Theodore A. Pappas House | |
Location | 865 Masonridge Road St. Louis, Missouri 63141 United States |
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Coordinates | 38°38′12.74″N90°29′3.24″W / 38.6368722°N 90.4842333°W Coordinates: 38°38′12.74″N90°29′3.24″W / 38.6368722°N 90.4842333°W |
Built | 1955-1964 |
Architect | Frank Lloyd Wright |
Architectural style | Usonian |
NRHP reference No. | 79003208 [1] |
Added to NRHP | 02/14/1979 |
The Theodore A. Pappas House is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed Usonian house in St. Louis, Missouri. The Pappas house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, when it was only 15 years old. It is one of two houses in St. Louis designed by Wright, and the only Usonian Automatic in Missouri. Wright designed it between 1955 and 1959 at the Pappas’ request, and Theodore and Bette Pappas built the house together with the help of day laborers between 1960 and 1964. [2] The Pappas house is a rambling four-bedroom house, and after the Gerald B. and Beverley Tonkens House, is the largest of the Usonian Automatics built.
The entire body of the Pappas House, including the roof, is made up of plain concrete blocks standardized to a module. These blocks were placed on top of and next to one another with no mortar. The hidden sides of each block had hollows through which steel rods were inserted, running vertically and horizontally, creating a "knit" effect. Grout was used to fill the hollows after the rods were in place. Theoretically, all elements of the house could be manufactured and sent to the owners as a sort of “do-it-yourself” kit, the “automatic” aspect of an Usonian Automatic. However, metal molds for the blocks were not available, and the blocks had to be cast in molds created by a local craftsman. The concrete was pretinted according to Wright's idea that color should be in and not on the surface. The color scheme throughout the house is monochromatic, a warm natural, earthen color, complemented by a uniform unstained Philippine mahogany for trim and built in furniture. (Storrer, 422)
In 1985, Bette Pappas wrote a book titled "No Passing Fancy" (ASIN B000IZVEES) about her house. Bette Pappas died at the home in February 2018 at the age of 91. [3]
In 2020, the house was sold by the Pappas children to the Frank Lloyd Wright Revival Initiative, a non-profit created by filmmaker Michael Miner. It is anticipated the house will be refurbished and turned into a museum and event center. [4] In May 2021, the house was opened for public tours by appointment. [5]
Usonia is a word that was used by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright to refer to the United States in general, and more specifically to his vision for the landscape of the country, including the planning of cities and the architecture of buildings. Wright proposed the use of the adjective Usonian to describe the particular New World character of the American landscape as distinct and free of previous architectural conventions.
The Louis Penfield House is a house built by Frank Lloyd Wright, located in the Cleveland suburb of Willoughby Hills. It is one of Wright's nine Usonian homes in Ohio.
The James McBean Residence is a house in Rochester, Minnesota designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. This Usonian house is an example of the second type of the Marshall Erdman Prefab Houses. This house and the Walter Rudin House have the same floor plan and vary only in minor details such as paint color and siting, because they are the only two Prefab #2 houses in existence.
The Theodore Baird Residence, also known as Baird House, is a suburban house designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and located at 38 Shays Street in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the only Wright design in Massachusetts.
The Frieda and Henry J. Neils House is a house in Minneapolis, Minnesota, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The home was designed for Henry J. Neils, a stone and architectural materials distributor, and his wife Frieda. It is unusual for a Wright-designed home both in the type of stone used as well as in its aluminum window framing.
The George Sturges House is a single-family house, designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built for George D. Sturges in the Brentwood Heights neighborhood of Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. Designed and built in 1939, the one-story residence is fairly small compared to 21st century standards, 1,200 square feet (110 m2), but features a 21-foot panoramic deck. The home is made out of concrete, steel, brick and redwood. Wright hired Taliesin fellow John Lautner to oversee its construction.
Cedric G. Boulter and Patricia Neils House is a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed registered historic home in the Clifton neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. It was commissioned in 1953, with construction beginning in 1954, and completed in 1956. Additions to the design were completed in 1958.
The Gerald B. and Beverley Tonkens House, also known as the Tonkens House, is a single story private residence designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1954. The house was commissioned by Gerald B. Tonkens and his first wife Rosalie. It is located in Amberley Village, a village in Hamilton County, Ohio.
The Gordon House is a residence designed by influential architect Frank Lloyd Wright, now located within the Oregon Garden, in Silverton, Oregon. It is an example of Wright's Usonian vision for America. It is one of the last of the Usonian series that Wright designed as affordable housing for American working class consumers, which—in 1939—were considered to have an annual income of $5,000–6,000. The house is based on a design for a modern home commissioned by Life magazine in 1938.
Robert and Rae Levin House, also Robert Levin House and Robert Levin Residence, is a single-family home in Kalamazoo, Michigan and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
The Robert H. Sunday House is located in Marshalltown, Iowa, United States. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the Usonian style, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. Initially the Sunday's choose the Usonian Automatic, a natural concrete block model, for their home. When it provided unworkable, Wright sent the plans for this house. In style and materials it is very similar to the 1953 Usonian Exhibition House. It was the sixth of seven houses designed by Wright and built in this style in Iowa. Sunday, who owned Marshall Lumber in Marshalltown, acted as his own general contractor. In fact, he and his wife did much of the work themselves. It is also believed to be last of this style built in brick. John H. "Jack" Howe, a Wright assistant who supervised the initial construction, designed an addition to this house in 1970 that conforms seamlessly with the original. It includes the family room, family room terrace, and the dining room. The original house followed an "L" shaped plan, and with the addition it is now a "T" shaped plan. Howe had previously designed (1964) the building for Sunday's business.
The Bachman–Wilson House, built in and originally located in Millstone, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States, was originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1954 for Abraham Wilson and his first wife, Gloria Bachman. Ms. Bachman's brother, Marvin, had studied with Wright at Taliesin West, his home and studio in Scottsdale, Arizona. In 2014 the house was acquired by the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas and has been relocated in its entirety to the museum's campus.
The Toufic H. Kalil House is a house museum in the North End neighborhood of Manchester, New Hampshire, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1955. The Usonian Automatic design of this house allowed Wright to meet the requirements of Dr. Toufic and Mildred Kalil, a Lebanese professional couple. Wright used the term Usonian Automatic to describe the design of economical Usonian style houses constructed of modular concrete blocks. This house illustrates Wright's creative use of this inexpensive material.
The Robert Llewellyn Wright House is a historic home located at 7927 Deepwell Drive in Bethesda, Maryland. It is an 1800-square foot two-story concrete-block structure designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1953, and constructed in 1957 for his sixth child, Robert Llewellyn Wright (1903–86), who worked at the Justice Department.
Duey and Julia Wright House is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed Usonian home that was constructed on a bluff above the Wisconsin River in Wausau, Wisconsin in 1958. Viewed from the sky, the house resembles a musical note. The client owned a Wausau music store, and later founded the broadcasting company Midwest Communications through his ownership of WRIG radio. The home also has perforated boards on the clerestories "represent the rhythm of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony Allegro con brio first theme." A photograph showing the perforated panels is in the web page on the National Register application.
The Paul J. and Ida Trier House is a historic building located in Johnston, Iowa, United States. It is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed Usonian home that was constructed in 1958. It was the last of seven Wright Usonians built in Iowa. While it is now located in a residential area, it was constructed in an area surrounded by rural farmland. The Trier house is a variation on the 1953 Exhibition House at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. The north wing of the house was designed by Taliesin Associates and built in 1967. It was originally the carport, which was enclosed for a playroom. The present carport on the front and an extension of the shop was added at the same time.
The Tracy House also known as the Bill and Elizabeth Tracy House is a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Usonian Automatic home that was constructed in Normandy Park, Washington, a suburb near Seattle, in 1956.
The Acres, also known as Galesburg Country Homes, is a naturalistic residential plat designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Charleston Township, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
The Louis Fredrick House is a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright at 19 W. County Line Road in Barrington, Illinois. The house was built in 1957 for Louis Fredrick, an affluent interior designer. The house's design is typical of Wright's later work, in which he adapted his Usonian design principles to larger homes for wealthier clients. Fredrick played a role in the design process as well, rejecting Wright's original plan on account of its concrete block walls and providing input on decisions such as coloring. The house's design includes a brick exterior, long horizontal window bands, a low roof covered with cedar shakes, and a large chimney.
The Sidney Bazett House, also known as the Bazett-Frank House, is a Usonian-style home on 101 Reservoir Road in Hillsborough, California, United States, designed in 1939 by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Sidney Bazett wrote to the architect that, "With even our meager artistic knowledge,... it was apparent that it would be a shame to have anyone other than Frank Lloyd Wright design our home."