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A ‘Tiny House’ That Predates the Current Craze
Paul Rudolph’s Walker Guest House offers the security of a cave with the joy of a pavilion.
By Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal
Walker Guest House Replica at The Ringling No. 8 Florida Buildings I Love: SAF's volunteer docents have greeted over 58,000 visitors since the Replica opened November 6, 2015. More than 500,000 visitors to The Ringling have seen the building's exterior during the past 18 months. "It's small on the outside and big on the inside." When you enter the Walker Guest House Replica you feel a breeze and have a clear line of sight to the water on the Ringling Grounds. Paul Rudolph designed this modernist beach cottage that captures fresh air and light, bringing the outside in. The white wooden flaps are adjusted with the rope and pulley system like sails. Cleats inside the cottage are used to secure the ropes and round, red counterweights look like buoys.
The galley kitchen is compact like on a boat. The British Officer’s chairs made of white canvas look great against the Battleship Grey walls. You sense the influence of Rudolph’s WWII Naval experience.
Visitors return again and again. “It’s like being on a sailboat.” “It’s calm in here.” “I wish this were mine.” "Seeing this [house], I'm now re-evaluating my life." "Is this the house of the future?"
"[The house] crouches like a spider in the sand." Paul Rudolph described the Walker Guest House as his own personal Florida favorite. "The Sarasota School of Architecture: 1941-1966" By John Howey, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997
“This is a very unusual ‘preservation’ project because we are building fresh from scratch, from the original [Rudolph] drawings,” says architect Joe King, co-author of Paul Rudolph: The Florida Houses (Princeton Architectural Press, 2009) and construction manager of the Walker Guest House replica.
McCalls Magazine 1953 article with photos by Ezra Stoller
Press Mid-Century Perfection Remaking Rudolph: Sarasota Architectural Foundation takes its mission to the streets with this replica of the Walker Guest House Long Regarded as an Architecture Lovers Shrine, Sarasota, Florida Attracts Fresh Fans Midcentury Marvel by Paul Rudolph Recreated Down to the Last Detail The Walker Guest House: Replicating an Icon This New House: Joe King Honors Architectural Hero By Alastair Gordon, Wall to Wall Blog http://bit.ly/1KTy6Mq Rigged for Living in Small Spaces By Darrell Nicholson, Practical Sailor Blog A sailors appreciation for Rudolph's "open screened pavilion - a gem of simplicity." http://bit.ly/1GxmJeY Ca' d'Zan to get Temporary Guest By Alex Beam, The Boston Globe http://bit.ly/1v1vjI5 Paul Rudolph's Iconic Walker Guest House to be Re-Constructed | ArchDaily http://bit.ly/1wHutmn Mid-Century Modern in Southwest Florida Features the Walker Guest House 2011 exhibit curated by Joyce Owens AIA, RIBA http://bit.ly/1f7bwFz Paul Rudolph's house on Sanibel was architect's favorite By Tammy Ayer, News-Press http://bit.ly/1FPYNOc On Paul Rudolph and Sarasota's Forgotten Modernist Mecca By Rachel Doyle, Curbed http://bit.ly/1NtTy07 Legendary Paul Rudolph Home is Getting a Touring Replica US Modernist George Smart interview with architect Joe King about Paul Rudolph and SAF's Walker Guest House Replica, July 14, 2024. http://www.usmodernist.libsyn.com HGTV Extreme Homes Beach-Side Spider House The original Walker Guest House on Sanibel Island with architect Joyce Owens AIA, RIBA http://bit.ly/1tQmAvI Video A Spider in the Sand - The Walker Guest House, Sanibel, Florida April 2015, Video by Manuel Perez-Trujillo, Produced by Alastair Gordon and Henry Rueda
Trip to the original Walker Guest House, Sanibel, FL, August 2014 Animation by David Morrison |
August
$75,000.00 donation by Dr. Michael Kalman
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Dr. Michael Kalman
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