Thomas and Ellen Pickering House

Thomas and Ellen Pickering House

Thomas and Ellen Pickering’s house on Lido Isle, a densely populated island, was located on a deep but narrow lot. Richard Neutra devised clever solutions to expand the house’s footprint in response to both lacking and existing setback requirements. Neutra mapped his initial ideas for the site in an early sketch that acknowledged breezeways, views, and surrounding structures. The finished house was a two-story structure in which U-shaped wings enclosed two interior courtyards, allowing for a panopticon-like view of all activities. The architecture establishes a division between public and private spaces. Workspaces were placed along the street while rooms with more private functions, such as the kitchen, living room, and family room, were set deeper into the house. Bedrooms, the most private spaces, occupied the second story. In his work to account for his clients’ habits and preferences, Neutra noted Ellen Pickering’s sleeping pattern, on her right side and away from the window, and her cooking style, including her fondness for buffet dinners and the clean and tidy order she returned her kitchen to when it was not in use.

Adapted from Neutra – Complete Works by Barbara Lamprecht (Taschen, 2000), p. 384.