Posting The Colors

When I left on vacation a week ago Reine asked me if I was going to be visiting any FLW houses and I told her not likely because I was cruising the Caribean.  Yet here I am in Belize (formerly British Honduras) at Altun Ha in front of one of Frank's textile block houses.  The first pic is of me  posting our colors in my Graycliff shirt in front of the temple of the Sun God and the second shows me still having enough stamina to make it to the top of one of the other temples (yes, that is me with my arms and my stomach outstretched.)  Of course, they are not really FLW constructions, but Mayan buildings of the type from which Frank was said to have been inspired to design his textile block houses.  They date to around 500 BC and it has always been on my bucket list to visit Mayan ruins.  These did not disappoint and it was truly special to be there.

However, it presents an opportunity to talk about his textile block buildings.  He designed five houses, all in California, between 1917-1924.  He used the cheapest form of construction material, the precast concrete block, to challenge himself to design something magnificent out of something so common.  He cast the blocks with designs, sometimes on both sides, and often with glass inserts right inside the block.  He stacked them together and reinforced them with iron rebar to create his houses.  None of them have held up well to weather in general or earthquakes in particular and all have had to be rebuilt at least once.  They also have suffered from one shortfall of most FLW buildings; they leaked, especially since most had flat roof designs.  Yet, the design innovation of the building material is still considered a major design development in American architecture and all the buildings still stand.  I will include a list of them below as well as a couple photos of each .

The first was the Hollyhock House built in 1920 in Hollywood, probably his best known house in this design and most fans' favorite.  It was built for Alice Barnsdall.  It was kind of the precurser to the others.


                              

La Minitura was built in Pasadena in 1923 for Alice Millard, a rare book dealer who had previously commissioned Wright to design a home for her in Highland Park in Illinois in 1906.

   


The Storer House was built in Hollywood Hills in 1923 for  Dr. John Storer.

 


The Freeman House was built in 1924 for Samuel and Harriet Freeman in Hollywood Hills.

   


The Ennis House, probably the house most frequently referenced, was also built in 1924 in Los Angeles for Charles and Mabel Ennis.

   

The form of textile block construction has been referred to as Mayan Revival Architecture so you can see how I can get away with cheating by including my photo in front of a set of Mayan ruins, and yes there were some examples of textile blocks in those ruins. You just never know where you find something of FLW, even if it is only his inspiration.   He also used the process in the design of several of his commercial structures, but it is most often touted in this grouping of residences.