In 1950s Architect Paul Rudolph was making waves in the design world.
After graduating from Harvard, he moved to Sarasota, Florida where he developed a distinct,
post-war style. He blended together the ideas of his predecessors, such as Frank Lloyd Wright,
Mies Van Der Rohe, and Louis Sullivan and married their design philosophies with the emerging
Brutalist style to create a new style all together known as the Sarasota School of Architecture.
His innovative work became wildly popular as wealthy clients joined his
ever growing wait list to have homes and other buildings designed by him.
As he approached the height of his fame, he was hired by Yale University to design the Yale Art
and Architecture Building before being named the Chair of the Department of Architecture at Yale.
By 1965, after designing in mostly the same way throughout his career, his fame began to dwindle
as his ideas were no longer viewed as novel nor even current. He stepped down from his position
at Yale and mostly abandoned the brutalist style, choosing to design all glass skyscrapers.
That being said, he still had a loyal following of students, design professionals, and clients.
In 1971, Louis Micheels challenged Paul Rudolph to design for him his dream house.
Louis had purchased a lot in Westport, Connecticut and demanded of Rudolph to create his masterpiece.
The site boasted a steep grade, so the house would have to be built into the
hill. And no normal home layout for the time would do, it had to be open concept,
but refined with the character of intrinsically good design, allowing the architecture to speak
not only to the site, but for the building’s elements to exist in poetic harmony.
Paul spent nearly a year working on the plans, choosing materials,
and thinking about what should be present in his masterpiece.
The resulting structure boasted long, clean lines with large overhangs and ample patio space,
blurring the lines between indoor and outdoor living. The façade was clad in a stucco-like
material with ground up quartz mixed into it, allowing the house to glisten in the sunlight.
He thought through every detail, even rethinking how a garage should connect to the home and the
separate experience its occupants would have from their guests when entering their home every day.
Entering the home, natural light poured in through
its many windows while strategically placed architectural elements cast dynamic shadows,
playing a trick on the eyes to make the space feel larger than it was.
The living room, with its many voidal spaces,
created an environment for the fireplace wall to appear monolithic against a glass curtain wall.
And up a few steps, the dining room, with its many built ins,
was planned within a corner of two walls, creating a space within a space
as an envelope of walls delicately restrained the function of the room.
The office was planned with site lines to look over the house,
peering through book cases and under walls, giving it a sense
of separation while still feeling much larger than the floor space provided.
In the Micheels later years, they attempted to sell the house, placing it on the market in 2005.
But after an entire year of sitting on the market, no buyers could be found.
At this same time, all around the neighborhood, buildings were being demolished to make way for
new construction. In fact, this was happening at such a rate that the local newspaper had a column,
titled “teardown of the day.” Finally, the home found a buyer and plans for demolition were filed.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation labeled the property as having a “great
significance.” And even the state’s Attorney General attempted to intervene. But after the
buyer offered to pay more than 3.2 million dollars to the Micheels, they decided to let the house go.
In 2007, the Paul Rudolph’s masterpiece was torn down and replaced by an unsignificant McMansion.
Thankfully, we still have just this small handful
of photos to remember what was possibly the masterpiece of architect Paul Rudolph.
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