Lloyd Wright- Restoration, Remodel, or Desecration?

Lloyd Wright has often unjustly been compared to his father, Frank Lloyd Wright. It is true that Lloyd did indeed follow his fathers principles, but Lloyd owned his own effects and was himself quite an innovator and a centrally important Architect in the modernism of Southern California. Had his name been John Smith, it would perhaps be easier for people to take him on his own instead of taking him only as a appendage to his Father, a position Frank Lloyd Wright worked hard to place him in.

Today I went on the Friends of the Gamble House demi tour of Lloyd Wright buildings mainly to get inside of Lloyd Wright's Sowden house, a thirty year aspiration of mine. The house is known around hollywood as "the jaws house" for the prominent inverted chevron of textile blocks making the balcony and the chevron of blocks making the balcony roof.

The tour began with a docent retelling the often told, and totally incorrect tale of Lloyd Wright "adopting his Father's textile block system to this house." Eric Lloyd Wright, Frank lloyd Wright's grandson and Lloyd Wright's son, has often stated that Lloyd was the primary inventor of the Textile Block system, and indeed he first used them in a built structure (Bollman house) before his father ever did. Sweeny's book on the textile block system documents clearly that it was Lloyd who first appropriated this system. But the lie having been told so often and by so many with academic credentials is difficult to erase. Jeanette, my wife grabbed my arm as I was about to correct the docent, so today the lie continues as truth in the minds of the many tour goer's.

SO starting with that lie, but a great deal of anticipation, I began the ascent up the stairwell to the house. This stairwell is entered under the low and forbidding overhand of the balcony textile blocks. We turn at ninety degrees to walk up the very low ceilinged stairwell. The ceiling here is about an average of six foot six, below what the current code allows, but safe enough to traverse. This stairwell was once dark, foreboding and mysterious. Here we encounter the first great "mistake" of the present remodel-The stairwell has had dozens of hologen lights placed within it making the passageway brightly lit. For inexplicable reasons the paving is no longer flat concrete 16" square concrete blocks, but thin slate 12" pavers, altering the module once prominent throughout the house. At the top of the stairs, we arrive at a landing, turn ninety degrees into the small entry space and walk into the living room with a cathedral ceiling that explodes dimensionally and is full of light. A effect that should be dramatic and is less so due to the now overlighted stairwell. A docent is pointing out the new pewter venician plaster that the non block ceiling has been now rendered into. Lloyd Wright had used a very sandy plaster finish with an oil based dye for these areas. The new effect is not unpleasant, it is just not authentic to the house or Lloyd Wright's portfolio of work. We are told that the lighting fixture is a copy of Lloyds original design... Lloyd's original was made of wood. This one is steel and the welding poorly done. The welds look like glops of bubble gum on the mitres and are not dressed or sharp, a condition Lloyd would have never accepted. There are pieces along the edge that are rough due to hurried and uncaring fabrication, again a situation that Lloyd would never have accepted.

The Library has more of this venitian metallic plaster, and indeed in varying colors it is found throughout the house. The library is mostly restored except the lighting fixture/skylight lense ove rthe fireplace is rendered now in hideous swirled colored art glass. In the original Lloyd used a sandblasted amber glass and that was later replaced by him for a later owner with snadblasted clear glass.

The rest of the house plan was severely altered, with rooms having no relation to their prior locations and all of the excellent well thought out bathrooms being replaced with a 1980's Beverly hills decorator interpretation of updated 1920's slick modern. It was plain sad. The center court yard has been raised in height considerably and one no longer walks down into it.

The design of the pool and spa are somewhat sympathetic to Lloyds body of work and even incorporate reproductions of the blocks that Lloyd used at this house to represent water. The paving area is again not on Lloyd's module and is made of 18" x 36" cast concrete common paving like one would find at Home Depot. Many of the doors to the circulation hallway that once allowed immediate access to the central court from every room in the house and from the circulation hall are now blocked with planting or very large placed crystal stones.

A fortune was spent on this house "restoration". While many of Lloyd Wright's features were unable to be overcome by the more recent designer, their is a clear fight going on between the new elements and Lloyd's original intentions and design. Oddly, with all of the money spent, none of the original Lloyd Wright designed furniture for this house was either purchased or reproduced, but versions of his furniture for later homes was reproduced, and done in a almost mocking manner when it came to materials choices.

So hence we have the age old argument :When is it a "restoration" and when is a remodel a Architect designed house a devestation of an important work of art. I can not define where the line is, but as a Supreme Court Justice once said "I know it when i see it". Here one of Lloyd Wright's best homes and a important touchstone of Southern California and American Culture has been desecrated. Lloyd Wright deserves better.