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Overview

This residence for iconoclastic archtiect Robert Reichert and his mother was one of the most radical and creative residential designs realized in Seattle during the 1950s. its minimal, shed-roof shapes predated by about a decade similar forms made famous by the San Francisco firm of MLTW. Additionally, its supergraphics on the interior and exterior also presaged similar graphic decorative patterns utilized by Italian architects, Charles Moore and many others in the 1960s. In its restored condition, the house stands as a remarkable architectural achievement.

Building History

Reichert designed the house to accommodate himself and his mother. The dwelling's unusual, tall form was necessitated by the lofty pipes of an organ that occupied a music room in the house. This house originally had a bold, black and white patterned exterior, which was covered over to assuage the neighborhood.

The house had a highly synthetic character, influenced by De Stijl architecture, vernacular industrial forms, and such recent Modern works as Walter Gropius's own house in Lincoln, MA, (1937-1938) and the Case Study House #08 (the Charles and Ray Eames House) in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles (1947-1949). It had the stucco surface and ribbon windows of the Groupius House, but unlike this horizontal design, Reichert's small lot necessitated him to invert it 90 degrees and make its stress vertical. Reichert eschewed convention completely and utilized imagery derived from mineshafts or other starkly utilitarian vernacular forms. One thing is for sure, the house blended a lot of diverse sources into it, making it one of the most curious and captivating buildings erected in the Pacific Northwest.

Building Notes

Architect's own house.

Alteration

The Reichert House was heavily remodeled from the original up until 2015, when new owners Adelaide Blair and Darin McAdams bought the property. They rebuilt the house and sensitively renovated it using ideas derived from the Robert Reichert architectural archives at the University of Washington. The house won an renovation award sponsored by the preservation agency Historic Seattle. Stefan Hampden of CAST Architecture supervised this redesign. (See Sandy Deneau Denham, "Home as Homage," Seattle Times Pacific NW magazine, 05/08/2022, pp.10-17.)

PCAD id: 6412