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Archie Boyd and Patricia Teater
Studio-Residence, Bliss, Idaho (1952 - S.352) |
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On a recent trip
from Chicago to Seattle with my daughter, we had a few
minutes to stop and see the Teater Residence. It is just a
few minutes off the interstate in Bliss, and is Wright’s
only work in Idaho. In 1949, the Teaters purchased the two
acre parcel on a bluff overlooking the Snake River winding
through the valley below. Designed in 1952, construction
began in the fall of 1953 and was completed four years later
in 1957. Archie Teater was a prolific painter and he and Pat
lived in the Studio-Residence in the spring and fall until
the mid 1970's when Archie’s health began to fail. He passed
away in 1978 and she in 1981. The Studio-Residence sat
vacant for a number of years until in 1982 when the present
owner, writer Henry Whiting, nephew of a Taliesin apprentice
Alden Dow, purchased it after it was put on the market. Tom
Casey, an apprentice of Wright’s, supervised the original
construction and was also involved in later renovations.
There are many classic Wright details. The basic materials
consisted of glass, concrete, local wood and stone and
follows a diamond grid pattern. Oakley stone, used on the
interior and exterior, was quarried from the mountains south
of Oakley, Idaho near the Utah border. |
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The Teaters
used native oak trim. There are the built-in
furnishings as well as triangular light fixtures in the
ceiling. Concrete floors, cantilevered roofs, a large
expansive room and the centrally located fireplace. I
did not have the opportunity to view very much of the home.
There is a very tall fence along the road indicating a
desire for privacy, and the bluff makes it impossible to
view the rest of the home. After returning home and
finding a copy of Home Magazine in my library,
I came to realize how truly stunning this home is.
Henry Whiting has done a remarkable restoring it. For
more information the present owner, Henry Whiting has
written “At
Nature's Edge, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Artist Studio”
At Nature’s Edge chronicles the design and history of the
studio and the restorations that were necessary to preserve
it after years of neglect. The book is vividly illustrated
with contemporary color photographs, historical black and
white images, and Frank Lloyd Wright’s original drawings.
Also by Whiting:
Learning the
Wright Lessons. 2 ½ years restoring Teater’s Knoll, Home,
October 1987 March 2009
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Original drawing of the Teater Studio-Residence, viewed from
the Southwest. Courtesy of the Frank Lloyd Wright
Foundation. |
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| Detail
from original drawing. Courtesy of the Frank Lloyd Wright
Foundation. |
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Exterior Photographs By Douglas Steiner, March
2009 |
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There are many classic Wright
details. The basic materials consisted of glass, concrete, local
wood and stone and follows a
diamond grid pattern. Oakley stone, used on
the interior and exterior, was quarried from the mountains
south of Oakley, Idaho |
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near the Utah border. The Teaters
used native oak trim. There are the built-in
furnishings as well as triangular light fixtures in the
ceiling. Concrete floors, cantilevered roofs, a large
expansive room and the centrally located fireplace. |
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1:
View from the North, the
Living Room is on the left, the Balcony is on the right. |
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2:
Closer view from the North,
the Living Room is on the left, the Balcony is on the right.
Cantilevered roof overhang on the right. |
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3:
Living Room window. |
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4:
Detail of the Living Room
window. |
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5:
Detail of the Balcony and
cantilevered roof overhang. Early images do not include this
decorative roof brace, but show a simple kneebrace. This is
consistent with Wright’s original drawings. |
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6:
Cantilevered roof
overhang detail. Roof brace is consistent with Wright’s
original drawings. |
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7:
Cantilevered roof support
detail. Roof brace is consistent with Wright’s original
drawings. |
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8:
Cantilevered roof detail. |
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9:
Detail of the Balcony and
cantilevered roof overhang. |
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10:
Detail of the Balcony door
and window. |
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11:
Detail of the
Balcony and foundation. |
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12:
Detail of the Oakley stone
masonry. |
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13:
Detail of the Oakley stone
masonry and foundation. |
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Text and Photographs by Douglas M. Steiner,
Copyright 2009 |
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"Learning the
Wright Lessons". Home, October 1987 |
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(Note, Home Magazine is no longer being publishing,
I have copied excerpts of the text, but give all the credits available.) |
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Home Magazine
- October 1987
Published Monthly by Home Magazine Publishing Corp., a
subsidiary of Knapp Communications Corp., Los Angeles, CA
"Learning the Wright Lessons. An aficionado of Frank Lloyd Wright
recounts the 2 ½ years he spent restoring Teater’s Knoll,
The architect’s only Idaho structure." Pp
38-45
By Henry Whiting II, Introduction and captions by Editor
Wendy A. Silverstein
Introduction and captions by Editor Wendy A. Silverstein
Text By Henry Whiting II
Photographs by Christopher Irion
Excerpts from Introduction and captions by Editor Wendy A.
Silverstein
...Henry Whiting, the second owner of
Teater’s Knoll, wanted a space that did more than just
satisfy basic cooking and storage needs. Since there was no
room to expand the original alcove kitchen, he decided to
relocate it into an adjacent workshop area that original
owner Archie Teater had used for stretching canvas and
mixing paint.
Whiting first broke down the stud wall
behind the old kitchen and the artist’s workshop. In
redesigning the new kitchen’s cabinets, counters and walls
he conformed to Wright’s statical and structural themes,
repeating the 60- and 120-degree angles found in the
original floor plan. A hexagonal skylight and interior
clerestories built into a new wall illuminate the new food
preparation area.
Though Wright originally specified cypress
for most surfaces in the Teater kitchen, Whiting instead
chose maple countertops and white oak cabinets with walnut
trim. The barstools he designed for the kitchen counter were
inspired by Wright’s dining room chairs.
The remodeled kitchen embodies many of
Wright’s design principles. The dining area is still related
to the kitchen, and there are considerably more work space
and cabinets than before. Counter seating and the newly
added below-counter washer and dryer give the kitchen added
function. Whiting’s carefully crafted design, enveloped by
the original stone walls, is his tribute to Wright. |
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Cover: In restoring a Frank
Lloyd Wright-designed studio in Idaho, Henry Whiting
preserved the architecture’s harmony and detail. Strong
angularity, here based on the parallelogram, and unity with
nature, exemplified by the stone fireplace, are vintage
wright. Chairs, Hexagonal Tables and Standing Lamps were
built by contractor Jack McNamara, from Frank Lloyd Wright
designs. The andirons, grate and tools, were newly designed
by former Wright apprentice Tom Casey of Taliesin Associates
Architects and made by Mark Sheehan. |
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Page 38-39: Wright’s dining table and chairs were original to the
studio. The window seats were built by contractor Jack McNamara,
from Frank Lloyd Wright’s design. The Book shelves and footstools
were original. The hexogonal tables and accompanying chairs are
recent additions, and were built by contractor Jack McNamara, from
Frank Lloyd Wright designs. |
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Page 40: A stepped bracket detail supports a once-sagging area of
the roof. |
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Page 42: Henry Whiting’s new kitchen is far more spacious and
practical than the original. The counter seating give the kitchen
added function. The barstools Whiting designed for the kitchen
counter were inspired by Wright’s dining room chairs. Note that a
wooden post (embedded in the stone wall at center) is all that
remains of the stud wall that once separated the original kitchen
and workshop. The Kitchen door (fir), Counters (maple) and cabinets
(oak with walnut trim) were custom made by Earl Englemann.
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Page 45: Mark Sheehan made the andirons, grate and tools, newly
designed by former Wright apprentice Tom Casey of Taliesin
Associates Architects. |
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Photographs by Christopher Irion.
Excerpts from Introduction and captions by Editor Wendy A. Silverstein. |
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Floor
Plan |
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Floor plan copyright 1993, “The
Frank Lloyd Wright Companion” Storrer, William Allin, page 374-375. |
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Date:
1987
Title:
Teater’s Knoll: Frank Lloyd
Wright’s Idaho Legacy (Hard Cover DJ) (Published by Northwood Institute
Press, Midland, Michigan)
Author: Whiting, Henry II; Waite, Robert
G.
Description:
Dust jacket: "Teater’s
Knoll: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Idaho Legacy
is an unusual book in the sense that it is a biography of a building. It
tells the story of the life cycle of the Archie Teater Studio, which is
treated throughout the book as a living object. It's birth, life,
decline, and rebirth are thoroughly chronicled in these pages.
Additional characters include Frank Lloyd Wright, the Teater Studio’s
architect, who was enjoying the busiest and most notorious period of his
long career. Archie Teater was just beginning to gain a reputation as a
landscape painter in Jackson hole, Wyoming..." (First Edition)
Size:
9.25 x 12.25
Pages: Pp 188
ST#:
1987.133.1021 |
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Date: 1987
Title: Home - October 1987 (Published by Home
Magazine Publishing Corp.)
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Author:
Anonymous |
Author:
Whiting, Henry II |
Author:
Silverstein, Wendy A. |
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Description:
"Go Wright In." A list of six public Wright sites that
are open to the public. Original List Price $1.95.
(See Wright Study) |
Description: "Learning the
Wright Lessons. An aficionado of Frank Lloyd Wright recounts the 2 ½ years he spent
restoring Teater’s Knoll, the architects only Idaho structure." Includes
14 photographs and one illustration. Original List Price
$1.95.
(See Wright Study) |
Description: "Rethinking the
Kitchen." Original List Price $1.95.
(See Wright Study) |
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Size:
8 x 10.75 |
Size:
8 x 10.75 |
Size:
8 x 10.75 |
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Pages:
Pp 17 |
Pages:
Pp Cover, 2, 38-45 |
Pages:
Pp 43 |
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ST#: 1987.19.0305 |
ST#: 1987.20.0305 |
ST#: 1987.21.0305 |
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Date:
1987
Title:
Idaho Yesterday - Winter 1987 (Published four times a year by
the Idaho State Historical Society, Boise, Idaho)
Author: Waite, Robert G.
Description:
"A Spot of Interest to Humanity. Hagerman's Archie Theater
Studio, Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect. While Frank Lloyd Wright
is well known as an architect, the one structure he designed in
Idaho is not at all well known. The story of its construction is
an intriguing one, told here by a professional historian who was
also one of the work crew that spent two and a half years
restoring the house. All photographs but those on pages 19 and
24 are kindly provided by the owner of the house, Henry Whiting.
He and Robert Waite have collaborated on a book about the house
that will be published this year. The author, who formerly
taught at Idaho State and Boise State university's, presently
lives in Washington, D. C..." Includes 13 photographs. Original
cover price $15.00 per year.
Size:
7.75 x 10.5
Pages: Pp 18-30
ST#:
1987.108.0519 |
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Date: 2007
Title:
At Nature’s Edge. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Artist Studio (Published
by The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City)
Author: Whiting, Henry II;
Foreword by Jones, E. Fay
Description:
The Archie and Patricia Teater Home and Studio (S.352 1952).
Perched high on a cliff above the Snake River in a remote area
of Idaho, Frank Lloyd Wright’s artist studio is a testament to
the architect’s total mastery of his craft. The simple, one-room
studio Wright designed for Idaho landscape painter Archie Boyd
Teater and Patricia Teater in 1952 is a sophisticated, complex
work of art. As Wright’s only artist studio (other than his
own), the structure was intended to foster the creative life.
Located on one of the most spectacular natural sites Wright ever
worked with, the studio at Teater’s Knoll is a premier example
of organic architecture at its best, where the fundamental
integration with nature blurs the meeting of building and
nature. At Nature’s Edge chronicles the design and history of
the studio and the restorations that were necessary to preserve
it after years of neglect. (Publisher’s description.)
Original list price $39.95. (First Edition)
Size:
12.5 x 9.25
Pages: Pp 125
ST#: 2007.60.0511 |
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Date:
2018
Title:
Archie Teater Studio, Bliss, Idaho (1952 - S352).
Description: Flyer for 2018 Archie Teater Studio Tour. "The
Hagerman Valley Historical Society. Tour. June 9. 11 am - 3:15
pm. Archie Teater’s Studio designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Dinner at Hagerman Senior Center."
Size:
8.5 x 11.
Pages: Two pages.
ST#:
2018.40.1021 |
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Related Books |
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"Teater's Knoll Frank Lloyd Wright's
Idaho Legacy", Whiting, Waite, 1987 |
"Frank
Lloyd Wright Monograph 1951-1959", Text: Pfeiffer, Bruce
Brooks;
Edited and Photographed:
Futagawa, Yukio, 1988, page 34-37. |
| “The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion”, Storrer, William Allin,
1993, page 374-375. |
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"Frank
Lloyd Wright
and the Meaning of Material"
Patterson, 1994, page 31. |
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"The
Vision of Frank Lloyd Wright"
Heinz, 2000, page 248-249. |
| "Frank
Lloyd Wright: The Western Work",
Legler, Dixie, 1999, page 70-71. |
| “At Nature's Edge, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Artist
Studio” Whiting, 2007, pp 175 |
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"Frank Lloyd
Wright, Complete Works 1943-1959", Pfeiffer; Gossel,
2009, pages 324-325. |
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Related Images and
Articles |
- (Note, due to the fact that the internet is constantly
changing, and items that
are posted change, I have copied the text, but give all the
credits available.)
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| A)
Learning the Wright
Lessons. 2 ½ years restoring Teater’s Knoll, Whiting, Henry
II, Home, October 1987 |
| B)
Archie Teater's Studio, By
Joe Siebel, September 1991 (PDF). |
| C)
Teater's Knoll, Bliss, By Sara Beitia,
August 2, 2006 |
| D)
Archie Boyd Teater Biography |
| E)
The
Tale of Teton Teater,
By Cara Froedge, Summer 2008 |
| F)
The Archie B. Teater Collection |
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PROCEEDS FROM EVERY SALE GOES TO SUPPORT THE WRIGHT LIBRARY.
