It started with a deck. Our client wanted to improve one at the house Win and Lisl Close had designed for the couple on Ferndale Rd. in Wayzata. I had not met them but needing a dimension, I called to see if I could come out to measure. “I’ve got my tape right here” she said, “What do you need?” As I was to learn to my delight, this was our client, direct, flexible, inventive, patient, and unpretentious.

 

Some time later, she called to say there was a crack in the wall/corner of her Bedroom. The house was old enough for those sorts of initial problems to have been discovered and fixed. I brought out the project’s excellent structural engineers, Meyer, Borgman & Johnson. We/they checked everything we could think of without success. After a while she called to say she’d found a fix and to come out and see. The crack was unchanged but now totally disguised by a Trompe-l'œil painted trellis with vines in the corner. She was very pleased and proud of her solution.

 

The husband was ill and needed to be moved to an enlarged room at the back of the house. From there, we created a way up, onto a new deck above the Garage where he could look out to the Lake. We added an incilator to the back stairs and finally found space for an elevator.

 

The husband’s funeral service was at Westminster Church in Mpls. It was a fine event with many attendees. I reached her in the receiving line. Before I could offer condolences, she said “Now we must get together right away to plan my condo makeover! I’m selling the house and moving into our building in Wayzata!”.

 

Working with our client on her condo project was special. They owned the two center units of four in the top of an older four story building on Main Street. The views of Wayzata Bay on Lake Minnetonka were wonderful. Entering from the elevator and shared Hall, your first impulse was to hurry to the full height windows to take it all in. To heighten the suspense, we decided to create a bit of a buffer, a Foyer. But the separation we designed was a series of glass shelves so you could still glance through to the view beyond. The couple had a wonderful dish collection that was featured on the back Dining Room wall of their Ferndale home. In the apartment, we set the dishes on long Pilkington Glass channels, the kind usually found in glass exteriors like the elevators at Minneapolis’ Mill City Museum or Steven Holl’s addition to the College of Design at the U of M. The channels were very strong and we could hide tiny LED lights along their dropped sides.

 

The glass shelves solved another surprise/problem. Vent ducts from units below were hidden in the existing central walls and ran through to the roof above. Rather than fight them, we made them the ends of our two sets of glass shelves and encased them in 2’ diameter custom blown glass column shrouds by Glass Art. Our clever Lighting Designers, Schuler Shook, applied electroluminescent film to their insides so they glowed (with dimmers) along with their shelves.

 

As we started design, our client requested a Powder Room by the Front Door. There was little space and connecting to existing plumbing was a problem. I worked and worked to find a solution, apologizing over and over for it taking me so long. Finally, I discovered a design and proudly presented it to her. I’ll never forget her kind comment, “I knew you’d find a way.”  Sweeter words from client to architect were never spoken!

 

The project progressed nicely. The Family resources were a large help with some of these special solutions. The only time she ever questioned a price was one day when we were looking at rugs for the Front Room with the Family’s long time Interior Designer. The rug was large and gorgeous. For the first and only time, she asked “How much?” As the sales person stated the price, I watched my Interiors Associate momentarily blanche before our client quickly said, “I thought as much”.

 

My Architectural Associate on the project was Lorri Whipple, a long time partner. Lorri had meticulously cataloged all of the family’s considerable fine art and we had carefully measured and planned where each piece would go in the new spaces. As the project was nearing completion, our client called one morning to point out that the Calder painting, a tall narrow piece with a series of X’s splashed in a row was not going to fit above the new fireplace in her Kitchen/Sitting Room. She had recently requested we raise the hearth so she could sit on it rather than next to the fire. None of us had remembered the plan for the Calder! In her typical “can do manner” she said “I’ll put the Calder in the back seat and meet you at the site.” When Lorri and I arrived, she met us with a broad smile. “Come in” she said, “I’ve figured out what to do! We’ll just mount the Calder on its side!”  “But”, I said , “Calder’s AC signature will be in the upper right hand corner!”  She laughed and said, “We’ll just see if anyone notices!”

 

Many friends came to be with her in that space. I am proud that she loved it and it brought her and her guests joy. Unfortunately, after she died, the folks who bought it tore out all that we had built, and then… they both died. I’m afraid this happens all too often to architects, even some great ones. I was sitting with teacher, boss, neighbor, and friend Ralph Rapson one night at a Neighborhood meeting. A project of mine was about to be altered by a general contractor. When I was finished fuming, Ralph leaned in and reminded me “Gar, it’s a tough business.”

Ah yes, the Guthrie, and….

 

“Still and all” I remember this Close project and client with great fondness. Good clients make good buildings.