: A Moving Experience
Larry A. Woodin
Manufacturer: Beyond Words Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Residential
| Building Types & Styles
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Wright, Frank Lloyd
| Architects, A-Z
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Historic Preservation
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1582700834 |
Customer Reviews:
Kind of a lot for a brochure.......2002-11-22
Thirty-two pages? Unless you're desperate for this information--and I don't see why anyone would be; there's lots of FLW books--be aware that you're only getting about a dozen color pics and a brief accompanying story. Usonian houses are thoroughly covered in John Sergeant's book, in a more scholarly way. Nice presentation though: the cover is perforated like the plywood panels on the house.
Heroic Effort Saves Important Frank Lloyd Wright House.......2002-03-15
This impressively illustrated small volume tells the inspiring story of an important Frank Lloyd Wright home. The Gordon House, 1957, was designed for an Oregon farmer and his wife. This very special house is one of only two houses to evolved from Wright's famous model house design "A Private Little Club", published in Life magazine, Sep. 1938. When new owners planned to destroy the house to make way for a much larger, but very common place design, national media attention, public opinion, and a sizeable tax deduction, pursuaded the new owners to allow the Chicago based Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy to move the building to a new site. However, they allowed the Conserevancy only 105 days to remove the building from their property. The Oregon Garden, a relatively new botanical garden 25 miles south east of the original site, was selected to receive the building. Their team, through heroic effort and impressive community participation, moved and reconstructed the building in record time. It has now opened as the only Frank Lloyd Wright house museum in the northwest and the only "Usonian" design west of the Mississippy open to the public.
Books:
- From the Cradle to the Grave: Selected Drawings
- Full Faith and Credit:: The Great S&L Debacle and Other Washington Sagas
- Getting to Maybe: How to Excel on Law School Exams
- Godless: The Church of Liberalism
- Good Intentions Corrupted: The Oil for Food Scandal And the Threat to the U.N.
- Health Security for All: Dreams of Universal Health Care in America
- Herzog & de Meuron: Natural History (Herzog & de Meuron)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
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