This Week

A weekly round-up of my favorite preservation related stories from around the web and in the news. Click on the title of each story to jump through to the original article/blog post.

 

SC Johnson Frank Lloyd Wright Research Tower – The Journal Times

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SC Johnson Headquarters Research Tower. Image via SC Johnson

“SCJ is currently in the middle of an eight-year, $30 million restoration and conservation plan.  ‘Our family’s long partnership with Frank Lloyd Wright led to these architectural treasures that we’re honored to work in every day,’ company President and CEO Fisk.  Johnson said Friday via email. ‘The Research Tower represents the completion of the work that Wright began here in the mid-1930s with our Administration Building.  As we have made significant investments in these historic buildings and expanded our free public tour program, including the Tower was the natural next step.’”

Locally Owned Businesses Can Help Communities Thrive and Survive Climate Change – The Grist

“Cities where small, locally owned businesses account for a relatively large share of the economy have stronger social networks, more engaged citizens, and better success solving problems, according to several recently published studies.  And in the face of climate change, those are just the sort of traits that communities most need if they are to survive massive storms, adapt to changing conditions, find new ways of living more lightly on the planet, and, most important, nurture a vigorous citizenship that can drive major changes in policy.”

Never Altered Modern in Cali to be Demolished – Curbed Los Angeles

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[Photograph courtesy of Los Angeles Modern Auctions; original photograph by Julius Shulman of the J. R. Davidson Kingsley residence, to be sold with the corresponding lot on Sunday, May 19, 2013]

“On Sunday, Los Angeles Modern Auctions is selling off the custom-built furniture from the Kingsley Residence in Pacific Palisades, designed by JR Davidson, the underrated architect who designed three houses for the Case Study House program (Numbers 1, 11, and 15). Why? Because the 1947 house has recently sold and the new owner is planning to demolish it very, very soon, according to the seller (members of the Kingsley family). Boo! Hiss! According to a LAMA press release, this is “One of the last remaining Davidson houses in its original form … The Kingsley residence was never altered in terms of the structure, and aside from minor updates by the architect in the 1950s, the interior of the home remained almost identical to the [Julius] Shulman photographs for over 60 years.”

Boom or Bust? Saving Rhode Island’s ‘Superman’ Building – NPR

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“The iconic Industrial Trust Tower, knows as the “Superman building,” stands in downtown Providence, R.I. The art deco-style skyscraper, the tallest in the state, lost its last tenant when the bank’s lease expired in April.”

“In Rhode Island, the issue [shrinking revenues, lost jobs and general economic malaise]has come to a head around the future of the once-iconic Industrial Trust Tower, or, as it is known more affectionately, the Superman building — named for its resemblance to the building the Man of Steel leaped “in a single bound” in the . The building is empty for the first time in 85 years, and casts a shadow over a city struggling to reinvent its economy.”

Repurposing Streets with No Name – Rustwire

“In a number of cities, there are certain derelict streets that are nearly denuded of dwellings or businesses. Desolate and forlorn, these streets resemble something out of a post war apocalypse. Detroit may be the poster child du jour of such stark and sad emptiness, but there are many other examples across the Rust Belt and elsewhere. What to do with neglected streets has long been a source of planning discussion and conjecture.  In some instances entire abandoned neighborhoods have or are being converted to urban agriculture or community gardens.  However, this avid bicycle commuter has another suggestion for a few of these lowly streets without names – repurpose them to active transportation byways.”

Latrobe’s Pope Villa

The Blue Grass Trust’s deTours  is a group of young professionals (and the young at heart).  The program provides behind-the-scenes tours of  historic buildings, places, and sites in central Kentucky.   BGT deTours are free and open to the public. They occur on the first Wednesday of every month.

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Latrobe’s Pope Villa in 2011. When built, the villa was isolated and was surrounded by several acres of forested rolling hills. The property was subdivided in 1900.  The villa is now within a neighborhood of moderate-sized twentieth century homes.  Image via The Kaintuckeean

Called “one of this country’s greatest treasures,” by Richard Moe, the Pope Villa in Lexington, Kentucky  was one of the most avant-garde buildings in the country when it was built in the early 1800s.  Designed by America’s “first professional architect” for a US Senator, the house was a cutting edge master piece.  As the home passed into subsequent hands, however, its genius was misunderstood or unrecognized and was soon altered to fit a more traditional mold. Buried under layers of additions, the house was eventually divided into student housing before suffering its final degradation, arson, in the 1980s.  Today the house is owned by the Blue Grass Trust and is being slowly and painstakingly restored.

To kick of Preservation Month, the BGT invited deTours to visit the house.  It was a rare behind-the-scenes look at a historic building mid-restoration/reconstruction. Behind the reconstructed facade,  architectural elements original to the interior lay propped against walls with exposed lathing and cracked plaster, waiting to be installed.  Upstairs, a structure of temporary pathways crisscrosses the vast rooms to provide safe passage for visitors who are curious about the second floor reception rooms for which the house is famous or the fire that nearly destroyed the building.  Charred beams, plaster, lathing and other evidence of the fire remain exposed.  Bits of the original wallpaper chosen by Eliza Pope still hang on the walls in some places. It is at once eery and exciting.  Eery because of the house’s state of suspended decay (one expects to catch sight of a ghost at every turn), exciting because so much of the house’s inner workings and historical elements are currently exposed to study.

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The interior of the villa is mid-reconstruction/restoration/conservation (click to enlarge). Counterclockwise from top left: the rotunda (notice the niche for statuary on the right), detail of remaining original dining room wallpaper, the dining room, bedchamber (notice the layers of plaster revealed), charred remnants, and the main receptions rooms (standing in the dining room looking toward the drawing room).

The Architect

Born and educated in England,  Benjamin Henry Latrobe emigrated to the United States in 1795 or 1796. Trained by neoclassical architect SP Cockerell and engineer John Smeaton, Latrobe quickly found commissions to design houses and public buildings in the US.  Having established himself as the foremost architect, engineer and designer in the country, President Thomas Jefferson appointed him surveyor of public buildings in 1803. As surveyor he was responsible for continuing design and construction of the White House and the US Capital building.

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Latrobe’s sketches of Pope’s villa showing a 2 story and 3 story option. Image via Period Homes Magazine

Over his illustrious career, Latrobe helped create a distinctly American style of architecture “elegantly austere exteriors which contained interiors rich in variety” and set a standard of professionalism that resonates today. He designed and collaborated on some of the country’s most important structures including the Bank of Pennsylvania (the first major Greek Revival building in the country), the Baltimore Basilica, the University of Pennsylvania, and Christ Church in Washington, DC. etc.

The Pope Villa is one of only three remaining residential buildings designed by Latrobe.

The Senator

While in Washington, Latrobe met John Pope, an attorney and US senator from Lexington, Kentucky.  “One-Arm” Pope (I’m not joking here, he literally had one arm due to a childhood farming accident), needed a summer home in Lexington to entertain guests and to use as a political base. He asked Latrobe to contribute a design – a move that would ensure that the summer home was the talk of Lexington. And it was, as much for its aesthetic and the reputation of Latrobe, as for the dignitaries that were entertained there.

Unfortunately, the entertaining was not done by Senator Pope.   Shortly after building the house, Pope lost his senate seat due to his opposition to the War of 1812, an extremely unpopular position in Kentucky.  His half English wife, Eliza, and house built by an Englishman did nothing to salvage his reputation.

The Popes resided at Pope Villa (also known as Pope Place) only a few short years. In 1816, Pope and his wife moved to Frankfort  he was (quite controversially) appointed Secretary of State.  The house was subsequently leased to a succession of well-positioned men who used it as a seasonal residence and for entertaining. In 1819, for example, Major William S. Dallam hosted a lavish reception for former President James Madison, General Andrew Jackson, former Kentucky Governor Isaac Shelby, and a who’s who list of other prominent Kentuckians.

Later,  Pope  formed a political alliance with President Andrew Jackson, who appointed him Governor of the Arkansas Territory.   As governor, he again collaborated with Latrobe. The two worked closely on a proposal for vast internal improvements of Western America, including highways, bridges and canals.

Pope went on to hold a number of other well-regarded political offices, but his Senate term remained the high point of his career.

Though Pope only lived in the house that bears his name for four years, he owned it for more than a quarter of a century. He did not sell the property until 1836.

The Villa

The Pope Villa is notable for the elegance of its design. It is believed to be the result of a close collaboration between Latrobe and Pope’s wife, Eliza. The design married his need for the pragmatic use of space and her sophistication. The result was an innovative plan that incorporated elements of neo-classical architecture and the picturesque and provided a wholly unique spacial concept for American residential architecture.

The cubed-shaped brick villa broke from tradition. It’s minimal facade is dominated by a one-story white portico composed of two Greek columns flanked by arches. The grand domed circular rotunda with skylight was unheard of for a residential structure. And the spacial plan defied the fashion of the day.  To enter the house, guests passed through  a doorway flanked by Ionic columns and large sidelights into a square hall, where they were welcomed into Mr. Popes office on the left, Eliza’s parlor on the right, or ushered upstairs where Latrobe placed the main reception rooms.  This was a departure from the long center hallway most guessed would have expected.

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“Latrobe’s plan for Pope Villa fused 16th-century Palladian and 18th-century picturesque landscape principles – a perfect square with a domed, circular rotunda in the center of the second story and an austere a variety of rectilinear and curvilinear rooms. Three sheets of drawings survive in the Library of Congress.” Image via Period Homes Magazine

Latrobe hated the center hall plan because it caused the co-mingling of guests, members of the household and servants.  He also despised the use of a rear-ell to house all the service functions. His plan cleverly concealed the servants and their goings-about while incorporating the laundry, kitchen and bake house within the main structure. Servants were able to discreetly move between floors by using a separate staircase and hidden corridors.

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Analysis of the circulation pattern created by Pope’s innovative floor plan. He called it a “rational plan.” Image via Exit Review

Aesthetically, Latrobe drew inspiration from 16th century Italian architect Andrea Palladio, which probably appealed to Eliza, who grew up in London where she would have been exposed to other Palladio-inspired structures.  Unlike Palladio’s villas, however, Latrobe designed a series of rectilinear and curvilinear rooms for the interior of the Pope Villa.  These rooms were another break with tradition.  They were surprising not only for their shape, but also because they were dramatically splashed with light and shadow – Latrobe’s use of the term “scenery” to describe the effect reflects his loyalty 18th century Picturesque landscape design principles.

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Hypothetical reconstruction of the drawing as constructed, with original drapery wallpaper; dining room as designed by Latrobe (with furniture designed by Latrobe for other projects); rotunda as designed by Latrobe; and drawing room as designed by Latrobe(with furniture designed by Latrobe for other projects). (Digitally reconstructed by Stephanie Hawk, John Cheng, and Christopher Fahrmeier). Image via The Domestic Architecture of Benjamin Henry Latrobe

The Popes began construction of the villa around 1812, before Latrobe finished the designs.  Using local builder Asa Wilgus, they speculated and made changes as they went along, including enlarging the windows on the second floor and nixing the third floor attic story.  After the Popes were forced to sell the house, successive owners made additional changes to both interior and exterior, including a dramatic makeover by Thomas Lewinski, who was also responsible for Henry Clay’s Ashland estate.  At some point, a rear ell was added (I imagine Latrobe rolled over in his grave).  And later Victorian additions were made.  Eventually, the house was converted into ten apartments for local university students, obscuring Latrobe’s original plan almost entirely.

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The villa as it appeared the 1960s, 1940s, again in the 1960s, and rear additions in 2001. Images via the Kentucky Digital Library and MCWB Projects

A 1987 arson turned out to be a boon for the Pope Villa.  Though the fire destroyed the roof and damaged sections of the second floor, the blaze caused ownership of the building to fall to The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation.  The BGT saved it from demolition  and from obscurity.   Its extensive research uncovered a wealth of knowledge about the house as an historic resource and made it famous in American architectural history/historic preservation circles.  It is now regarded as one of the most important buildings of Federal America.

Since the BGT acquired the Pope Villa, it has been a lab for restoration efforts, conservation techniques and research. Countless architectural historians, preservationists and craftsmen have studied the house and its restoration/conservation process or have made hands on contributions to research, restoration and conservation.

For more information about the process of restoring the villa, visit the links below:

Mesick-Cohen-Wilson-Baker Architects

Restoring Latrobe – Period Homes Magazine

The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation

This Week

A weekly round-up of my favorite preservation related stories from around the web and in the news. Click on the title of each story to jump through to the original article/blog post.

Barns are Painted Red Because of Dying Stars – Smithsonian

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image via Smithsonian Magazine

“Have you ever noticed that almost every barn you have ever seen is red? There’s a reason for that, and it has to do with the chemistry of dying stars. Seriously.  Yonatan Zunger is a Google employee who decided to explain this phenomenon on Google+ recently. The simple answer to why barns are painted red is because red paint is cheap. The cheapest paint there is, in fact. But the reason it’s so cheap? Well, that’s the interesting part.”

Small Versions of Big Box Stores – Preservation in Pink

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Walmart Express. Image via PIP

“Will these stores be considered for historic downtown locations, rather than sprawl? The store in the image above demonstrates that some are a part of the chain store sprawl. And design review doesn’t seem to be in effect in that example. If a Walmart Express (or any similar store) were willing to fit into an existing building block, would you be more favorable to it than if it were simply sprawl? Or do you think that would simply be empowering these big box chains, creating a monopoly, and hurting Main Street and small business owners?”

Art Deco Apartment Lobbies in the Bronx – Scouting New York

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Incredible terrazzo floor. Image via ScoutingNY

A photo log of great Art Deco lobbies in Bronx apartment buildings.

The Last of the Great Chained Libraries – medievalfragments

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Chained library in Hereford, England. Image via medievalfragments

“What I find so interesting about the chained library is the rather fascinating dichotomy between the idea of ‘locking the books down’ in order to create a free, open, and shared space for an entire community to engage in reading. Despite the slight air of ‘mistrust’ (in a perfect book utopia, chains would not be needed), there is still a strong sense of community that underlines the creation of such libraries.”

Ancient Mayan Pyramid Destroyed for Road Fill – CNN

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Image via Christian Science Monitor

“A Mayan pyramid that has stood for 2,300 years in Belize has been reduced to rubble, apparently to make fill for roads.  Local media in the Central American country of 334,000 people report the temple at the Noh Mul site in northern Belize was largely torn down by backhoes and bulldozers last week. ‘This is one of the worst that I have seen in my entire 25 years of archaeology in Belize,” John Morris, an archaeologist with the country’s Institute of Archaeology, told local channel 7NewsBelize. “We can’t salvage what has happened out here — it is an incredible display of ignorance.’”

This Week

A weekly round-up of my favorite preservation related stories from around the web and in the news. Click on the title of each story to jump through to the original article/blog post.

Historic Preservation in Cuba: A First Impression – Tom King

“I continue to ponder lessons learned, or at least glimpsed, in my brief introduction to Cuba, and certainly have no answers. I just hope that someone is thinking creatively about its remarkable urban fabric, and how to preserve and make good use of it as the doubtless inevitable opening up proceeds.”

Astor Estate New Grey Gardens - HuffPost

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Bedroom in Rokeby Mansion. Image via McKendree Key

“The Astor family’s home once embodied the American dream, but now it’s something closer to “Grey Gardens.”  In 1836, when businessman William Backhouse Astor Sr. bought the Rokeby mansion in Dutchess County, N.Y. from his wife’s family, it was a place of wonder. The 43-room home was filled with artwork, books and grand pianos — all in relatively pristine condition. But today, the estate would almost be unrecognizable to him.”

Home-ownership as Industrial Relic – Time Tells

“And I also thought about what Time Tells: homeownership means a fixed location, which makes sense for an industrial economy where you might comceivably have one job in one place for an entire career. It makes sense when fixed assets like factories remain in place. But in a fluid global knowledge economy, of the 21st century the average worker must be trained for 20 years instead of 8 or 12. That same worker will need to be retrained 3 or 4 times over their lifetime and need to relocate 4 to 6 times. We are SO over the middle class of the 20th century so why on earth would we tie ourselves to a mortgage and a fixed location?”

Stocked Fallout Shelter – HuffPost

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“Not only is it fascinating to see the well-preserved time capsule, but it’s also interesting to see what the 1960s family deemed necessary for two weeks underground.” Image via USAToday

“A Neenah, WI family got quite a shock when they discovered that a fallout shelter in their backyard wasn’t empty, but instead, fully stocked. The Zwick family has lived in their current home for ten years, and always knew that the bunker in the backyard existed. But they believed it was empty. The stocked shelter is just one example of the fears that many Americans felt during the Cold War, when the threat of nuclear warfare was all too real.”

4,000 Year Old Gold-Adorned Skeleton Found – The Independent

“Windsor may have been popular with royalty rather earlier than generally thought.  Archaeologists, excavating near the Royal Borough, have discovered the 4400 year old gold-adorned skeleton of an upper class woman who was almost certainly a member of the local ruling elite.”