The story of how this happened is very long, tiring and, probably boring for most so I'll keep things short. The day I found the property for sale and the day until closing was nearly a year, well 331 days to be exact. Let me be honest though, That's a very long time! It's not like all bets were on this one property...nearly every Sunday for the last year we (my girlfriend Dawn and I) would visit houses of all prices that interested me, ultimately finding nothing that compared.
The property was a "Short Sale" although not short in the terms of time. Some may say I'm foolish, stubborn, determined, or any combination of other words. What I do know is that I've got a lot of work ahead of me and I'm still excited for that at this point.
So that's it for now...photos of house coming next.
If anyone has any comments, questions, guidance, input, or whatever please leave a comment and we'll chat.
-Ian
9 comments:
I checked my list of Taliesin apprentices and Ernst E. Anderegg is indeed an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright from the 1950s.
Thanks Paul,
Yes he was indeed a apprentice. He later moved back to Switzerland to continue his practice.
Ian congratulations on your fantastic home. I purchased a Usonian/FLW inspired home back in 1999. I have had no luck finding the name of the architect or anything related to the provenance other than the trail of ownership. The house is in need of restoration and repair and I am making some slow progress on that front. A new roof went on first, then the chimney rebuilt. The next task to tackle will be turning the garage back into a carport.
Here are some photographs if you feel inclined: http://implify.smugmug.com/gallery/9351472_Tse3N
I look forward to following your experiences on this blog. Congratulations again and good luck!
Implify,
Thanks for the comment! your house also looks very interesting, and set on a beautiful lot. It looks like you have nice terrazzo floors also! Looks like quite the roofing job! May I ask what type of roof was installed?
Thanks for sharing!!!
IM,
The house was built in 1958 and this is the 5th roof to my knowledge that was installed. Apparently the house has had chronic water issues, with a some of the original 3x6 double tongue and groove fir ceiling sustaining damage over the years. I didn't want to have to deal with another roof, so I went with an IB Roof System, which I had thought was the best option. It is a PVC membrane roof, which doesn't wick with standing water. My problem now is that the roof wasn't pitched correctly so I have too much standing water too close to my second story windows. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to install another roof within the next 10 years or so.
The terrazzo floor is another unfortunate casualty. The original radiant floor heating system has failed. The copper pipe has deteriorated and with the front of the house (where the first floor terrazzo floor sits) on a slab, there isn't much that I can do except remove it and repour a new floor with a new heating system.
That is a job for next year, I hope.
I see that you have the original plans for your place. Did they come with the house, or did you have to dig them up somewhere? I'm really frustrated with the lack of documentation for my home.
The failed radiant heat is so sad! that's going to be a huge project I imagine. I've got hat water pipes ran through my slab that are not used any longer also, I've yet to figure out this issue. I saw your photos about the standing water on the roof, how deep is the water on average?
My plans came with the house. It's already been a life saver, I'd imagine that not having these would be much harder. Do you know the original builder?
Ian:
Implify mentioned IB roofing systems, I found samples to look at some time when your home.
URL is http://www.ibroof.com/index.html
& we had a Wi contractor at one time look @ Steve's...http://www.wismetalroof.com/ib-flat-roofing-system.php
This was the contractor that may let you do yer own with some help!
Dad
Hi Ian,
I am excited for you. I am also an architecture addict and have had several projects over the last few years. Some advice would be, keep it simple, honest, and minimize patterns and materials.
My last project was a Herb Fritz house in Madison Wi. It is not in my nature to document my work so I don’t have before and after photos. I am glad that you do this. I will be looking forward to your posts. For flat roofs Fibertight is good if you dont see the roof. I comes in light colors. I used a rubber membrane on the last house because the roof was visible and the mat black color looks better. Make sure your roofer uses drip flashings, not termination strips.
Here is a link to my agents’ photos.
http://www.juliewhite.restainohomes.com/slideshow:1609054?pres_agent=17830&PHOTO_NUM=1
Good Luck,
Dan
Dan,
I believe we met at the House Tour this fall in that same Fritz House (Absolutely awesome house btw). Thanks for reading and keep us updated on what you're up to!
Post a Comment