Daily Independent Journal from San Rafael, California • Page 20

rJm mmtal, Saturday, Mar. 21, 1953 me M8 t. i'jty Saturday, Mar. 21, 1953 M9 First house designed by Lots Davidson in Inverness is a one-room unit with 576 square feet. The gable of the house points southeast toward a beautf- sea and sky.

The two rear walls angle back into the hillside. Curtains hang from a transom bar to give complete privacy. Morley Baer photo. Inverness home ot Dr. Gregory Vai-Goeschen has all essential elements of a large house with built-in table, custom built chairs and completely equipped kitchen.

Behind the built-in sofa is a full-size bed and wardrobe. Finishes and colors echo the redwood and concrete block of the living room. Lois Davidson Conquers Space In Well-Designed Small Homes By JUDY STONE Two years ago, Architect Lois Davidson, now 26, "found a client who just by looking at my eager face hired The client, Dr. Gregory Val Goe- schen of Inverness, was so pleased with the small weekend redwood and concrete block house that she designed, contracted and labored on, that he decided to help her and Jane Duncomb, 27, of Chicago, build a house on speculation. The girls, both students of Frank Lloyd Wright's, finished their big job this week; three bedroom home of mortarless concrete blocks on an acacia and eucalyptus shaded lot at 241 Tamalpais avenue.

When they find a client to buy the $35,000 modern house, they'll be off for a round-the-world trip to learn more about architecture in other countries. BOTH MEMBERS of scientific families, they became interested in architecture when they saw the work of great architect, Wright. Lois was a student at Stanford, interested in engineering and art, who finally decided to go in for architecture in "a luke warm Then she saw the designed home of Dr. Paul Hanna at Stanford, built on a hexagonal module and thought for was a completely new she said, was just as if I had never heard music before and I heard it for the first She had finished over three Front of house with the tWo-bedroom wing In the foreground and living-dining area in the back- ground shows the dramatic over-hanging which tips upward to emphasfee heighth. roof COVER PHOTO Lois Davidson, attractive young blonde architect, con- suits with Contractor Loyal Nerdahl over the blueprints of the Mill Valley house she designed with Jane Duncomb, a former fellow-student under Frank Lloyd Wright.

Radiant heating was being installed when the cover was taken by independent-Journal Photographer Warren Roll. Other photos of. the Mill Valley house shown on these pages are also by Roll. completely As a result, she too applied and was admitted years of work at Taliesen, where young Stanford, when Wright took her architects from all over the world in for a year and a study at went apprentices to absorb his Taliesen in Wisconsin and Taliesen philosophy of architecture and way West in Arizona, life. Meanwhile in Chicago, Jane had When they left Taliesen, the been having a similar experience, girls went separate ways.

Follow- She was the artist in a fam- ing two years of graduate work at ily that had been in the medical Harvard, Lois came bock to the profession for six generations. Bay Area and went to work for While attending the Chicago Art Warren Callister. After assisting Institute, she was taken to see the him on the unique Unlay house home Wright designed for Lloyd and spiking booking near Libertyville and Christian Science church in vedere, she decided to branch out on her own. In the midst dt building the Goeschen house in Inverness, Jane appeared on the scene and went to wortr as a laborer on the house. She had beeri employed by a firm in the suburbs of Chicago and wanted a change.

They decided they made a good complementary team. Lois said. THE NEW HOUSE, built on a half-acre lot by Contractor Loyal Nerdahl of Strawberry, has all the living area facing south to get the sun and light and all utility areas to the north in a subordinate position. Lois said they thought the best way to handle the hillside lot was, to cut a ledge in it and use the back of house as a retain- ing wall. Complementing the tall eucalyptus trees in the front of the house, is the upward tipping roof and the long, slim mullions or posts that accentuate the feeling of height and space.

ADJACENT TO the living room is tha lutehen-dining area. They are separated only by a U-shaped ash counter with three open redwood shelves. Below the counter is a mahogany cupboard that can be opened from either kitchen or dining room side. A narrow flou rescent light is concealed under the first shelf. Sliding mahogany panels cover the storage space above the built in sink and stove.

A built in stainless steel oven and dishwasher completes the area, although space is provided next to the wall for laundry equipment. Another radiantly heated terrace is just beyond. Next to the living room and little entry hall decorated with a built in planter are the two bedrooms that can be opened or closed with sliding panek. Two smail bathrooms, equipped with their own thermostatic controls like all the other rooms in the house, are made of redwood and polished concrete block. Lighting is provided by glass blocks set into the ceilings.

The Mill Valley house will be open for inspection tomorrow. Dining and living room areas have view of eucalyptus-filled location in front of the house. Striking effect of the tall trees beyond is emphasized by the redwood columns set in the floor to ceiling windows. Lucite lighting fixtures are novel. Kitchen-dining area is separated only by a U-shaped ash counter with three redwood shelves.

Below the counter is a mahogany cupboard that can be opened from either the kitchen or dining room. A narrow fluorescent light bulb is concealed under the first shelf. Living room with Hs built-in sofa and coffee table is shown in the foreground. At the far end of the dining room area is an open terrace with radiant heating in the floor to help make it attractive for out-door eating Between the terrace and kitchen is utility room for washing machine and dryer..