Description:

Frank Lloyd Wright
n.p., January 2, 1952
Frank Lloyd Wright Reports on Fireplace of His Design Which: "leaks and smokes…The damper is, probably, the trouble..."
Archive
A fine content typed letter signed with an unusual variant of his name "F. Ll. Wright", one page, 10.5" x 8.5", [n.p.], January 2, 1952. To his San Francisco representative, Aaron Green, who is overseeing the construction of the Della Walker house in Carmel, California. As with any architectural project, unforeseen issues arise in the trajectory of the build and, in this case, the fireplace is the source of misery. Accompanied by four retained typed letters and three original telegrams. Overall very good.

In part: "…The press is unusually unreceptive. Stupid, I should say. Mrs. Walker writes [the fireplace] ‘leaks and smokes'…The damper is, probably, the trouble. Send sketch of how done. Should be no trouble to fix the chimney…".

The letters that follow Wright's report date from May 1951 - January 1952, and each mentions the trouble-making fireplace. In 1951, Green writes to Wright: "…She likes the house, except the fireplace…claims that it still smokes out but that she will never [underlined] install a copper hood…". In June, 1951, a colleague from Taliesin relays a to Green a sketch of the fireplace and states: "…We should have let you know Mr. Wright's plans — but as a matter of fact, no one knew exactly what the plans were until only a short time ago…".

In August, 1951, Green again writes to Wright: "…The revised design for Mrs. Walker's fireplace is certainly fine. We phoned her in Tahoe that we were proceeding with its construction…"; and in January 1952, Green reports: "…Submitted drawing of apron-addition to Mrs. Walker and that should stop the smoke…".

Together with: three Western Union telegrams with architectural content, including one from FLW dated August 6, 1951, and stating that he had sent fireplace drawings.

Wright had been contracted to design and build his one and only oceanfront home for Della Walker in 1945. Situated in Carmel-on-the-Sea, the single-story house was completed in 1952. A widow at the time, Walker told Wright that she wanted a house "…as protection from the wind and privacy from the road and a house as enduring as the rocks but as transparent and charming as the waves and delicate as the seashore. You are the only man who can do this—will you help me?"

Wright designed the Walker house as a "cabin on the rocks," to blend in with the sea scape in which it sits, and placed the bedrooms in the back for the privacy Mrs. Walker requested. In keeping with his philosophy that architecture should mimic and blend-in with the scenery around it, the house has seemingly-unbroken horizontal lines of the casement windows that face the ocean and "Cherokee-red" painted ribbons of steel that frame them, together with a blue-green tile roof that clearly references the ocean. In fact, the ocean takes center stage as the inspiration and symbol for the home's architecture, with almost all rooms having a view of the water, including the primary bedroom that was added in 1956. Of the home Wright would say, in 1954: "The overall effect is quiet and the long white surf lines of the sea seem to join the lines of the house to make a natural melody."

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 10.5" x 8.5"
  • Medium: Archive

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