Architect Profiles: Richard Crowther (1910-2006)

The late Richard Crowther was a pioneer in green development, passive solar design, and energy efficiency. He gave lectures on solar energy at universities nationwide and wrote some of the most important books on the subject, including the famous Sun, Earth: Alternative Energy Design for Architecture in 1983.

Richard Crowther started as an Art Deco neon-light designer for a firm in San Diego, where he was commissioned to help design the spires of San Francisco’s Golden Gate International Exposition.

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In 1948, Crowther moved to Denver. Working for Lakeside Amusement Park owner Ben Krasner, Crowther gave the park an Art Deco neon-light makeover which we all know and enjoy to this day. Here are some incredible examples of that design effort:

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In the 1950s, Richard Crowther built homes in the Country Club , Hilltop and Cherry Creek North neighborhoods. At Historic Denver’s recent Modernism Tour , participants were allowed inside Crowther’s 1956 Neufeld House. While the interior of the house is now contemporary modern, painstaking restoration effort was undertaken on the exterior to remove paint from Crowther’s original 1956 ribbed terra cotta tiles revealing their original “burnt orange” color. (Original & current interior pics below)

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In the 1960s, Crowther designed 3 masterful film theaters, the famous Cooper Cineramas. These were the first specially designed theaters to screen films with the incredible widescreen Cinerama process, which required three synchronized film projectors projecting crisscross onto a deeply curved screen. After the demise of this elaborate process, all three theaters were unfortunately demolished. These theaters were also clad in “burnt orange”.

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The Cooper Theatre here in Denver on S. Colorado Blvd was the first to be constructed, followed by a sister Cooper Theatre in St. Louis Park, MN. Finally, Crowther’s crowning achievement in theater design was the Indian Hills Theater in Omaha, Nebraska, which sported a 105 foot screen! When they demolished the Indian Hills Theater, celebrity protestors included Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Ray Bradbury and Leonard Maltin.

Cherry Creek residents may be familiar with some of Richard Crowther’s unique office buildings, around Third & Steele St.

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This was once Crowther’s office.

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Here you can see the solar functionality of the unusual geometric shapes jutting out of his structures.

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Happily, two fantastic Crowther houses in Cherry Creek have so far evaded the raze craze. They can be found at 500 Cook Street (hard to get a picture of due to bountiful streetside landscaping) and the Crowther House and Studio at 401 Madison St., which is a masterpiece. It has been compared to Charles Deaton’s Sculptured House of Genesee by esteemed art and architecture critic Michael Paglia.

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Richard Crowther died at 96, but he continued to swim 100 laps a day in the indoor solar-heated pool (which was designed to help warm his house) until he was 94 years old!

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Architect Profiles: Victor Hornbein (1913-1995)

This past weekend I participated in Historic Denver, Inc.’s Mid-Century Modern Hilltop House Tour.Typical for Colorado weather, it was a sunny 70 plus degrees on Saturday and then Sunday we had an impressive hailstorm. Nevertheless, it was a great opportunity to view the interiors of 5 outstanding modernist homes, two of which were designed by Victor Hornbein; the Touff House and the Kohn/Neustetter House.

Victor Hornbein (pronounced Horn-bine) was Denver’s premiere Usonian architect. Usonian architecture is quite a contrast to the International style which some consider cold and sterile. Usonian homes were constructed using natural materials like wood and stone rather than industrial materials like aluminum and concrete. Usonian structures often feature overhanging eaves, clerestory and corner windows. While the International style is attributed to the influence of several European architects (i.e. Gropius, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe), the Usonian style is the influence of one man: Frank Lloyd Wright.

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Hornbein is most famous for his work at Denver’s Botanic Gardens, especially the beautiful concrete lattice work of the Botanical Gardens Tropical Conservatory from 1966, quickly conferred Denver landmark status in 1973. But to confuse the Usonian materials issue, it is primarily concrete and plexiglass. (And please note that every resource on the internet seems to have a different year attached to the Botanic Garden’s structures).

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Victor Hornbein graduated from East High School and the Beaux Arts Institute of Design at Atelier Denver. During Denver’s Art Deco era he worked for Montana Fallis (on the Mayan Theatre), Charles Jaka (on the The Cruise Room at the Oxford Hotel),  G. Meredith Musick (on the Bryant-Webster Elementary School, just south of Gaetano’s) and later for International Style architect Thomas Moore. He also designed the historical panels on the bronze doors of the State Capitol Building.

Among his many Usonian commissions were public works for schools (Cory Elementary), city halls, fire stations (Denver Fire Station No. 27, just east of Stapleton) and libraries. Some of his more outstanding existing designs are libraries, notably, the Aurora Public Library and the Ross-Broadway Library, reportedly Mr. Hornbein’s favorite design. The Ross-Broadway library is in very original condition and reminescent of Wright’s designs. Do yourself a favor and visit this masterful structure.

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As mentioned above, the Hilltop Modernism House Tour afforded the opportunity to peek inside a few of his home designs. The Touff House, built in 1958, also has a similar central clerestory to the Ross-Broadway library. To add space while maintaining the original Hornbein historic design, a 2,200 sq ft. addition was excavated underneath the driveway, quite an accomplishment!

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The low profile was intentionally designed to avoid blocking the neighbors mountain views. When entering this house, you must first cross a bridge over a beautiful interior koi pond!

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An earlier Victor Hornbein Usonian home was also on the tour, the Kohn/Neustetter House from 1947.

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While most Usonian designs are normally smaller in scale, the Kohn/Neustetter House is large and sprawling, with another central clerestory, beautiful wood paneling and built-ins everywhere. There are unique, large sliding glass doors in almost every room to blur the distinction between indoors and outdoors.

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The late, great Victor Hornbein continued to design homes through the 1980s.  As “scrapes” become commonplace, we must concern ourselves with preserving his work. One testament to Denver’s loss is at 255 Dexter Street in Hilltop. The location of one of Hornbein’s greatest Usonian masterpieces is now just a sad empty lot.

Mid Century Bathrooms

In my line of work, I see the aftermath of the Home Depot fairies far more often than I would like. As a result, I am fascinated by mid-century kitchens, bathrooms and garage doors. Look for future picture posts of all of these, but let’s start with bathrooms.

 These first pictures are from a 60’s Lookout Mountain home designed by architect James Ream. The home is in a secluded wooded setting, so why not a wall of windows in the bathroom?

 

 

 

Click here for the slideshow!

5280mod – Happenings & Updates


Arapahoe Acres has updated their website:

Arapahoe Acres

The AA site is created by the homeowners for the homeowners and contains a lot of text, so if you’re more interested in pictures then you want to go here:

Photos of Arapahoe Acres

There are also currently 3 midcentury modern homes for sale in Arapahoe Acres and one more on the way. Those of you on my mailing list are also aware of the Ed Hawkins designed home currently for sale in Southern Hills.


Speaking of Arapahoe Acres homeowners, Diane Wray Tomasso has recently published another Denver Historic Guide with Westword writer, Michael Paglia. The new guide is called “Mid-Century Modern House in Denver” which you can pick up at Tattered Cover or from Historic Denver, Inc.

If you don’t already have them, you may also want to pick up “Denver: The Modern City” (shown) and “The Arapahoe Acres Historic District” guides.

Art Deco Exhibit…

now until June 1st, at the Aurora History Museum.

“On display will be examples of how the Art Deco style was utilized in building design, furniture, domestic pieces, radios, lighting, kitchen appliances, jewelry, and much more.”

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Pictured above is the Buerger Brothers building at 17th & Champa. Designed by architect Montana S. Fallis (most likely with the assistance of his son Myrlin), it is considered one of Denver’s best examples of Art Deco design. Thankfully, the building was rehabilitated in the late 90’s after decades of neglect and has now been converted into residential lofts.

Looking for your own modern space?

I have added 2 more websites to help you with your search.

Boulder Mod

Mountain Mod

…and if you aren’t on my mailings list, please consider joining! Here is an example:

5280mod Newsletter

5280mod Fixture Finds

Just have to share some of the outstanding (sometimes odd) fixtures and design elements I have discovered …

Sorry the picture isn’t better, but this is a towel bar and you can barely see the lovely original green tub in the background.

Nice original bubble light fixture!
Another fixture in the same house. I always applaud preservation, but I’m not sure what George Nelson would think of this…


In another original owner home, I found this sputnik fixture…looks good in spite of the “flame” bulbs.

5280mod An Original 1957 Find in Applewood

Thanks to my brother-in-law for giving me a heads up on this gem in Applewood!

 


Built in 1957, from what I can gather, this home has only had 2 owners and is in remarkable original condition (other than the robin’s egg blue paint that has been recently sprayed on almost every exterior surface) The second owners purchased the home in 1967 and (I’m assuming) added the carpet.

This deck railing detail gets lost in the sea of blue.

Main bathroom with chrome “hideaway” toothbrush/glass holder.

 

Main entrance – planter with metal rods. The bricks appear to continue under the gold “sculptured” carpet in the living/dining areas. 
The divider seems to have been turned into a display case w/ a gold lamé backing.
This is a raised ranch with a garden level basement. As you can see in the exterior photo, both levels have a wall of glass.
Master Bedroom – nice light fixture and original hardware on the closets. (Must love pink)
Master Bath
Unfortunate placement of t.v. cable.
Notice the controls for the cooktop mounted on the back wall. That rectangular shape you can barely see on the counter to the left is a built in blender motor.
Dining room.
Dining Room side of the upstairs pass-through fireplace.
Bar/kitchenette in the basement.
Wallpaper in the Bar.
View of the family room (lower level) from the bar. This is another pass-through fireplace.
This home was recently purchased by an architect and his family.
Cell: 303.884.4016
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