Frank Lloyd Wright Book, "The Women" by T.C. Boyle, Reviewed by Ward Sutton in "Daddy Frank and the Curse of Sex"

There seems to be a rush of Frank Lloyd Wright books lately. And then there is the rumor of an option to produce a feature length movie. Who should we hire to play Mr. Wright himself?

The latest book is The Women by T.C. Boyle. Barnes and Noble chose to promote the book with an interview, review and hiring cartoonist and illustrator, Ward Sutton to give his take on the book with a graphic novelette, "Daddy Frank and the Curse of Sex".
Click Here for the Slide Show.

Ward Sutton’s cartoons and illustrations have appeared in the Village Voice, TV Guide, Rolling Stone, Time, Esquire, The New Yorker, and on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times.

Don Drummond's "Home for You in '52" - Modern Photo of the Week

In honor of KCMODERN's recognition for helping with the first ranch house survey in Kansas, I thought I would post one of our favorite ranch houses.

Name: "Home for You in '52" (modified L version)
Designer: Francie Drummond with Gier Sloan
Year Designed: circa 1950-51
Builder: Don Drummond
Year Built: 1955-56
Size: 1362 sq. ft. 3 bedroom 2 bath
Location: Prairie Village, KS
Type: Residential
Style: California Ranch
Status: Good
Photographer: Robert McLaughlin

While this photo may look like it was circa 1959, it was really taken on June 24, 2007, during the "Drummond + Weekend" House Tour in Prairie Village, Kansas.

This home was designed by Francie Drummond with the help of Gier Sloan and built by Don Drummond at multiple locations in both Kansas and Missouri. The straight version of this house was called the "Home for You in '52" in a 1951, Better Homes and Gardens magazine article. Sometime after that, the design was reworked into this L-shaped version so that it would fit on smaller lots.

The car is a 1959 Buick Electra and it belonged to one of the members of the local Buick club.

KCMODERN Acknowleged for Involvement In 1950's Ranch House Survey

In the November/December 2008 issue of Kansas Preservation, the magazine published by the Kansas Historical Society, KCModern was acknowledged for helping facilitate a survey by Sally Schwenk and Associates. We provided historical documentation regarding the construction of ranches and their growth in popularity. A neighborhood near 68th and Metcalf in Overland Park, KS wanted to protect themselves from zoning changes that would allow multi-family housing nearby. Passionate about their ranch neighborhood, they initiated the first study on ranches in the state of Kansas. A study is the first step in determining eligibility for an historic designation. KCModern salutes their efforts...(click on image to enlarge)

Experimental Eames Lounge Chair

Well this experimental chair is something that Charles and Ray Eames never put into production and the 1946 date on the photo predates the ubiquitous Eames Lounge Chair production by ten years. The chair is contemporaneous with the introduction of the Eames LCM and the seat shows some relationship to that design. But we can see that the many of the design elements of the Eames Lounge Chair are there. The curve of the seat, the back and arms as separate plywood pieces are all represented in the classic Eames Lounge Chair. Just add the beautiful leather upholstery.

The chair does show a rather crude, by Eames' standards, leg and arm attachment, which begs the question, was this a prototype to test the seating comfort only? Or was this simply early in Eames' career before their refinement skills were brought up to the highly refined standards we expect to see in Eames furniture today?

Via Shorpy

Shipping Container House in Kansas City

I was forwarded a news story recently on a local home that is under construction being built with Shipping Containers. I managed to drive by and snap a few pictures one day last week. The home is being built in Brookside and is currently midway through construction, it is going to have a very industrial feel when it is completed given the nature of the shipping containers. Check out their website for a rendering of the finished product. It must have been quite the battle with the city to get their approval on such a radical approach to home construction [in Brookside].

Community Christian Church by Frank Lloyd Wright - Modern Photo of the Week

KCMODERN friend, SkyVu, aka Jim Seelen, let us borrow this recent photo from his Flickr Photostream. Most of you will recognize it as Frank Lloyd Wright's Community Christian Church from from Main Street and the Country Club Plaza.

Name: Community Christian Church
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
Year Designed: 1940
Builder: Ben Wiltscheck, contractor for the Johnson Wax Complex
Year Built: 1941
Size: Unknown
Location: Main Street at the Country Club Plaza, Kansas City, MO
Type: Religious
Style: Modern
Status: Good
Photographer: Jim Seelen

Here is our description from the KCMODERN website.

The concept for the Community Christian Church represents Frank Lloyd Wright’s vision for a “church of the future” built of modern materials. Planned as a low cost steel frame structure with walls of a concrete material called gunite sprayed over a wire mesh, the church embraced the growing “car culture.” The design called for the ultimate convenience for parishioners by providing parking terraces to allow members to travel from car to sanctuary without being exposed to the weather. Unfortunately the terraces were never built. The hexagonal plan created a dramatic interior space which feels more like an intimate concert hall than a church with its auditorium style seating and stage-like alter. An organic, sculptural skylight sits over the alter of the church. As originally planned, a light tower was to be fitted with powerful lights creating a spire. Due to blackouts in World War II, this never was realized until local artist, Dale Eldred, designed a lighting solution similar to the original design, which was installed in 1994.

The Modern Garden

As the weather gives a hope of warm Spring days ahead, my mind quickly turns to the garden after reading the Fall 2008 edition of Modernism. The Cultural Landscape Foundation and the Chicago Architecture Foundation joined forces for a conference in November and presented The Second Wave of Modernism in Landscape Architecture in America. Topics such as "what makes a landscape design modern?" were discussed by the nations leading landscape architects and garden design professionals of how they were influenced by the preceding generations of modernists.

Speakers included Andrea Cockran from San Francisco.

Walter Hood of Berkley

Tom Oslund of Minneapolis

Peter Lindsay Schaudt of Chicago

Michael Van Valkenburrgh of New York City

Reed Hilderbrand of Watertown, MA
Thomas Woltz of Charlottesville, VA

Houses for Sale

Take a look at some houses currently for sale.

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

http://www.wichitaphotos.org/

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.