| The Gordon House
A Home for a Farm in Oregon
In 1956, while vacationing in Arizona, Conrad and Evelyn Gordon visited Taliesin West, the winter home and studio of Frank Lloyd Wright. The Gordons met with Wright, who accepted the commission to design a house for their farm on the south bank of the Willamette River, in what is now the Charbonneau residential area of Wilsonville, Oregon.
Wright was in his late 80s at the time but still very active in the design of houses and other buildings. He presented his designs to the Gordons in the fall of 1957, but construction didn't begin until the spring of 1963, four years after Wright's death. Burton Goodrich, a Taliesin associate who had opened an architectural business in Portland, oversaw construction and corresponded regularly with the Taliesin Architects, Wright's successor firm. As Frank Lloyd Wright's apprentice, Goodrich had worked on several Usonian projects.
The 2,133 square foot house created quite a stir when it was completed in 1964 at a cost of $56,000. The Gordons graciously opened their new home for public tours that drew 1,500 visitors over a five-day period. Conrad and Evelyn lived in the house for the rest of their lives. Conrad died in 1979, and Evelyn continued to live in her house until shortly before her death in 1997.
The Gordon House includes many characteristics of the idealized Usonian style house.
Photo Captions:
Common Usonian house design elements- 1. Floor-to-ceiling window-doors opening onto terraces
- 2. Open floor plan with multi-use Great Room
- Cantilevered roofs with broad overhangs and private balconies
- 3. Perforated wood screens, or fretwork, in geometric patters to filter light through windows
- 4. Dominant horizontal lines featured in interior and exterior lines
- Radiant heat from hot water piped through concrete slab floors
- Economical, natural building materials such as concrete blocks and local Western redceder
- 5. Built-in components such as seating, storage cabinets and bookcases
- A carport integrated into the design
- Design based on a modular grid
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