Overnight at the Duncan House
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03. 2.08
We have previously noted the Duncan House, a Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian design that was moved from Chicago to near Pittsburgh by Thomas Papinchak. Barbara Ireland describes the experience of staying in it for the New York Times:
A Frank Lloyd Wright house is like a Japanese garden. No matter where inside it you stand, or which way you turn, the view before your eyes has been planned — and planned to be harmonious and beautiful...
Over two days and nights, we dined in the glow of concealed overhead lights, read in a cozy nook under triangular windows, lay in bed in the morning watching gray treetops sway. We padded over concrete floors heated by hot water pipes below. Looking at details and structure, we tried to tease out the mechanics behind the overall effect of effortless serenity.
We learn also that there are a six Usonian houses in Wisconsin, Illinois and Pennsylvania that one can stay in, at very reasonable prices. However the Duncan House is not far from Fallingwater and the less well known Kentuck Knob, so one can make a real weekend of it. ::New York Times
I haven't been in many FLW houses, but the ones I have been in incorporated some aspects of passive solar.
One was quite comfortable on a 80+ degree day despite having no A/C.