- Wright Studies
William B. and Elizabeth Tracy Residence, Normandy Park, WA (1955) (S.389)
My first contact with the Tracys was in the late 1970's. A few years after moving to the Great Northwest in the mid-70's, I discovered that Wright had build a home in the Seattle area, the “Tracy” Home. I looked their name up in the phone book, gave them a call and much to my surprise Mrs. Tracy answered the phone. I explained how much I admired Wright’s work. She invited me to come any time and take a tour. I did.
Bill was a Boeing engineer, and Elizabeth had taken art courses from Goetsch and Winckler (S.269) while at Michigan State. While only 1,200 square feet, this home is a true gem. It is located in Normandy Park, on a cliff overlooking the Puget Sound. Designed in 1955, this Usonian Automatic consists of over seventeen hundred concrete blocks. For nearly a year, Bill Tracy crafted the hundreds of blocks by hand, in eleven different block designs. The largest of the steel molds created concrete blocks measuring two feet square and weighed between 150 - 200 pounds. It is one of only a handful of Usonian Automatic homes built using concrete molded blocks (S.344,349, 386, 387, 388, 389 and 392). Others were designed using this method, but constructed of other material. If the Tracy home looks similar to the Kalil Residence (S.387), its because the same molds were used in both homes. Not only are the overhead blocks two foot square, butthe home is built on a two foot square grid system, which is consistent with the other homes built of this style. Redwood was used for paneling, built-ins, trim and the Wright design furniture. Not only did Bill create the blocks, he also built the living room seating, dining room table and chairs, as well as the shelving light boxes. Milton Stricker, who apprenticed with Wright in 1951, oversaw the construction. Their contractor Ray Brandes, built his own Usonian home in 1952. At a cost of $25,000, he finished the Tracy home in November of 1956 after four months of construction.
There are many classic Wright details. The basic material are concrete blocks, redwood and a red concrete floor with radiant heat, designed on a two foot grid. There are three sets of double wood framed glass doors on the West side of the Living Room that open outward and a set of corner glass doors that also open outward removing the corner. Row of vertical block columns of perforated concrete blocks and embedded mitered glass corners. There are perforated concrete block windows and clerestory windows with embedded glass. The signature red glass tile. A sunken fireplace. The hidden entrance, but this door actually opens inward. Like many of Wright’s homes, he designed the built-in seating, many of the fixtures and some of the furniture.
August 2001
Original drawing of the Tracy Residence. Detail from original drawing.
Photographs By Douglas Steiner, August 2001
There are many classic Wright details. The basic material are concrete blocks, redwood and a red concrete floor with radiant heat, designed on a two foot grid. There are three sets of double wood framed glass doors on the West side of the Living Room that open outward and a set of corner glass doors that also open outward removing the corner. Row of vertical block columns of perforated concrete blocks and embedded mitered glass corners. There are perforated concrete block windows and clerestory windows with embedded glass. The signature red glass tile. A sunken fireplace. The hidden entrance, but this door actually opens inward. Like many of Wright’s homes, he designed the built-in seating, many of the fixtures and some of the furniture.
Text and Photographs by Douglas M. Steiner, Copyright 2001
Floor plan copyright 1993, “The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion” Storrer, William Allin, page 417.
- Related Books
"Frank Lloyd Wright Monograph 1951-1959", Text: Pfeiffer, Bruce Brooks;
Edited and Photographed: Futagawa, Yukio, 1990, page .“The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion”, Storrer, William Allin, 1993, page 417. "Frank Lloyd Wright and the Meaning of Material" Patterson, 1994, page 140. "Frank Lloyd Wright America’s Master Architect" Smith, 1998, page 236-237. "Frank Lloyd Wright: The Western Work", Legler, Dixie, 1999, page 90-95. "Frank Lloyd Wright - A Visual Encyclopedia" Thomson, 1999, page 318. "The Vision of Frank Lloyd Wright" Heinz, 2000, page 261, 265. "Frank Lloyd Wright’s Stained Glass & Lightscreens" Heinz, 2000, page 126. "Frank Lloyd Wright: Inside and Out" Maddex, 2001, page 194-195. "Wright-Sized Houses", Maddex, Diane, 2003, page 128-133. "Wrightscapes" Aguar, 2002, page 307-309.
- Related Images and Articles
- (Note, due to the fact that the internet is constantly changing, and items that
are posted change, I have copied the text, but give all the credits available.)A) "The Wright idea: This famed architect’s design was both art and labor". by Lawrence Kreisman, Pacific Magazine - September 8, 1996, page 24-28. B) "Stricker, Milton A. (1926 - 2008)", by Docomomo WEWA C) Pacific Magazine - January 19, 1997. Respecting Wright. Taliesin Fellowship apprentice Milton Stricker interpreted Usonian approach for home in Seattle. D) "A Taliesin Legacy: Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Apprentices", Guggenheimer, 1995, Milton Stricker page 229-233 HOME ARTIFACTS BOOKS AUDIO PHOTOS POSTERS STAMPS STUDIES COLLECTING
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