House tour - newly built FLW Usonian at Florida S. College

9 years ago

Just got back from touring the "largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in the world" at Florida Southern College. FLW designed 12 buildings on campus and a fountain. He also designed a house for faculty housing that was never built. The college JUST built it in 2013 as close as possible to the original specs. It was so far out of code they couldn't include kitchen appliances or a bathtub so as to ensure no one would ever live there.

1300sf, 2 bed, 1 bath.

Front of the house - you enter through the carport. The transom windows right at the top provide light to the central kitchen and bath.
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The same textile concrete blocks were used all over campus. Many of the blocks had stained glass inserted making the house spectacularly beautiful inside.
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Compress and release -- walk down the hallway at the back of this room into the light-filled greatroom. I found it interesting that you enter the house at front but are immediately guided right to the back. All reproduction (FLW spec) furniture.
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View as you come around corner of hallway
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Tiny kitchen, no windows, open shelving, piano hinges on the slab doors.
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From the greatroom, a small back hallway leads to a bath (right), seconday bedroom with closets lining hall (straight back) and master bedroom with closets lining hall (left)
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Transoms in bath and kitchen
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I have a sudden burning desire for a corner French door. That would be cheap, right?
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Small detail example -- the open shelves align with the blocks horizontally and their supports align vertically.
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A few more pics and some more architecture from the campus.

A VERY comprehensive blog I just found about building the house

This post was edited by robotropolis on Thu, Dec 18, 14 at 19:23

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Comments (15)

mboston_gw
9 years ago
I live in Lakeland. Didn't even know about the house. Is it on campus?

I attended a few classes back in the 80's at FSC. Many of the buildings have mold issues and they are cold, even in our mild climate. I guess you have to like FLW's architecture to appreciate them.
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robo (z6a)
Original Author
9 years ago
Hi mboston! It's just across the street from campus near the corner of Johnson and FLW Way (formerly McDonald).

When we were touring the campus I was thinking that the buildings looked more fun to visit than actually go to class in!
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Kiwigem
9 years ago
Oh, robotropolis, thank you for sharing this! I watched the PBS bio on FLW not too long ago- what a fascinating individual. It completely changed the way I viewed his architecture- and my own home build!
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palimpsest
9 years ago
I'm sure things have changed a lot code-wise since these were designed, and since this was built as close to original specs I can imagine that it's not up to current code, but I wonder if it is really actually so non-compliant as to be "too dangerous" to live in, which is the implication.

I think if they were going so close to spec that they could have done a better job with the faucets and door hardware.

Other than that I like it, but I am a fan of Wright
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robo (z6a)
Original Author
9 years ago
I was wondering about the door hardware - I imagine they had to incorporate levers for accessibility. But they seemed a little bulbous.

Kiwigem - my husband and I watched the Ken Burns one a few years ago as well! DH's big joke is to ask where the planes are that Wright built with his brother. Sure enough that one came up this morning...fortunately not loud enough for the tour guide to hear. That guy was fanatical about his FLW.
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palimpsest
9 years ago
Cassina reintroduced in the 1980s-90s who produced FLW furniture, but they offered an altered version the Robie chairs and another chair with a very high back, because they were very upright and people would bang the backs of their heads on them in the course of normal conversation.

It looks like the offer it only with the very high back again ?
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robo (z6a)
Original Author
9 years ago
The barrel chairs I sat in had a very moderate back and were quite comfy.

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The Robie 1 chair looks very uncomfortable
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This post was edited by robotropolis on Thu, Dec 18, 14 at 21:04
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palimpsest
9 years ago
Wright was often a bit disinclined to accept the human element in his designs, especially if you were over 5'4".

Did they go into detail about what some of the things that made the house so "out of code" as to be uninhabitable?

The three things that preexist here are dangerous winding stairs, ceilings under 7 feet and room sizes under 70 square feet. Believe it or not--these conditions exist in a lot of older stock.

But I can't imagine, even under "compression" Wright doing a ceiling under 7'...is it the means of egress and windows that are the real problem in this house?
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robo (z6a)
Original Author
9 years ago
Well, there were French doors in every room...so I wouldn't think Egress would be a problem.

The ceiling height was low. Very touchable by me and I'm 5'7". I'd say very possibly under 7'. The hallways were likely too narrow. Glazing? Amount of electrical outlets? Hurricane proofing?
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bpath
9 years ago
The little stained glass plugs are so cool, like living in a treasure chest when the sun shines through. I wonder what the outside looks like at night, if the lights are on inside do you see the stained glass like little Christmas tree lights?

Thanks for sharing, that sounds like a very fun tour.
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robo (z6a)
Original Author
9 years ago
I bet it is super pretty at night but I couldn't find any photos of it.
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sochi
9 years ago
Very cool house. I too am wondering what could be so out of code that they had to ensure no one could ever live there.

I too love those corner french doors. Very cheap I'm sure.
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runninginplace
9 years ago
Amazing timing--my nephew just graduated from FSC last weekend! Unfortunately my sister and I left to come back to Miami right after the ceremony but our other two sisters got a guided personal tour of the entire campus from our nephew and they were amazed and awestruck by all the FLW architecture. Amusingly, my nephew who is 6'5" also remarked about FLW's dislike/distrust of tall people :).

What I found especially fascinating was that around the perimeter of this stunning mid-century college campus, the houses are classic Florida southern vernacular: wide deep porches with big pillars, oak trees in front yards draped with Spanish moss...very interesting juxtaposition.

Ann
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maddielee
9 years ago
When building the house, the Lakeland Ledger posted a series of articles (blog actually). There are some great pictures and interesting reading at the link.

ML

Here is a link that might be useful: Building the Usonian House
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Pipdog
9 years ago
like most FLW homes, aesthetics trumps practicality here. Yet I don't dislike it. It's pretty compelling, actually.
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House tour - newly built FLW Usonian at Florida S. College

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House tour - newly built FLW Usonian at Florida S. College

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