In the 1950s, esteemed painter and artist Louis Penfield needed a unique living situation to
accommodate his creative lifestyle. Louis approached his friend, Frank Lloyd Wright,
in the hopes that he would be able to provide a custom house suited to his unique needs.
Hi everyone, Ken here, welcome to "ThisHouse"!! Today we are exploring
the Louis Penfield House in Willoughby Hills,
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Frank Lloyd Wright had become known for creating tight entry ways with low ceilings before allowing
the interior space to expand upwards and out, tricking the mind into thinking the interior
was larger than it appeared. But this method of manipulating space simply would not work for
Louis. He needed to be to move his paintings in and out of his out, many of which were 8 feet tall
by 6 feet wide. This created a unique challenge for Frank, one that he would not shy away from.
In 1955, He decided to create a long, thin house offering varying ceiling heights with a second
floor being tied to the main level by clustered vertical linear elements, creating a rhythm across
the façade, breaking up the tight grid of squares we will see playout out through the interior.
Entering the home through double doors,
the ceiling continued at the same height as the car port’s overhang with a bump-out to the
side to accommodate a voial lightwell in which the stairs were positioned.
The spacing of the mullions were paced with the gentle rise of the oversized,
narrow floating stairs, allowing for a separation of function a light flowed through to the hall.
Making our way further into the house, we come across a telephone table positioned
below the stairs, a planned functional niche in what would have otherwise been dead space.
Then, in Frank’s signature style, the hallway releases you to a much larger,
open living and dining area with floor to ceiling windows reaching towards
the ceilings beams which continued from the interior to the exterior’s overhang,
exaggerating the size of the room and breaking down the line between indoor and outdoor living.
The smallest details help to trick the eye in this space, with a planter which continues from
the exterior to the interior and continuous grout lines tying the living room floor to the patio.
Even with so many windows, there was still plenty of wall space set aside behind the built in sofa
for shelves and storage cabinets which continued down a narrow corridor to become the kitchen,
flooded by natural light silhouetting the upper cabinets via clerestory windows.
From this point you could pass between the shadowy concrete walls containing the laundry room and
powder room to loop back around to the entry way where we can begin making our way upstairs.
As we make our way up the stairs, the narrow passage opens up above
a partition wall marking the stair landing, where we will turn to the
left after passing a built in to find the door to Louis’ bedroom flanked by closet doors.
The bed is aligned with the inherent geometry of the room’s linear elements
with large windows set well above waist level to offer privacy without the need to for blinds.
Now we will pass back into the hallway and begin making our way towards the middle bedroom,
looking back to see how the space appears very differently from two opposing points of view.
The middle bedroom was planned to be smaller, with a more functional arrangement of space,
just enough to accommodate a writing desk and a bed along with ample closet space where just a
touch of the concrete we’ve been seeing throughout the house is allowed to tease the corner.
Finally, we will see the North Bedroom boasting a voidal corner
where glass panes delicately touch, eliminating the room’s boxy layout.
Just like in Louis’ bedroom, the bed is planned to fit neatly within the rooms expressed geometry
along with a closet which appears two dimensional with it’s doors being flush with a window.
Louis continued to live in the house with his family until his passing, at which point his
family placed the house up for rent. Since then, it has undergone costly restoration work to ensure
that it appears as it did when Frank Lloyd Wright first unveiled it. Today, it serves as
one of the very few Frank Lloyd Wright designed homes which can be booked as a vacation rental.
Which part of this house was your favorite? Let me know down below in the comments section.
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