Posted on 05/15/2007 2:12:08 PM PDT by NYer
Asked to design a fitting repository for a client’s valuable collection of J.R.R. Tolkien manuscripts and artifacts, architect Peter Archer went to the source—the fantasy novels that describe the abodes of the diminutive Hobbits.
“I came back my client and said, ‘I’m not going to make this look like Hollywood,’” Archer recalled, choosing to focus instead on a finely-crafted structure embodying a sense of history and tradition.
The site was critical too—and Archer found the perfect one a short walk away from his client’s main house, where an 18th-century dry-laid wall ran through the property. “I thought, wouldn’t it be wonderful to build the structure into the wall?”
Not only did the wall anchor the cottage, but stones from another section were used in the cottages construction. “It literally grew out of the site,” Archer said.
Perhaps stranger things have happened in Tolkien’s world, but few houses in this one go to such lengths to capture a fictional fantasy in the context of architecture. Here are some details.
Inside the cottage, a bench seat rests below the “butterfly” window, so called because its center-hinged panes take on the appearance of the insect’s wings when open. The divided-light look is created with gridwork affixed to both sides of the insulated glass.
Like the butterfly window, the cottage’s round 3-inch-thick front door is made of Spanish cedar by cabinetmaker David Thorngate of Newark, Del. Though the round door is used as an entryway, a more conventionally shaped (and discreetly concealed) 3-ft. x 7-ft. door in the back of the cottage conforms to code and, Archer concedes, makes it easier to get in and out. To the right of the round door, an electrical outlet is disguised under a metal box.
I love the Midwest!
I imagine he actually associated an engineer in the case of the Imperial Hotel, since he was aware of the earthquake risk.
You're kidding! No offense but were I in the market for such an elaborate door, I would probably go through a custom millwork firm rather than a store chain. BTW, I prefer Lowe's over Home Depot; much better selection and better organized store. Hope you enjoy your job!
Unique, original .. and downright different. Lots more photos at the above link. Enjoy!
Then you would LOVE Manhattan.
It’s not square!
Do you live in tornado alley?
I am always fascinated by what aspects of the natural landscape attract settlers. I grew up on LI where, like LA, we are prepared for the occasional hurricane but could never understand why anyone would intentionally choose to live in say, San Francisco, subjecting themselves to earthquakes. Then there are those who live in wildfire zones. Again, not an area I would choose.
Here in the middle of NYS, we are spared the hurricanes and over the past century have only experienced one small and quite rare tornado. We have the 4 Seasons and all the beauty that accompanies them. Right now, the perfume of blossoming lilacs fills the air and the Spring lawns are verdant and emerald green. By August, the lawns will have turned brown from the heat (Albany is in a valley) but they all turn green again with the Autumn rains. In October we begin to gather apples (some of the best in this nation come from this area) and watch the trees transform into gold, magenta, purple, rust as the cool nights slow down the flow of sap. Winter brims cool and brisk but not untolerable. January is perhaps our coldest month with nightime temps dipping below zero but this is short lived. By March, the daffodils, tulips and other bulbs are pushing their royally colored heads through the hard earth. And the cycle continues.
Come and visit us sometime!
Not anymore, but we lived in Norman, OK, a suburb of Oklahoma City, for three years, and in Broken Arrow, a suburb of Tulsa, for four years. We spent lots of evenings huddled in our laundry room waiting for a disaster, and evac'ed to underground shelters more than once.
I don't miss the tornadoes! It was very interesting, meteorologically, because storms would come right up the Interstate from Oklahoma City to Tulsa, as if they were following the highway. I suppose there was some natural feature that guided weather systems that way.
Instead of molesting bait with a 2 wt. fly rod, cast a fly to snook able to eat any trout in NY except a lake trout. And, if you don’t mind an exhausting, hours long dispute over ownership of that tarpon fly you fed to a tarpon big enough to eat lake trout, Florida Bay awaits you.
Instead of diving in a dark, cold lake or quarry, consider the Keys. And, if you like wilderness type activities, there is always the Everglades.
We can even outdo NYC for Road Rage cases, and our drug wars are second to none.
PS We officially have worse traffic, too. Makes it H*ll to get to one of the several excellent ballet troupe's’ performances, sometimes
PPS Our buses are almost as dirty as NYC buses. Isn’t competition wonderful?
Have any of you ever been to the “House on the Rock” in Wisconsin? The architect had been fired by Wright and vowed to show him a thing or two. It is a very interesting house built on and around a large rock finger and has trees, boulders and water in it (working from long ago memory here, so I may be off on some things). It is another “cold” house, not one you would like to live in, but interesting none the less.
Pretty amazing! Looks like a parody of Wright.
A lot of wild stuff has accumulated around it. The only thing I can think of that's close is Rock City outside Chattanooga, TN.
I'm no expert , but my best guess would be that they're two effects with the same cause -- the highways tended to be built to follow either a valley or a ridgeline (or a railroad right-of-way, which followed valleys and ridgelines), so there's not as much uphill and downhill road work and driving. My guess -- again repeating that I'm not an expert - is that tornadoes and highways both follow the path of least resistance.
from a site I read "Jordan's dad, a budding architect, had been dismissed at Wright's Taliesin home, near Spring Green, with the declaration, "I wouldn't hire you to design a cheese crate or a chicken coop." Soon after, the senior Jordan chose a pinnacle rock south of Taliesin to build a parody of Wright's fancy-pants architecture, a strange "Japanese house." The ceilings were dangerously low (padded now to accommodate tourists) and the structure seemed to cling precariously to the odd contours of the rock."
We went there a number of times when we lived in Chicago. Lots of other stuff added to it (some interesting and odd collections, like automated musical instruments... a la player pianos up to a "player symphony". The house is worth a tour.
If you're ever down this way, give it a look see. It's tacky but charming. Beautiful natural rock formations with all sorts of touristy additions (notably all the little dwarf statues . . . )
It's built on the edge of Lookout Mountain, with a sheer drop of several hundred feet to the valley below.
Thanks for the lesson on fly fishing :-) Coming originally from LI, fishing is a sport one watches on tv. It's quite popular up here in Albany, as are winter sports like skiing. During the colder months of winter, I practice cabin fever.
We can even outdo NYC for Road Rage cases, and our drug wars are second to none.
The result, no doubt, of displaced citizens from NYC. Thanks but no thanks. I love NY, despite the highest taxes in the country.
try a bit more....like $4k +
I have driven by there many times, and my daughter and her kids just went there over spring break. They loved it. In fact, Mr G has been there as well. Guess I will have to make them take me so we can ALL have been there.
That was what I suspected as well - that the highway followed a wagon road or Indian trade route, and that the earlier route reflected a natural feature that also directed the path of storms.
It was strange to watch the radar and see the storms moving right up the Turnpike. We always made jokes about the tolls!
I don't much care for the show houses that Wright built; they are very cold, and I don't like dark wood trim. I do like the Prairie, and Arts and Crafts style, but I prefer white painted wood trim instead.
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