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.
The location was picked specifically because after the house was built, FLLW couldn't drive from Spring Green to Madison anymore without having to go by the place and look at it at least once... and if Wright decided he didn't want to look at the damn thing any more he'd have to go twelve miles out of his way to avoid it.
Hehehe
Now that’s some serious inyourface payback.
The online list I found shows two houses in Mississippi, both rather early. I don’t see the house I’m thinking of on there. We know it was in the Delta or near the river because of the “gumbo” soil!
But Wright would never have painted the dining room MAUVE. Ugh.
Our problem is, once you have built your own place, you're never satisfied living in a house somebody else built. This was a custom architect-designed home, and it looks very much like the one we built before that we outgrew (that's one of the reasons we bought it - that, and it had been vacant and neglected for 2+ years . . . the only reason we could afford it). But nothing is exactly where I would have put it . . .
. . . and, oh, yeah, the master bedroom is PINK . . . and the guest bathroom has op-art blue and red wallpaper with silver bows all over it.
Our predecessors had either NO taste, or the worst possible taste. My kids refer to the former owner as "Mr. Toad."
And don't forget to buy a birdhouse . . . we have two, one for the front yard and one for the back . . .
ROTFL! Yeah, there's no accounting for taste, is there? We like finding those nasty looking houses; you can get them for a good price because everyone else sees them as major work and don't want to bother, so they sit, and sit.
My older sister lives in Ocean Springs so I'll ask her where in town they were located. She lost her home in the storm, too, though their's was not an old wooden structure; it was a concrete block bungalow sitting on a concrete slab. Both their house and their neighbors' were 15' above sea level, but her neighbor's was sitting on top of 10' pilings. Since his first floor was also gutted, they guessed the wave must have been at least 30 - 35' high.
When we were looking at this house, I did a little mild espionage - I dressed in my running clothes, took my blister kit and took off one running shoe and sat on the curb catty-cornered from the house for several hours one nice sunny weekend as though I were ministering to a bad blister . . .
. . . the whole time I sat there only one person stopped. It looked like a real estate agent (from her bright red suit to her funky shoes); she pulled in the driveway, got out of her car, stood there for several minutes contemplating the place . . . then got back in the car and drove away! I figured then we could get the place with a lowball offer, and we did!
It was not one of his massive Prairie Style homes - I think both the houses in Ocean Springs were early 1900s - this was one of his late designs, very angular, flat roof, tall narrow windows, etc.
My people are all from northern Alabama -- we lose homes in tornados instead.
Hehehe
When we moved to Tennessee, that was the first thing we bought! It was way high in the front yard and all our friends thought it was hysterical. That was 20 years ago, and the poor old bird house has since bit the dust.
They'll sell you more! (they're not as well built as I remember though - cheap press board now.)
I am very happy there. I've been working for Lowe's for over ten years now. The benefits are great and it is usually a very enjoyable place to work.
But I'm pretty sure it's a lot closer to $250 than $10,000!
Tricksy, you are!
There is another Wright house in Jackson, but there wasn’t a picture of it linked on Wikipedia.
Here is my modern day, poor man's hobbit house.
Our solar house was earth-insulated on the back side, too.
What did you specify for uphill drainage?
I think the house was in or near Jackson - my grandmother lived there for many years, probably why it stuck in my head.
Yep, they're much more prevalent there.
Along Hwy 90, from Biloxi through Gulfport, there were so many older homes that had been there for over 100 years. When the storm was over, there were only four houses along that stretch that were still standing, and even those were damaged. From looking at Googlemaps, the stretch from Bay St. Louis through Pass Christian and Waveland was wiped out at least two blocks inland. There was nothing but timber left.
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