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| Westcott House Tour
Peter Beers 11/24/2007 PedroGringo@yahoo.com |
My wife and I finally had the opportunity to tour the Westcott House now that it is open for tours. You may have seen the photos before and during the restoration. Now you can see some of the photos after the restoration is complete. The home is wonderful and they've done an amazing job of restoring it.
We took an 11am tour on a dreary Saturday morning. Our guide was Nancy. She's been a volunteer for a while with the Westcott house and did a fantastic job.
She started out talking about how the Westcott house was one of Wright's most important designs. It was one that he included in the Wasmuth Portfolio. It also had many Japanese influences.
Orpha and Burton Westcott moved to Springfield with their daughter in 1903. At that time, Mr. Westcott was a treasurer for the American Seeding Corporation. His family also had manufacturing businesses too, including the Westcott Car Company. Mr. Westcott spent some time serving on the city council.
In 1906 the Westcotts contacted Mr. Wright to build them a home on High Street, along with the other important people in Springfield, Ohio. The lot was across the street from the cemetary. The home desinged by Wright would be placed along side a long row of large Victorian homes that were the fashion at the time.
Construction started in 1907 and there is evidence that the Westcotts moved in some time in 1909. There seems to be relatively little information about the Westcotts early time in the house. Some newer information has come up fairly recently since the Westcott's grandchildren moved back to the Springfield area. They contributed some historican information and some photos, including a beautiful one of Orpha in the living room.
Mrs. Orpha Westcott died in 1923 from complications following sinus surgery. Mr. Westcott passed in 1926. He'd lost his company and the bank owned the house.
The home was purchased by someone named Roscoe Pierce, who owned it until the mid 1940s. Ms. Eva Linton purchased the house after that and divided it into 5 apartments. She kept the house until 1982. It stayed in her family after her death and eventually was sold to the Westcott Foundation in 2000. It was put on the Historic Register in 1974.
The home consisted of the main house and a carriage house that had stables and a garage. A colonnade connected the main house to the carriage house. A turntable was originally designed for the garage, but was not built. By the time it was consructed, cars had been equipped with reverse gears, thus negating the need for the turntable. The garage does have a grease pit for mechanics to work on the car. The carriage house is now the visitor's center.
The front patio is flanked by two HUGE urns. These 750 pound concrete sculptures are orginal, but have been refurbished. The patio also has a reflecting pool, which was drained during our tour because of the cold temperatures.
Inside the home, 98% of the windows are original. Many of the windows actually have 2 sets of blinds.... one is white and more of a light difuser, the other is a full blind that keeps all the sunlight out. Most of the original hardware is still in the house. Very few of the original light fixtures are there, though they have enough that the foundation was able to make replicas. Very little original furniture survived the home being split up into apartments. The skylight glass is almost all original. Wright designed it so that there is an external clear glass skylight to protect the interior art glass.
The home was originally wired for electricity as well as piped for gas. Steam heat was used originally. It is now a combination of hot water and geothermal heat. I'm not familiar with the geothermal heat... it is something that the docent talked about. I didn't get around to asking about it.
When the home was split up into apartments, the sleeping porches were enclosed and converted to kitchens. They originally had painted canvas floors. They now have a textured metal floor that is more durable.
The home was designed with a 125 gallon sistern system. Many of the fawcets in the house have an extra spigot for the rain water that was collected.
A bird house was originally specified for the martins that are native to the area. It wasn't built originally, but was added during the restoration. Though built to Wright's specifications, birds will not live in it because the holes for entry are too large.
One of the highlights of this tour for me was the Wright Panorama Exhibit that was on display in the house. Photographer Thomas Schiff has done some lovely work using 360 degree, panoramic lenses on his camera. The photos are displayed throughout the home and add a lot to the tour. There are more than 20 photos on display. The combination of Schiff's wonderful eye for composition, the unique perspective given by the lens he used and Wright's designs make for wonderful art. Definitely visit this exhibit if you have the chance. It is scheduled to be on display through January 6, 2008.
We loved the tour and encourage you to see the Westcott House.
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