This conversion from a fifty-year-old white elephant to a modern home points up the temptations of re- modeling: once started, it may be hard to stop. But it also shows that tearing down and building anew, using old foundations and flooring is justified: in this case because of the fine property in the rolling Connecticut countryside, the exceptional landscaping, a neighborhood of good friends, and the lower main- tenance costs and easier upkeep of a new house. The story begins with an uncomfortable, nondescript house. As an experiment, the owners added a modern living room wing, linked to the old house by a corridor that doubles as a sun room. This first step was a prophetic one. The owners so enjoyed their modern living room (glass walls on three sides, a great fieldstone fireplace, a fine feeling of light and air and uncluttered space) that they soon decided to tear down the old house and build a one-story house with the modern wing as its nucleus. Result: a handsome new home on a familiar and long cherished site.
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source: House and Garden Magazine | January 1956
A view can make a house. Sometimes the natural setting is so superb that a floorplan to take advantage of the view becomes the most important architectural consideration. This small house (2,056 square feet) on a hilltop overlooking Bellevue, Washington, is an example. Window walls, a balcony and a courtyard open it on three sides to Northwestern mountain splendor but not at the sacrifice of two other requirements of the owners: an unusually large space for entertaining and arrangements for the seclusion essential to mature. people. The owners' special interests-painting and horticulture-are reflected in the studio with large window on the north side of the house and the garden room with skylight off the entrance hall. The studio, of course, could be a third bedroom. Both rooms add spaciousness to the house and provide additional views of the countryside. But, while the view was of prime im- portance, privacy was a consideration, too. The courtyard and garden wall (including strategically placed fencing) were planned to ensure seclusion.
The house and garage form a U around a courtyard planned for outdoor living. It is sheltered from the north wind, open to a view of Mt. Rainier to the south. The entrance hall garden room, which has one wall of glass and a skylight, has a plant bed that helps to re- late the indoors and the outdoors to each other. The large (19' x 36') living-dining room, with a balcony at one corner, offers a choice of panoramic view or cozy sense of shelter. You can look out to the Olympic Mountains, Lake Washington and the city of Seattle to the west, and Mt. Baker to the north; or you can turn your thoughts inward in the fireplace's warmth. In this part of the house, rooms are linked to each other and to the outdoors for easy entertaining (as many as 30 guests for buffet suppers). In summer, guests move about from terrace to living room to balcony; in winter, the studio. and the kitchen are inviting. In the bedroom wing, privacy was the main consideration. For example, the master bedroom is divided by wardrobe closets; the owners can read in bed, get up at any time without disturbing each other. The plan was drawn to suit two adults with individual ideas of what they wanted but is adaptable and illustrative of how a house can be designed to enjoy its view.
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source: House and Garden Magazine | November 1955
This well-designed suburban house turns an inviting face to the road but is planned so that all main rooms open to the rear for privacy. Across the front of the house there are no living rooms, only one small bedroom and two bathrooms. The upfront garage forms an L with the house, makes a more interesting facade than a rectangle, and the short driveway cuts paving and maintenance costs. The front door is sheltered by roof overhang. Across the rear. floor-to-ceiling window walls face lawn and garden. Tall trees shade the house, landscaping frames it.
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source: House and Garden Magazine | September 1955
This house satisfies the great American urge to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible. A wide sun deck on the upper level of the house faces a spectacular view of Seattle across Lake Union. The deck is partly covered, partly open for sheltered meals and sun bathing. For outdoor dining there is a direct pass-through from kitchen to sun deck. The outdoors can also be enjoyed indoors. The deck is, in fact, an extension of the living-dining room because only floor-to-ceiling glass walls separate it from this room. Living-dining room and deck can be used as one big room when the weather is fine.
All living areas in this two story house have the benefit of a view and privacy from the street. There are window-walls in living-dining room and kitchen on the upper level of the house and in the bed- rooms on the lower level. The entrance, on the opposite side, looks out on a secluded court set back from the road. For complete privacy the front wall of the house, facing road, is windowless.
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source: House and Garden Magazine | September 1955
Today you can be immune to weather's vagaries; you can have a house with a pleasant climate built into it. This air conditioned house in Fort Worth, Texas, is a good example of weather-wise planning. It may be warmed or cooled automatically to its owner's content, but at the same time it has big glass window-walls on south and east sides for full light and air; overhangs keep out the overhead summer sun. On the north and west sides windows are cut down to a narrow band at ceiling height to minimize the effect in the house of the cold north winds of winter and the hot western sun of summer.
All families must cope with the fact that two generations have two different ideas about the good life. Parents are inclined to relative peace and quiet, while children are dedicated to noise. How best to satisfy these opposing points of view? The obvious solution is a house that permits plenty of freedom for both generations. This house goes a step further: it combines all of the advantages of two separate, one-story houses under one roof. It also makes the most of its site, which slopes sharply to the south. You enter the house on the upper level and you find a complete one-floor house.
Downstairs is another floor for living: a big family room, with a cooking-barbecue area that opens to the terrace; a hobby room, one bathroom, and provision for two future bedrooms and an extra bath. Result: two-level living, 2,300 square feet of living space on each floor, opened to the sun and view by great window-walls along back of the house.
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source: House and Garden Magazine | August 1955
