Guest post today from Dave Stuhlsatz, architect with Royal Barry Wills Associates, and my main contact there for all things RBW. I am very pleased that Dave will contribute an occasional article on mid-century architecture, design and related issues. – Pam

The Royal Barry Wills Cape Home
By Dave Stuhlsatz, Royal Barry Wills Associates

The time seems appropriate to revisit Cape Cod House design as it was promoted by a pioneer of their twentieth century revival, Boston architect Royal Barry Wills. When Wills started out in his architecture career he established himself designing English Tudor inspired homes in suburban towns around Boston like Newton and Brookline. But, it was his rigorous examination and subsequent success with the Cape and Colonial Revival homes that cemented his reputation as one of the most influential residential architects in America.

Wills made every effort to publicize what he was doing and how to do it. The fact that other architects and designers didn’t seem to grasp some of the subtleties of his techniques only made his services more sought after by those who wanted the genuine article. From its historical roots the Cape style house is a study in simplicity and function, but with the right combination of details and a careful arrangement of proportions it can be a deeply satisfying architectural composition. Wills did not seek to perfectly replicate the rugged and spare shelters of the 17th  and 18th century on Cape Cod. To do so would have certainly alienated a client base that appreciated the imagery of the Colonial era, but with modern conveniences and luxuries like indoor plumbing and garages.

The images below were originally published in the August 26, 1946 issue of Life magazine. They provide a concise summation of the design principles espoused by Wills.

What is ironic about the “Bad Design” is that is the more frequently used model for Cape construction in modern times. Contractors could, and still do, make a compelling argument for the extra space and material economy that can be realized by employing a steeper roof pitch and larger dormers.

The “Good Design” sketch also conceals the time and care that often went into the details of the custom designs produced in the Wills architectural office. The surge of building in the post-war era witnessed a shift to production techniques that favored production speed over individual craftsmanship. The homes that Wills designed early in his career benefited from the input of skilled carpenters who could invest significantly more time in the construction of mouldings and window trim.

These illustrations also conceal the fact that Wills strived to make his architectural commissions a complete expression of his client’s needs and habits. The constant motifs of large chimneys, carefully scaled windows and exquisitely detailed front entrances imply a formulaic approach to the design process. The subtle variations in floorplans, combined with unique site conditions, contradict this assessment. Wills’ houses display a careful balance between space planning and exterior aesthetics.

The Cape house, with living spaces on the ground floor and bedrooms above, was modified successfully by Wills in numerous designs—his book Living on the Level demonstrated how the visual elements of the two story house could be used in single story floorplans. The power of the Cape Cod house derives in no small part from its near limitless flexibility in layout and details, but without discipline, a Cape can turn into a jumble of awkward shapes. By establishing rules for the composition, Wills could steer the design process in a direction that ensured a satisfactory outcome.

And those large central chimneys that define a Wills home—some of them were fake.

Copyright © RetroRenovation.com 2009

Thanks, Dave, and RBW Associates. I look forward to more guest posts.  Reader, in addition to looking at their main site, here’s a page I love with photos from RBW projects over the decades.

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In late October I had a kaffee klatsch with reader Clare, who is British and lives in London, but oh so coincidentally also has a second home in Lee, Mass., just one town over!

Actually, we had two klatsches (and drank tea): First Clare came to my house and got the tour. Then I went to visit her – descending with camera in hand practically frothing after some serious retro recon. I apologize again, Clare! What a pushy broad I can be. But… I think we got on quite well, little chatterboxes who never stopped. Her husband ran screaming from the house. Oh, I mean, he went on a run.

Clare’s house is a little jewel box inside – you open the door, and voila, full of sparkling treasures. What I particularly liked was her amazing “graphic” eye. She has a real knack for using single images or pieces to really stand out to make an artistic statement. Kind of, less is more. And as you can see – very tidy. Normal, she say, even when guests with cameras aren’t coming.

Back to the graphics. This idea (above) is a great example: If you have just one precious role of vintage wallpaper, use it to cover one wall, with the wall color as ‘frame.’ The photo doesn’t do justice to Clare’s idea (my camera is bouncing too much light off the paper) – in reality, the installation reads almost ‘tone on tone’ with the wallpaper making just the right impact.

And you can see Clare’s graphic touch in the kitchen as well – the beige subway tile with red accents – is repeated in the carpet squares… all unified with the vintage avocado appliances. Hurrah for avocado!

Don’t forget to call me when you’re back for Christmas, Clare!

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A new reader – another Pam – wrote recently to tell me about her Royal Barry Wills home north of Boston and to ask me some kitchen questions. Meanwhile, she has turned me on to this amazing designer – whose Cape Cods and colonials were just as important and influential in postwar design history as any modernists. For today’s Sunday reading, here’s a essay by Richard Guy Wilson, which I’ve continued via a link to the Royal Barry Wills design firm, which still operates today:

The most popular architect among the American middle class after World War II employed three names —and it was not Frank Lloyd Wright but Royal Barry Wills. Life magazine in 1946 anointed Wills as creating “the kind of house most Americans want,” because his books sold more than 520,000 copies, and he had designed some 1,100 houses. Earlier, in 1938, Wills had dueled with Wright in a Life magazine contest over houses for the middle class. Wright entered one of his Usonian designs and Wills showed a Cape Cod house. Although the family initially favored Wright, they selected Wills in the end and built his Cape Cod design.12

Houses designed or influenced by Royal Barry Wills were ubiquitous, as Americans devoured his books, discovered his designs in homemaker and housebuilding magazines and newspapers, and either bought his plans or contacted him for a custom design. By the time of his death, in 1962, Wills and his firm were responsible for more than 2,500 houses. Wills was so popular that a writer for the Saturday Evening Post in 1958 observed: “Many a would-be home owner, surveying the infinite variations of Mr. Wills’s Cape Codders in plan books and magazines has concluded that he is the man who somehow-invented-the-design.

Continue reading

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