Jax Stumpes: 2023 Road Trip: Frank Lloyd Wright: The Westcott House (5/30/2023)

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

2023 Road Trip: Frank Lloyd Wright: The Westcott House (5/30/2023)

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

World's Largest Candle in Centerville, IN

Madonna of the Trail (1928, by August Leimbach)
is one of the 12 Madonnas erected along the
National Old Trails Road, which at this point
followed the National Road; in fact this was the
first Madonna of the Trail to be erected with
Harry S Truman in attendance in his role as
president of the National Old Trails Association

Now we head into Ohio, to the third city of Springfield visited on this one trip (Virginia and Missouri as well).

The Westcott House (1908-1910, by Frank Lloyd Wright
in Prairie style) is a reciprocal museum with
Tyler Arboretum, where we saved on admission

A long horizontal wall connects the house with the garage

The entrance door is "hidden" at the side
of the house, with wrought-iron gates
and four earth-colored tiles in a square,
a pattern repeated throughout the house

Colored glass celestory windows over the entry way

The house (and garage) had been converted into apartments,
so when purchased for the Westcott House Foundation
in 2001, a complete restoration was needed, which
lasted until 2005 when the house opened to the public

As seen in the reception room above, the decision was made to decorate with items that were popular at the time, such a Tiffany lamps, Stickley furniture, and Stickley-inspired textiles and pottery.

Most of the built-in furniture was recreated using
Wright's designs, including the glass cabinet doors;
only later three of the original doors were found and
installed, the only difference from the recreated door
being the color of the tiny glass panes (the
restorers were working from black and white photos)

Wright's iconic inglenook is large enough to be the
living room, and the bench sofa has hidden storage (KSS)

The Roman bricks used for the fireplace
emphasize the horizontal lines

It is difficult to see, but there are two sets of
shades built into the window, one to still
allow light but temper the effect of the sun,
and the other was a blackout shade

The reflecting pool in front of the house

Even the window awnings and porch canopy were
designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and the porch
covering could be retracted in sections

The enormous planters were also a part
of the design, and these are original (KSS)

A view of the front of the house, and you can see
one of the flanking planters on the left (KSS)

The reconstruction of a Wright dining room
table with built-in lamps and chairs

The children's playroom features child-size Wrightian
furniture, and the wooden tangram-type pattern
blocks that inspired Wright as a child

A peek inside the bathroom with an
original wall light fixture

The colored glass skylight over the stairs

A look at a wall with the encaustic finish,
using a medium of beeswax and tree resin that
is melted together and mixed with pigment
before being "painted" on the walls for
a textured "organic" finish (KSS)

One of the Stickley-inspired applique and
embroidery bedspreads

Plenty of built-ins in the closet

The cantilevered roof over a balcony
(no support columns needed)

A bedroom that for a period was the "great room"
of an apartment in the Westcott House

Another Stickley-inspired bedspread

From the second story, a view along the pergola
towards the garage

Vintage electric fuse panel

The kitchen sink with built-in drainboards

A four-door ice box, with the box
next to the window for ice delivery

Garden along the pergola

A view of Westcott House from the rear to see
the influence of Japanese architure

The stable area of the garage with a gap between the
wall and ceiling where hay stored above could be
shoveled down into the horse troughs

We made a quick stop in Columbus, OH, at the Ohio Craft Museum (1992), which is more of a public display for Ohio Designers Craftsmen and their contemporary crafts. (Tyler Arboretum membership reciprocity, but already free!)