Artist- and architect-made houses that I can tour
October 13, 2022 8:15 AM Subscribe
Recently I visited Russel Wright's Manitoga and Philip Johnson's Glass House. I have plans to see Donald Judd's workspace in New York. Where else should I go?
Artist Frederick Church built an orientalist fantasy house he called Olana on a sculpted hill overlooking beautiful Hudson River landscapes on all four sides, in the manner of… Vitruvius? I think.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 8:26 AM on October 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 8:26 AM on October 13, 2022 [3 favorites]
Frank Lloyd Wright's Darwin D. Martin House in Buffalo is fantastic. There's also his Greycliff Estate a little south of the city.
posted by jonathanhughes at 8:27 AM on October 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by jonathanhughes at 8:27 AM on October 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
The Wharton Esherick Museum, near Philadelphia, is on my list.
posted by jon1270 at 8:47 AM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by jon1270 at 8:47 AM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
How far are you willing to travel? Pablo Neruda’s 3 houses in Chile are an incredible visit. One is in Santiago, one in Valparaiso, and one in Isla Negra.
posted by mekily at 8:52 AM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by mekily at 8:52 AM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
2nding the Martin House in Buffalo -- I actually liked that tour better than Fallingwater.
posted by jabes at 8:56 AM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by jabes at 8:56 AM on October 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Looks like you like 20th century modernism.. some others in that vein:
The Gropius House in Lincoln, Massachusetts
The Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois
The Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht, Netherlands
Habitat 67 in Montreal and the Barbican Estate in London are both housing complexes rather than individual homes, but both fantastic tours
Villa Savoye in Poissy, France
posted by theodolite at 9:00 AM on October 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
The Gropius House in Lincoln, Massachusetts
The Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois
The Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht, Netherlands
Habitat 67 in Montreal and the Barbican Estate in London are both housing complexes rather than individual homes, but both fantastic tours
Villa Savoye in Poissy, France
posted by theodolite at 9:00 AM on October 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
Monticello (Thomas Jefferson was the architect)
The Mount (author Edith Wharton was the designer)
posted by beagle at 9:31 AM on October 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
The Mount (author Edith Wharton was the designer)
posted by beagle at 9:31 AM on October 13, 2022 [4 favorites]
If you're interested in houses outside the US:
Sir John Soane's Museum in London is fantastic. "Discover the extraordinary house and museum of Sir John Soane, one of the greatest English architects, who built and lived in it two centuries ago. The museum has been kept as it was at the time of his death in 1837, and displays his vast collection of antiquities, furniture, sculptures, architectural models and paintings."
I'm not sure how well architect-designed houses for the general public fit the bill for what you're after, but the Cube Houses in Rotterdam are fun, and one of them is open to the public as a Show Cube. Another one has been turned into a hostel, so if a tour isn't immersive enough, you could stay in one!
And you might like the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum in Tokyo: designed in 1954 by architect Junzo Sakakura for the artist Taro Okamoto, who lived and worked there until his death in 1996. Oddly, what's stuck most in my memory (having visited it in 2005 or so) is the garden.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 9:35 AM on October 13, 2022
Sir John Soane's Museum in London is fantastic. "Discover the extraordinary house and museum of Sir John Soane, one of the greatest English architects, who built and lived in it two centuries ago. The museum has been kept as it was at the time of his death in 1837, and displays his vast collection of antiquities, furniture, sculptures, architectural models and paintings."
I'm not sure how well architect-designed houses for the general public fit the bill for what you're after, but the Cube Houses in Rotterdam are fun, and one of them is open to the public as a Show Cube. Another one has been turned into a hostel, so if a tour isn't immersive enough, you could stay in one!
And you might like the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum in Tokyo: designed in 1954 by architect Junzo Sakakura for the artist Taro Okamoto, who lived and worked there until his death in 1996. Oddly, what's stuck most in my memory (having visited it in 2005 or so) is the garden.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 9:35 AM on October 13, 2022
You can stay at a treehouse designed by Oregon architect Saul Zaik.
In Portland, you can visit the Pittock Mansion.
There may be tours of the John Yeon Watzek house, though the website it out of date.
posted by hydra77 at 9:51 AM on October 13, 2022
In Portland, you can visit the Pittock Mansion.
There may be tours of the John Yeon Watzek house, though the website it out of date.
posted by hydra77 at 9:51 AM on October 13, 2022
Taliesin West in Arizona and Dennis Severs’ house In London
posted by tardigrade at 11:33 AM on October 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by tardigrade at 11:33 AM on October 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
The Miller House by Saarinen is an absolute must-see. Columbus, IN, which is disproportionately full of A-list architecture.
posted by Capt. Renault at 1:09 PM on October 13, 2022
posted by Capt. Renault at 1:09 PM on October 13, 2022
The Saarinen House at Cranbrook (Saarinen the father) is also a gem, and an entire work.
And you can visit FLW's Smith House at the same time. FLW paid particularly close attention to this one, as the owner was his own contractor in order to keep expenses down.
posted by Capt. Renault at 1:25 PM on October 13, 2022
And you can visit FLW's Smith House at the same time. FLW paid particularly close attention to this one, as the owner was his own contractor in order to keep expenses down.
posted by Capt. Renault at 1:25 PM on October 13, 2022
You might enjoy E-1027, which was designed by the fascinating Eileen Gray.
posted by SandCounty at 5:11 PM on October 13, 2022
posted by SandCounty at 5:11 PM on October 13, 2022
Luis Barragan's house in Mexico City was very cool.
posted by monologish at 5:14 PM on October 13, 2022
posted by monologish at 5:14 PM on October 13, 2022
Second Taliesin West! If it’s in your budget, the Sydney Opera House is amazing and in the other direction La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.
posted by billsaysthis at 8:46 PM on October 13, 2022
posted by billsaysthis at 8:46 PM on October 13, 2022
You can also go the "first" Taliesin in Spring Green, WI. It's in the same town as House on the Rock, which might be its utter anthesis.
In the central coast area, you can take multiple types of tours at the Hearst Castle, designed by Julia Morgan.
Los Angeles is a goldmine for this stuff, you should check out these (barely scratching the surface here, though):
-Stahl House
-Hollyhock House
-Schindler House
posted by deinemutti at 2:03 AM on October 14, 2022
In the central coast area, you can take multiple types of tours at the Hearst Castle, designed by Julia Morgan.
Los Angeles is a goldmine for this stuff, you should check out these (barely scratching the surface here, though):
-Stahl House
-Hollyhock House
-Schindler House
posted by deinemutti at 2:03 AM on October 14, 2022
The Eames House in Los Angeles is currently only offering exterior tours but it definitely fits this description.
posted by perplexion at 5:34 AM on October 14, 2022
posted by perplexion at 5:34 AM on October 14, 2022
While you're at Fallingwater, visit the nearby Kentuck Knob, also by Frank Lloyd Wright. It's more modest and has fewer tourists, and it has some great sculpture around the grounds.
posted by booth at 8:59 AM on October 14, 2022
posted by booth at 8:59 AM on October 14, 2022
The Sheats-Goldstein Residence in Los Angeles is sometimes open for tours and very much worth a visit.
posted by zombiedance at 9:46 PM on October 14, 2022
posted by zombiedance at 9:46 PM on October 14, 2022
Oak Park, Illinois is the home of Frank Loyd Wright - here's tour information.
Oak Park is an easy train ride if you're staying in Chicago.
posted by bendy at 10:32 PM on October 14, 2022
Oak Park is an easy train ride if you're staying in Chicago.
posted by bendy at 10:32 PM on October 14, 2022
You should consider joining DOCOMOMO or following them, they have many tours of wonderful architect designed houses, including ones not otherwise open to the public. They organize a couple annual city trips in addition to plenty of other events. Here's an example of the tours they had at this year's national symposium.
A lot of places do annual tours through a bunch of houses, which is another way to see places that might not otherwise be open.
That said I would add the Raymond Farm Center and the Nakashima Studio to the list above, especially if you can combine them with the Wharton Esherick house and Shofuso in Fairmount Park.
posted by sepviva at 9:32 AM on October 15, 2022
A lot of places do annual tours through a bunch of houses, which is another way to see places that might not otherwise be open.
That said I would add the Raymond Farm Center and the Nakashima Studio to the list above, especially if you can combine them with the Wharton Esherick house and Shofuso in Fairmount Park.
posted by sepviva at 9:32 AM on October 15, 2022
« Older When to tell boss about upcoming surgery and... | The trouble with Tribble pom-poms. Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by restless_nomad at 8:18 AM on October 13, 2022 [3 favorites]