|
George Mayer, a Cleveland
architect who was an associate of Frank Lloyd Wright and was himself
responsible for a number of homes in the Oak Park suburb of Chicago, designed
this home in 1939 for Jack and Frances Lang on wooded land purchased from the
Oakwood Club. Built of blonde
sandstone, reportedly recycled from an old East Cleveland railroad station, the
house is quintessentially Wright
except for its reasonably high ceilings and adequate closet space.
One of the remarkable things about this remarkable house is its setting.Most
striking are the views of the golf course, visible from windows looking north
and east, and "beautiful every time of the year."A fox has been sighted in the
nearby woods.And twice a day every day, at precisely ten in the morning and
four in the afternoon, a pair of hawks circle overhead.Porches and terraces
on both the first and second floors take full advantage of the view.
The present owners, who have been in the house for only
three years, have successfully restored (not renovated) it to recapture its
"mid-century" quality.On the first
floor, the new owners removed the carpeting and stained the oak floors, and
removed layers of wallpaper and repainted.They recarpeted the stairs and upstairs rooms.One of the owners designed the freestanding sofa and chairs in
the living room, the console and table in the dining room, and the mirror in
the vestibule.An open elevator,
complete with telephone, was installed in 1985 but is not currently used.Its folding doors are recent additions.In the kitchen, the new stainless steel
counters have been re-positioned under the windows rather than against the
wall.The 1940s-vintage light fixture
was discovered in a shop on Lorain Avenue.In the master bedroom, the vinyl wallcovering, the result of a special
photographic process, matches the African mahogany (anigrŲ) of the living room
and truly fools the eye.
The many original features
throughout the house include the copper light fixtures as well as other period
light fixtures and hardware; the cabinets and closets; the African mahogany
sofa and chairs in the living room; the double-hung windows with horizontal
mullions; the vitrolite glass walls in the upstairs bathrooms, the specially
designed sofa on the porch off the pantry; and the bookcases in the living
room, which have however been reconfigured to fit the TV, which is hidden
behind matching doors.At the front
entrance to the house, there is a Frank Lloyd Wright reproduction of a geisha,
and a pool by the rear patio is stocked with golden koi, a type of carp that is
both aggressive and quite tame.
|