New and old Mod photos

[marmer]

I've been taking pictures with my little pencam. Many of these are from the car, so I apologize if they're not the best quality.

David D. Red house on Sunset:

David D. Red house on North (seems pretty commonplace to me, sorry for the bad photo) It's mostly hidden by vegetation but appears to be Spanish style stucco or painted brick with a tile roof.

This is the FLW-inspired house I thought was by David D. Red, but it must not be. Corner of South and Mandell.

While driving around North Blvd, I went up Mandell to Milford and turned right at the Arquitectonica townhomes. I remember that area as being full of nicely kept, trim little ranches. There still are some, but interspersed are these. Oh. My. God.

...and the two most dramatic:

I didn't get anything great from the RDA tour on Sunday, but a got a few things that amused me.

Impressive chimney pylon in Southgate:

Funny door detail on an otherwise normal ranch house, also in Southgate:

A man's home is his castle, in Southampton, too:

Tom Wilson's most dramatic mod in Southampton:

and finally, very scary looking house in rural Pearland. Note that the car in the driveway and the satellite dish seem to imply that it's occupied. Those gables belong in a horror movie somewhere!

marmer

[Willowisp]

Ben H will know better, but I thought this was Kamrath. I've seen it on HAR, but no sign out front. It was actually supposed to be open and we wanted to go but the gate was locked when we went.

Jason

This is the FLW-inspired house I thought was by David D. Red, but it must not be. Corner of South and Mandell.

marmer

[marmer]

You're right. I think it is Kamrath. Certainly looks like it could be.

marmer

[Dan the Man]

Since you were in the neighborhood, I was surprised that you did not include that neat 1930s International Style house on the Southwest corner of Milford & Mandell. The English Tudor directly across the street is an awesome house as well.

[BenH]

You're right. I think it is Kamrath. Certainly looks like it could be.

marmer

This is becoming quite a debate, because that house isn't listed in the drawings catalog. So there's someone else out there building prairie houses. I've only seen two buildings by David Red (his own house on Sunset and the Kelvin Design Studio).

[marmer]

Since you were in the neighborhood, I was surprised that you did not include that neat 1930s International Style house on the Southwest corner of Milford & Mandell. The English Tudor directly across the street is an awesome house as well.

Sorry. I didn't have a lot of time and I didn't want to draw too much attention to myself (there were lots of people out walking dogs, etc.) That is a great house, but I wanted to get some of the newer ones, and as I recall it is very obscured by plantings.

I've been hoping to get back over there, maybe with a bicycle and a better camera, and get some better photos. Yes, there are probably forty or more houses between Rice University and the Southwest Freeway that are visually interesting.

marmer

This is becoming quite a debate, because that house isn't listed in the drawings catalog. So there's someone else out there building prairie houses. I've only seen two buildings by David Red (his own house on Sunset and the Kelvin Design Studio).

I lived on Castle Court in the late '80s and my wife and I walked the neighborhoods south of the freeway a lot. I don't think that house was that battleship gray color back then. Edit: HCAD says built 1940, remodeled 1988. That might explain the color change around then. Of course HCAD's construction dates are sometimes off, but were Mackie & Kamrath active that early?

marmer

[BenH]

Sorry. I didn't have a lot of time and I didn't want to draw too much attention to myself (there were lots of people out walking dogs, etc.) That is a great house, but I wanted to get some of the newer ones, and as I recall it is very obscured by plantings.

I've been hoping to get back over there, maybe with a bicycle and a better camera, and get some better photos. Yes, there are probably forty or more houses between Rice University and the Southwest Freeway that are visually interesting.

marmer

I lived on Castle Court in the late '80s and my wife and I walked the neighborhoods south of the freeway a lot. I don't think that house was that battleship gray color back then. Edit: HCAD says built 1940, remodeled 1988. That might explain the color change around then. Of course HCAD's construction dates are sometimes off, but were Mackie & Kamrath active that early?

marmer

MacKie & Kamrath began their practice in the mid-30's. They were winning awards too, but then Karl Kamrath went off to war, so it couldn't have been 1940 when that house was built if it is one of his.

[marmer]

MacKie & Kamrath began their practice in the mid-30's. They were winning awards too, but then Karl Kamrath went off to war, so it couldn't have been 1940 when that house was built if it is one of his.

Not to quibble (quibble, quibble) but the Handbook of Texas Online says that Mackie and Kamrath moved from Chicago and started their own firm in Houston in 1937. It also says that Kamrath served as a captain in the Army Corps of Engineers from 1942 to 1945. It also, interestingly, says that Kamrath met Wright for the first time in 1946 and his dedication to the Usonian style began after that meeting. (implied: not before then) Didn't Scott Miller do his masters thesis at Rice on Mackie and Kamrath? There's also a catalog of drawings by Mackie and Kamrath at Rice's Woodson Research Center. (I haven't seen it though)

marmer

[marmer]

miller's thesis on MacKie and Kamrath has copies of the correspondence between Kamrath and Wright, which is interesting. it also has some photos, but they are pretty low-quality black and white reproductions...

I've seen it. Kamrath sounds like a total fanboy, even though he had an established practice by this time, and Wright sends back these terse, smudged notes with a tone that one might use to address a young student. Kamrath always addresses Wright on M & K firm stationery, as "Mr. Wright," and Wright always calls Kamrath "Karl."

If the 1940 date is good, I'll bet this is one of the earliest "Usonian" style houses in Houston. This is all speculation, but I wonder if:

1. The original client drove the design. Maybe someone from or familiar with Oak Park?

2. if 1., then presumably it could have been any competent architect. Lenard Gabert, maybe, or J.T. Rather?

3. This was an early essay by Kamrath before his meeting with Wright and before he committed to the style; after his association with Wright he didn't want to draw attention to it for personal or professional reasons.

marmer

[Lowbrow]

This house was designed by the same architects that I currently have helping me on some remodeling, Glassman Shoemake Maldonado (Carrie and Ernesto).

They also designed this one you've undoubtedly seen on Bissonett:

They also remodeled these two:

Bluebonnet

Institute:

[BenH]

I've seen it. Kamrath sounds like a total fanboy, even though he had an established practice by this time, and Wright sends back these terse, smudged notes with a tone that one might use to address a young student. Kamrath always addresses Wright on M & K firm stationery, as "Mr. Wright," and Wright always calls Kamrath "Karl."

If the 1940 date is good, I'll bet this is one of the earliest "Usonian" style houses in Houston. This is all speculation, but I wonder if:

1. The original client drove the design. Maybe someone from or familiar with Oak Park?

2. if 1., then presumably it could have been any competent architect. Lenard Gabert, maybe, or J.T. Rather?

3. This was an early essay by Kamrath before his meeting with Wright and before he committed to the style; after his association with Wright he didn't want to draw attention to it for personal or professional reasons.

marmer

According to Phillip Johnson in Ken Burns documentary Frank Lloyd Wright: American Architect, no one ever called Wright by his first name, not even his wife Olgivanna, unless it were a very private moment. This is supported in every book I've ever read about him, including Herbert Jacobs' book and The Fellowship.

Keep in mind also that at the time Kamrath would have been writing to him, Mr. Wright was at the height of his popularity. There was no more influential architect in the world, even among the internationals. Kamrath was addressing him the way anyone profoundly influenced by him would.

Karl Kamrath cannot be written off as a Wright copy artist, even though he did pay tribute a great deal. Wrights' designs often crept into Kamrath's work, but he usually put enough of himself into the building to make it his own. Example: Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church. Some might say that it's just a copy of Wright's Unitarian meeting house, but anyone whose spent more than ten minutes walking around and looking at it will know that it's more distinct than that. Also, look at his best houses: everything on Tiel Way is pretty darn original, as is the Stewart N. Campbell house at 414 Thamer Ln. (probably Kamrath's best residential work). Following Wright from a distance, rather than being an apprentice at Taliesin, probably kept Kamrath from abject poverty, too.

[marmer]

This house was designed by the same architects that I currently have helping me on some remodeling, Glassman Shoemake Maldonado (Carrie and Ernesto).

They also designed this one you've undoubtedly seen on Bissonett:

They also remodeled these two:

Bluebonnet

Institute:

Wow! Great photos! Especially the Bluebonnet house, and nice to see it so nicely remodeled. I didn't realize it looked that good now. Yes, I know the Bissonnet house, and I believe it's being remodeled. I met Carrie Glassman Shoemake and her husband last weekend because they were docents at one of the RDA houses, and complimented her on the Bissonnet house.

According to Phillip Johnson in Ken Burns documentary Frank Lloyd Wright: American Architect, no one ever called Wright by his first name, not even his wife Olgivanna, unless it were a very private moment. This is supported in every book I've ever read about him, including Herbert Jacobs' book and The Fellowship.

Keep in mind also that at the time Kamrath would have been writing to him, Mr. Wright was at the height of his popularity. There was no more influential architect in the world, even among the internationals. Kamrath was addressing him the way anyone profoundly influenced by him would.

Karl Kamrath cannot be written off as a Wright copy artist, even though he did pay tribute a great deal. Wrights' designs often crept into Kamrath's work, but he usually put enough of himself into the building to make it his own. Example: Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church. Some might say that it's just a copy of Wright's Unitarian meeting house, but anyone whose spent more than ten minutes walking around and looking at it will know that it's more distinct than that. Also, look at his best houses: everything on Tiel Way is pretty darn original, as is the Stewart N. Campbell house at 414 Thamer Ln. (probably Kamrath's best residential work). Following Wright from a distance, rather than being an apprentice at Taliesin, probably kept Kamrath from abject poverty, too.

I didn't mean any disrespect to Kamrath, but I didn't think Wright treated him very well based on the correspondence I saw. I'm no expert, but it seems that Kamrath was certainly more attuned to the needs of his clients and their community than Wright ever was.

marmer

[BenH]

Wow! Great photos! Especially the Bluebonnet house, and nice to see it so nicely remodeled. I didn't realize it looked that good now. Yes, I know the Bissonnet house, and I believe it's being remodeled. I met Carrie Glassman Shoemake and her husband last weekend because they were docents at one of the RDA houses, and complimented her on the Bissonnet house.

I didn't mean any disrespect to Kamrath, but I didn't think Wright treated him very well based on the correspondence I saw. I'm no expert, but it seems that Kamrath was certainly more attuned to the needs of his clients and their community than Wright ever was.

marmer

The thing you've got to understand about Wright was that it wasn't just Kamrath he treated that way; it was EVERYONE! Nothing could ever contain an ego as big as Wrights. The story were he told S.C. Johnson to move his chair because the building Wright designed was leaking was a classic example. If you want to know what Wright was really like, read the book The Fellowship. It's brutal, but it doesn't take away anything from his talent as an architect.