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Living in the Seattle area, I
have had a few opportunities to visit the Brandes Residence.
It is one
of only three in the Puget Sound area, occupying three
wooded acres on the Sammamish Plateau.
While only 1600 square feet, Wright’s design of space gives
it a sensing of a much larger house.
The addition of the Workshop and office added another 300
square feet. Ray Brandes owned a
construction company, and built the home as a showpiece.
When construction questions arose,
Brandes was able to call on Milton Stricker, an apprentice
who had settled in the Seattle area.
Due to cost over runs, Brandes was unable to complete many
of the details. Jack Cullen, Ray
Brandes’ stepson and current owner meticulously completed
many of the unfinished details,
replacing cedar with redwood and installing the perforated
cut-wood light screens overlaying the
clerestory windows. There are many classic Wright details.
Rose colored concrete blocks, tinted
horizontally raked mortar, inward tilted concrete block
walls. Cherokee red poured concrete floors on a four foot
grid system, design with radiant heat. There |
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are
mitered glass corners.
Wood framed floor to ceiling glass doors that opens outward.
Horizontal bands of windows.
There are double clerestory windows with perforated cut-wood
light screens. The hidden
entrance at the rear of the home.
I had the opportunity to view the interior of the home, but
due to the number of others
touring the home at the same time, I was unable to
photograph the interior. It includes manyexceptional examples of Wright designed furniture and
built-ins. There are beautifully designed
living room chairs and the dining room table and chairs,
double clerestory windows and of course
a large centrally located stone fireplace. Mimi Brandes
passed away, and Ray married Jack
Cullen’s mother, Helen Cullen, in 1966. When Ray and Helen
retired and moved to California in
1984, Jack purchased the house from them. Jack Cullen and
his wife Deborah Vick raised their
two children, now grown, in the home. Ray Brandes later
constructed the Tracy residence in
Normandy Park. January 2000 |
