Someone asked me the following question this week via e-mail.  I thought I’d post it up and see what people have to say on the topic.

“If FLW were still alive and designing, would the emphasis on centering things around the hearth still be present today… given that very few homes practically depend on a fireplace for heating?  Would some other thing become the focus for establishing the gathering area (e.g. home entertainment center or TV)?  Thoughts?”

Think he’d have the family gathered around the 52″ flat screen HD Plasma TV?

Pete

Good morning.  Yup.  I’m back at it again.   I’ve had numerous e-mails about the Joseph Euchtman house over the last few weeks and thought I’d share what I found. 

I got some e-mail from a writer for the Baltimore Examiner named Andrea Farnum.  She was in the process of writing about Atomic Ranch houses and thought that some background about Wright and the Euchtman house might fit in.  As it turned out, the FLW stuff didn’t really fit with where she went with the article.  She did share some of her research with me and I thought I’d share it with you.

Ms. Farnum talked with Howard Rodman, a builder of modern homes around the time that the Euchtman house was built. He had a lot of good information that he passed along.  

Mr. Euchtman purchased the plot of land before he had really thought about the house he was going to put on it.  The land had a stream running through the middle at the time.  This presented a problem for builders – no one wanted to build on the site because they were convinced that the basement would flood.  Homes in Baltimore at the time were just not built without basements. Mr. Euchtman then set out to find an architect who would design a home to be built without a basement.  He found Mr. Wright through a Life Magazine article (I believe the one about the Schwartz House) that talked about Wright building homes without basements.  This was his sole criteria for choosing Mr. Wright. 

Wright really needed the money at the time, so he didn’t mind building a home for someone that was not enthusiastic about his architecture.  

According to Rodman, Mr. Euchtman HATED the house.  The ceiling leaked, there was no insulation and he didn’t appreciate Wright’s aesthetic or feel for the house.  He lived in it for about 4 years, then sold it.  As with many Wright homes, it had a series of owners that neglected it and it fell into disrepair.  

The family that owns the Euchtman house now has done a great job of refurbishing it.  They made the addition to the home and really did a great job of it.  The home was a guest house for a period of time, but is now a rental.

Another friend of mine e-mailed me recently about the Euchtman house.  He’s a docent at the Pope/Leighey house and gives me some good dirt now and then.  He confirmed what Mr. Rodman said that the Euchtmann and Pope/Leighey houses construction was overseen by the same apprentice, Gordon Chadwick.  He additionally said that the cypress wood that was used in two homes came from the same batch.  It wasn’t particularly high quality wood, so it all had to be sorted by hand.  The best wood all went to Euchtman, while what was left over went to Pope/Leighey.  That decision was made purely on the basis of the Euchtman house being a more expensive home.  

I guess that is it for this sinstallment. Please click below for a link to the Euchtman House. 

Joseph Euchtman House:  1939