Dan Macey and Paul Savidge
David Lockard
David Brownlee
John Carr
Dan Macey
Bruce E. Brooks & Associates
Hansell Construction, Inc.
John Milner Architects, Inc.
Keast & Hood
Looney Ricks Kiss
Materials Conservation Co., LLC
Moore Brothers Wine Company
Rago Arts and Auction Center
When American architect Robert Venturi began to design a house for his mother, Vanna, in the late 1950s, he boldly replaced the generic vocabulary of modernism with the charmingly old-fashioned symbols of the “home”– a big chimney, sheltering roof, and welcoming doorway. Although apparently simple, even childlike in its conception, the Mother’s House was also “complex and contradictory” in the spirit of the manifesto that Venturi was then writing. The design was hugely influential, and it came to be seen as the first embodiment of Post-modernism, although that generalization is complex and contradictory, too.
Evincing the heroic unity of form and structure that is also visible in Louis I. Kahn’s other landmark commissions, the Margaret Esherick House (1959-61) is one of only nine homes that he designed. Monumental in its geometry, the house is gentle and humane in its details, and includes a stunning kitchen crafted by famed sculptor and woodworker Wharton Esherick, Margaret’s uncle. The homeowners’ efforts in preservation and conservation have been recognized nationally by Docomomo US and locally by the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. It is a model for stewardship and preservation.
All proceeds from this fundraising event support the work and mission of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. Contact Susan Matyas at 215-546-1146 x3 or susan@preservationalliance.com for further information.