Lessons from Living in a House Designed by William Wurster
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Another aspect of reinforcing the indoor/outdoor connection is how Wurster designed the home so that most of the doorways to the outside have minimal threshold heights. Stepping out to the garden from one of the ground floor rooms is almost seamless. The foundation on the east side of the house is set deep enough into the ground plane that the exterior patio is almost at the same level as the interior rooms. This small detail is another lesson in how Wurster designed his houses to integrate indoor and outdoor living and how aware he was of architecture and landscape in his designs.
Minimal threshold height links indoors and outdoors
Each of the doors on the east or garden side of the house, as shown in these photos, is approximately four feet wide. The upper portion of each door has a fixed, single pane glass panel. The three doors on the ground floor living space open directly to the garden. They connect the living room, dining room and kitchen to an outdoor patio that is surrounded by lawn and other plantings. The three doors on the second floor open the bedrooms to balconies and allow access a simple outdoor space that overlooks the garden and that is exposed to morning light. The balcony outside two of these doors also creates an outdoor connection between two of the bedrooms. The extra width of the doors is such a simple concept, but it has a transformative effect on each room. Exceeding standard dimensions even slightly, whether it be a wider hallway, a higher ceiling or, in this case, a wider doorway can provide real spatial benefits.
Extra wide doors
I was told by the original owners, who commissioned Wurster to be their architect, that they first met him at a party in Berkeley hosted by the Gregory family and attended by many fellow UC faculty members. It was the late 1930s and they were new to the faculty having moved from the east coast. Impressed by the simple, elegance of the Wurster designed houses that they had seen, they asked him if he ever did work for “poor academics.”
What he designed for them is essentially a rectilinear, two-story box that could be constructed on a small budget. Design details such as the ones I have highlighted would make it their new home in their new town by the Bay. One aspect of the plan that I noticed almost immediately when we first saw the house was how the simple detail of a slanted exterior wall on the west facing elevation broke the box and animated the exterior and interior spaces as well as the form of the house. Thus a subtle variation in a strong pattern can have a great effect.
Walls were cleared of baseboards.
One of Wurster’s modernist touches was the elimination of baseboards throughout the house, except, for some unknown reason, in the bathrooms. The result is that there is no distraction from the door and window trim, which serve as visual frames for the openings. The walls, floors and ceilings are experienced as intersecting planes. When the house was built, the standard wall treatment was plaster over lath. The walls are detailed so that there is a baseboard which is set so that the lath and plaster finish align to allow a smooth surface down to the floor. The result is elegant.
Half-round wood trim used as ornamentation.
Using half-round and larger, whole-round wood trim, Wurster added simple, easily produced ornamentation that enlivens certain rooms and spaces. For example, in the small bathrooms, half-round trim is used to suggest wainscoting. Even painted to match the walls, this small detail adds shadow and a line that visually expands the horizontal sense of space. Larger, round wood elements are notched and used to frame a tall corner where the slanted roof increases the floor to ceiling height, further enhancing the dynamic of the space. He also specified this type of trim to frame the entry to a small hallway off the upstairs landing, adding dignity and definition to what might otherwise be a an undefined opening adjacent to the trim around a closet door and a large window. Economy does not have to diminish style and quality
Full-round wood trim used to ornament a doorway.
In architecture school I learned that William Wurster was recognized as a seminal figure in the evolution or “Second Phase” of what is recognized as The Bay Area Tradition. Yet it has been the experience of living for many years in a house he designed for construction in 1938, that has given me insight into what inspires great moments in architecture and makes them more than just a “style.” Wurster’s aesthetic of simplicity and responsiveness to the specifics of the site fuel the design of his residential work, giving it both timelessness and livability. The houses he designed are rooted in the land. I now understand and know the truth of Wurster’s statement that: “Architecture is not a goal. Architecture is for life and pleasure and work and for people.”
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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at 8:10 pm and is filed under Architecture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Wonderful to read your thoughts about living in Wurster’s house, Jay. Thank you!
Thank you for the comment!
Jay this is excellent and demonstrates Wurster’s remarkable ability to focus on ordinary but essential elements and make them memorable, like the stair and the stair window. You deftly explain some of Wurster’s key concepts, as in your felicitous phrases “functional simplicity” and how “the ground plane is made part of the view.” Bravo. I might want to steal some of this for my Eye On Design blog…
Jay- Very thoughtful. What strikes me is that both the designer and the resident are so in sync as to be able to communicate to one another, or others, over such a long and enduring relationship. What a nice goal for an architect to try to achieve. Hope all is well with the family.
Best, Rob
Very enjoyable, Sally. Certainly, it points up the aspect of time in appreciating architecture — and the personal insights of a sensitive observer add richness to the writing.
Thank you, for commenting!
Thank you for this thoughtful essay on what good architecture can achieve. I am reminded that Wurster practiced what the College of Environmental Design was meant to teach. The relevance of its original mission has not diminished.
We are in the midst of renovating a Wurster home for sale,and it has been tricky to find the right balance between updating and staying true to the original plan for the house. The house has been our family home for over 50 years as I was the third generation to be able to enjoy the true beauty of the home. William Wurster really did an incredible job of blending the indoor and outdoor elements to come toghter seemlessly.I love this home and the clean beautiful lines of it.
I would say ditto for our house next door! I’m so glad you decided to build this house for your mother-in-law in 1981, on the flat portion of your lot, where Wurster had planned a tennis court. Because you were able to “see” and “live” the positive design aspects of your Wurster, you were successful in designing them into 68 Twain. We too are enjoying those Wurster elements that you write about – without the added maintenance of those extra 40 years! ~Thanks Jay
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