A thorough restoration of this historical house, begun in 1983, took several years. The aim of the restoration was to regain the original design, ranked by the AIA as one of the twenty most important residential designs of the twentieth century.
Bradley Lynch, now head of a successful architectural firm in Chicago, was the project manager and John Eifler, the premiere restoration architect of Frank Lloyd Wright houses, provided all the plans and working drawings.
The carport, which had slumped, was completely rebuilt, including new piers on foundations.
The roof of the house, an overload of accumulated layers of asphalt, was replaced by a rubber membrane. Preceding its application, the original joists of three, stacked two-by fours were repaired and strengthened, steel-centered flitch plates installed where necessary, and a ventilation system in conjunction with insulation introduced.
The badly decayed bank of window-doors in the living room was completely replaced and the dining-area bay of casement windows renewed.
The concrete slab of the living room wing was repoured over insulation panels, a moisture barrier, and polyurethane tubing for a much improved heating system.
Outside, the Ponderosa pine boards and redwood battens were completely cleansed of a creosote preservative, introduced during the 1950s, and a red paint trim on the windows and doors was carefully removed.
In following Mr. Wright’s original design, a corner flower box was finally built where the carport piers meet the front wall of the house, marked by a vertical accent of four square windows.
Since all of the structural improvements were completed, including new wiring and plumbing, the other two S’s of a restoration project, surface and setting, have been lovingly tended to.