This design is a variation on the Round House. Many of the rectilinear elements of the Round House are removed and replaced with curved forms. The main inspiration for this tiny house comes from two houses in Phoenix, Arizona known as the David and Gladys Wright Home and the Norman Lykes Home. Both these houses are examples of Frank Lloyd Wright’s later style which is seen in the Guggenheim Museum and Gammage Auditorium.

 

The Norman Lykes Home was the last house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1959, the year of his death. The home’s completion came in 1967. Created with concentric circles, the house sits perched above a desert valley and lyrically repeats the organic motifs of circles and half circles. As typical, Frank Lloyd Wright also designed much of the furniture as well as the built-ins in both houses.

 

The David and Gladys Wright house was a house designed for FLW’s son and daughter-in-law and completed in 1952. Wright brought the house off the desert floor with sweeping circles much like the helical walkways of the Guggenheim Museum.

 

The Round House easily lent itself to redesign based upon influences seen in the above two residences.

Expunging the roofs and linear effects of the front walls, left room for an ascending curve, directing visitors to the front door.

The cantilevered, extended roofs are replaced with semi-circular ones while leaving the ascending, sweeping effect of the different circular heights, giving an organic feel to the design. Since this is a tiny house, the house is left on the ground rather than elevated, but another creation with this element would demand some significant changes. The clerestory windows now have an inverted semi-circular shape, a favorite of FLW. Glass blocks, in order to bring the plans back to the 1950s, replace the windows in the bedroom section. The building still is balanced by rectangular patios off the bedroom and in front of the living room. The low, rock wall now curves and ascends toward the entry door.

Fortunately, the extreme changes on the outside did not require wholesale changes on the inside. The movement of the front door caused a couple of furniture re-orientations, but that is all. However, considering the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright, the style of furniture and the nature of the built-ins, the finishes inside almost demand a change to something matching the organic architecture.

If you would like to read further about the two Frank Lloyd Wright houses referenced, an extensive article at Mid Century Modern Groovy discusses both houses as well as their influences.

HBosler

http://www.moderntinyhouse.org

Self-Portrait