Rosenbaum House

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Rosenbaum House

Site overview

The Rosenbaum House is an outstanding example of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian designs of the late 1930s, the only Usonian house to have been enlarged with a major addition by Wright, and the only Wright structure in Alabama. It exhibits all of the elements, in a refined form, that were characteristic of Wright’s Usonian designs including a concrete slab with underfloor heating, sandwich wall panels of cypress, structural brick chimneys to support the multiple flat roofs, a brick service core, and a modular planning grid. The 1948 addition provides an enlarged kitchen and laundry area, a guest room with bath, and a den. The courtyard created between the den and guest room was landscaped as a Japanese garden.

Primary classification

Residential (RES)

Designations

U.S. National Register of Historic Places, listed on December 19, 1978

Author(s)

Alex Cook | | 3/2008

How to Visit

Public tours available

Location

601 Riverview Drive
Florence, AL, 35630

Country

US
More visitation information

Designer(s)

Other designers

Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright
Commission

August 1939

Completion

August 1940

Commission / Completion details

August 1939 / August 1940

Original Brief

Frank Lloyd Wright’s first Usonian house – the Jacobs House – is completed outside Madison, Wisconsin. The Jacobs House would later serve as the basis of the Rosenbaum plan, with its 2’ x 4’ planning module, L shape, and private areas pushed to the ends of the plan. Additionally, with a construction cost of only $5,500 the house would become a model for affordable designer houses.Cooper Union architecture student Aaron Green, a friend of Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum, delivers plans for a residence in Florence, Alabama. The estimated cost is well over the desired $7,500 maximum price, so Green who greatly admired the design and low cost of the Jacobs House, recommends FLW as an alternative. Rosenbaums contact FLW, asking for a house with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a large kitchen with service entrance and pantry, a study, and a living room large enough for many books, piano, organ, and radio-phonograph.

Significant Alteration(s) with Date(s)

Addition Added (March 1948 - November 1948):FLW delivers plans for the expansion (September 1946).1084 square feet (2624 square feet total) / $40,000-$50,000Addition added, along with upgraded recessed lighting around bookshelves and in the kitchen, as well as a new carport. Renovation (2000-2002):Roof replaced (cantilevered eaves rebuilt with steel flitches, single-ply roof installed), gravity heat system repaired and later replaced by new heating and air conditioning system, house rewired and brought up to code, carport rebuilt, new kitchen cabinets added. Termites and water had damaged most of the walls (except for the original brickwork). The middle layer of the three layer walls (pine sandwiched by cypress panels) required extensive replacement. The cost was approximately $54,000. John Eifler of FAIA, who has overseen a number of Usonian restorations, consulted on the job.

References

https://focus.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/78000492.pdf