Exquisite Detailing / Skilled Craftsmanship
This remarkably well preserved house in the northwest regional style was designed by Warren Weber in 1952 and it is a rare opportunity for someone who truly appreciates what early northwest regional modernists were all about. Weber graduated in 1935 from the University of Oregon School of Architecture and spent the first twelve years of his career working for some of Portland's most distinguished architects. In this period he worked for Wade Pipes, Tucker & Wallman, Glenn Stanton, and from 1945 to 1947 for Pietro Belluschi.In his book Architects of Oregon, Richard Ritz describes Warren Weber as "a very self disciplined architect, solving difficult problems before committing to a concept. He was a perfectionist in developing details; nothing was left to chance." This attention to detail and demanding eye is apparent throughout the house. The lines are clean and crisp with no mouldings at doors, windows, or joints of the walls with ceilings and floors. Corner windows in the kitchen and dining room expand the space out to the terrace. Clerestory windows are used in bedrooms and bathrooms to provide light and privacy as well as ventilation.
The siting of the house shows a sensitivity to the land and to
the street, with the garage providing a buffering layer between
the
public street and the private house. Weber adds to this layering by utililizing the contour of the lot: the garage
is at street level while the house is lower, tucked into the slope
of the land. He orchestrates the transition from public to
private by using a covered walkway. Beginning at street level
at the front of the garage, it steps down with the contour of
the site, ending at the front door. The walkway provids a space
that is between public and private and at a scale that transitions
from outdoors to indoors. It is reminiscent of the covered walkway that
John Yeon designed for the Jorgenson house. John Storrs used a similar design to good effect later at Salishan.
Ritz
noted that Weber's drawings were "works of perfection"
with distinctive lettering and title blocks. Luckily quite a few sketches and drawings
for this house have been preserved can be viewed using the drawings link above.
