Well howdy do — Frank Lloyd Wright houses came with pink bathrooms, too. And just wait until you see the vintage 1964 Formica kitchen counter tops in Brady Bunch bittersweet orange Proof yet again — that the most hi-falutin’ architect-designed homes and the most modest ones shared many common elements once inside. The Gordon House — located in Silverton, Oregon — is considered a lovely example of a Frank Lloyd Wright “Usonian” house — and it’s one of the last ones ever commissioned. Let’s take a closer look…
I found the best write-up on The Gordon House on The Oregon Encyclopedia. It explained:
- The house was designed in 1957 — commissioned by farmers Conrad and Evelyn Gordon for their remote property along the Willamette River about 20 miles from Portland.
- The house was not built until 1964. It is the only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house in Oregon.
- In 2000, new owners of the property were planning to tear down the house, which had fallen into decay. A well-publicized campaign was launched, and the house was moved to its present location in Silverton, Oregon, where it is now part of The Oregon Garden complex. The Oregon Garden is “an 80-acre botanical garden, featuring more than 20 specialty gardens showcasing the diverse botanical beauty that can be found in the Willamette Valley and throughout the Pacific Northwest.”
- The Gordon House was added to the National Historic Register in 2004.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian Houses
Moreover, the Gordon House is considered a prototypical “Usonian” house. On Wikipedia, it says that this house was one of the last Usonian houses commissioned.
“USONA” was Frank Lloyd Wright’s acronym for United States of North America. Usonian houses were his vision for low-cost housing for the masses — he began work on the concept in the 1930s. You will recall that just yesterday, we wrote about Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion House — Bucky’s vision for low-cost housing for the masses. Seems like all the big brains were contemplating this topic. Note: Seems to me that in the end, we ended up with variations on my heartthrob Royal Barry Will’s Cape Cod — albeit more and more “ranchified” especially as you moved to the west. Sometimes the easiest solution is the most practical solution… Also, I think that Americans are simply very conservative about the houses they want to invest in — the traditional Colonial is still the prototype for “The American Dream House” and the Royal Barry Wills Cape Cod is a Colonial variant. Architectural critics may turn down their noses. But what if smarty had a party and no one came to smarty’s party?
Anyway, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian houses all had a relatively small footprint… they were built on a T-plan… and shared certain concepts like lots of built-in storage and thick slab concrete floors with radiant heat underneath.
The Gordon House has 2,133 s.f. of floor space, according to Wikipedia.
Another feature of this house — and of all Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian houses (if I am reading the research correctly) — is the “fretwork” window screens used throughout the house, shown above. Each FLW Usonian house received a unique design. The screens are strategically located on windows to block the high sun of the summer. There is no known meaning to the designs, although it’s believed they reference FLW’s love of Japanese woodblock prints.
This house is built of concrete block and cedar.
Lots of built-ins, to maximize living space and make the house easier to clean.
Here are the orange Formica counter tops we promised. I am pretty sure I spy a vintage Revco refrigerator peeking into the photo at the left — see this story showing a Revco fridge, confirmed in the wild.
And apparently (again, if I am reading the writeups correctly), the ceiling in the kitchen is two stories high. I don’t know if I like that particular FLW idea. High ceilings are less cozy, and I think I think a kitchen should be cozy. Also, I think it would feel like there is more opportunity for dust to be flying around up there and falling into my food… It must be something to see, though…
Can anyone identify the built-in oven (with warming drawer underneath??), the stove top — with cover!… and dishwasher? This is a lovely, no-nonsense kitchen. Very nice.
The fretwork is so pretty and sparkly-like with the light streaming in… Also notice the square recessed can lighting. We have done research indicating where you can still get square recessed can lighting today.
Link love:
See The Gordon House our epic list of 59 mid-century & modern historic house museums you can visit
Janeen says
I’ve never posted before but do visit all the time. I’m taking a quick break from a very busy work day to confirm that the Fallingwater bathrooms have cork surfaces, and at Kentuck Knob– a mid 50s Usonian– the bathroom surfaces are like the one pictured above. Cool fact: Kenuck Knob also has a similar stove top to the one pictured here, which cannot only be folded out of sight, but also unplugged and moved to another location (i.e. the patio) for cooking there. Can you find that in any of your vintage catalogs, Pam?
pam kueber says
Thanks for that info, Janeen, and welcome to commenting! We will be doing a story on Kentuck Knob — we’ll specifically ask for bathroom pics! There seems to be a little controversy goin’ on whether FLW would have allowed pink bathroom tile.
Janeen says
I’m pretty sure they are mauve. Then again, FLW only visited the site a few times, and the original owners of the house pushed his buttons during the design and building phases. I’ll leave it to your story to divulge the details.
Doug Camin @ House on Rynkus Hill says
So somewhat random story about Kentuck Knob – I used to work for a dairy company, Crowley Foods, in our corporate office in Binghamton, NY, in the IT department. In the dairy business companies consolidate by buying smaller regional or family-owned milk processors and moving their production (since milk consumption is declining) to their remaining plants.
In the 1980s, Crowley bought the Hagan Ice Cream company, which was based in Uniontown, PA (Pittsburgh suburb, near Fallingwater.) The plant had long ago been closed but we still produced and sold Hagan ice cream and had a regional sales office, so at one point I went, for work, to that office and while there went to visit Fallingwater. At Fallingwater, I learned of Kentuck Knob so I headed that way as well (they are only a few miles apart.)
Turns out Kentuck Knob was built by one I.N. Hagan – as in the people that owned the Hagan Dairy (ice cream) business. They were friends with the Kaufmann’s who built Fallingwater, so they later commissioned FLW to construct a Usonian house for them in the 1950s. I struck up a conversation with the staff there about the connection and they were so excited that they had me contact the local sales manager so they could source Hagan Ice Cream for their gift and snack shop.
I haven’t been there since that visit (circa 2004) but I am curious if they are still selling Hagan ice cream. 🙂
Kate says
What a great story Doug! I’ve been to Fallingwater too…can’t remember the year, but I think it was a tad before 2004…maybe 2001. I used to live in Northwestern PA and Mom and I took a trip south to Fallingwater, but we had no idea about Kentuck Knob and therefore missed out on that experience (darn!) — but we did go to the Ikea in Pittsburgh on the way home! 🙂
Janeen says
Yes, Doug, the gift shop still sells Hagan ice cream!
(I first visited Kentuck Knob in the 80s when a high school classmate was a groundskeeper for Mrs. Hagan. As someone fond of both Hagan ice cream and FLW architecture, it was amazing!)
pam kueber says
What a wonderful historical addition — ice cream!
Melissa says
Don’t forget the Usonia in Pleasantville, NY… 44 houses just 40 miles from midtown Manhattan. A beautiful place to live and see. I know because I live there:) http://thlandscapedesign.blogspot.com/2010/08/i-believe-in-god-only-i-spell-it-nature.html
pam kueber says
beautiful! thank you, Melissa!
Kelly Wittenauer says
I’ve read a great deal about FLLWs Usonians, as well as having visited several. Wish this one wasn’t so far away, as it appears to be a real beauty. He nearly always used a higher ceiling in these kitchens. Very few homes had AC – his thinking was that the high ceiling there would act as a chimney to exhaust heat & cooking fumes through clerestory windows. Many, but not all, Usonians used the fretwork window panels. Often the design would be either an abstraction of the floor plan or a natural form, perhaps the owners favorite flower or a feature of the site. For those wishing to learn more I highly recommend Wright’s book “The Natural house”, “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian Houses” by John Sergeant and “Building With Frank Lloyd Wright” by Herbert & Katharine Jacobs who commissioned the first Usonian to be built.
pam kueber says
Thanks, Kelly, for that info! When I get a moment, I will update the story! Thank you!
Steve says
It seems the Wikipedia article is full of errors, so I also highly recommend the Sergeant book — Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian Houses: Designs for Moderate Cost One-Family Homes — for a thorough description of the design and history of FLW’s Usonian homes. The Gordon house is a very late design (not a prototype), and it is modest in terms of size and materials — mostly concrete block and plywood, as I recall. It was a working farm house, and it shows. But what it lacks in refinement is more than compensated in design. The drama of moving through the spaces — especially from the entry into the livingroom and up the stairs — is exquisite.
pam kueber says
Good point. I think we also will ask the Gordon House folks if they can correct my story as needed. The dangers of the Wiki…. point taken.
pam kueber says
I am now a proud owner of one of these books. Wow, spendy — but I got one used at a great price. Thanks for the tip, Steve, I look forward to reading this. I am continuing work on my PhD in Retro Renovation!
Carolyn Muckelberg says
There’s oodles of FLW houses in WI. There’s a restoration project underway of one of six American System houses in Milwaukee that you can occasionally tour. Granted they are not MCM but still, for 1915, they were pretty forward thinking.
Sara says
Wow, I am adding this to my list of places to visit! I absolutely love the fretwork screens. The edges of the orange Formica countertops look interesting. It looks like they angle out a bit, but have a sharp edge between the top and the side instead of a curve. I don’t recall seeing this on any of the laminate catalogs you’ve featured here on the blog. The orange color is fantabulous!
Sara says
Oh, my browser hadn’t refreshed…I see someone else already commented on the countertop edge. Oh well, it’s pretty cool…deserves a second comment I guess 🙂
Todd Allen says
I love this house! I have a 1963 Lincoln Continental convertible that I have had on display in the driveway for a couple special events at the Gordon house and have been invited back for a couple events this year. Both represent pure simple elegance in design of that era.
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q120/toddwallen/franklloydwright012.jpg?t=1371653890
Kelly Wittenauer says
Todd,
Beautiful car – and so fitting displayed at such a beautiful house! I believe Mr. Wright would approve, especially having owned a Lincoln himself.
pam kueber says
WOAH! Heck with the house, we want the car!
Todd says
Thanks Pam, quite a compliment from such an avid house addict such as yourself 🙂
Jay says
FLW was placed on the sidelines by modern architecture critics. He was not considered mainstream but his work is here to stay. You have to admire his creativity that sprang forth to envision all of his buildings before the advent of computers to design structures.
Wendy M. says
I’m kind of embarrassed to say that I live less than an hour from Silverton and I still haven’t been to tour this FLW house! I must make it a priority this summer. Thanks for the reminder (and the very informational story.)
(FYI- if you do visit, make time to also go to nearby Silver Falls State Park…10 beautiful waterfalls on an approximately five-mile hiking trail- well worth the trip and one of my favorite waterfall hikes.)
LauraRG says
Lovely! I lived in Madison WI when I was in my 20’s. My husband had some friends from the Netherlands come visit who happened to be architecture students. They were very eager to see Madison’s FLW homes so we got ourselves a brochure and drove around to see them all. There is a cluster of them along one of Madison’s lakes and most had gated driveways. We peeked at them, knocked on the doors of the ones we could, took some photos and thoroughly enjoyed seeing them.
We had one wonderful surprise; one of the doors we knocked on was opened by a delightful older woman was been the original owner. She was excited that architecture students wanted to see her home and gave us the grand tour. She told us she felt obligated to share her treasure with people who appreciated it. As an art student and fan of mid-century art and architecture I was thrilled to be in an FLW house “in the wild” so to speak. She and her husband really “lived” in their home. She had plants in all the windows, many of them trailing everywhere along the woodwork. The overall feel of the house was like the Gordon house featured here. There was no pretense of maintaining the house as if it were a museum. (she pooh-poohed her neighbors who did!) She hadn’t destroyed or remodeled any of the features, but she and her husband did have plenty of comfortable furniture. There was children’s artwork (grandchildren I supposed) and kitschy little souvenirs and mementos all over. She spoke of how convenient the house was to live in, how there was just enough storage for her things, but not so much that she accumulated too much! She loved the built-ins, the benches and cabinets. They were very handy for entertaining. The one drawback was the flat roof, but that’s always a problem.
I have since toured several FLW museum homes, sacred and commercial buildings, but none of them hold the memories that this one does. Thanks so much for posting this and bringing back this wonderful memory for me!
pam kueber says
what a great story!!!! thank you!
Jay says
WoW! Great story! I have to admire your grit at knocking on the door. I would never think of doing that. How nice you were invited in to see the house. Not so sure FLW would approve of the “real living” going on in one of his houses. I read he was dictatorial when it came to furnishing his interior spaces. He sparred with clients about decoration.
LauraRG says
I have also heard he was pretty particular about how his houses were furnished. He had been dead almost 30 years by the time I visited that house; I doubt he would have had much to say about how they lived in it!!
Kelly Wittenauer says
Laura,
Thanks for sharing your wonderful story. How lucky you were to be invited in!
Amy in Sacramento, CA says
Loved this piece, love your site! Thanks, Pam! 🙂
pam kueber says
Thank you, Amy!