A nifty foam insulation was applied yesterday. Check the April Gallery for more pictures of this work as well as a look at the roof drain installation.

Concrete Products magazine, a monthly publication serving concrete industry professionals, presents a thorough discussion of the block-making process and highlights the diligence of the project principals who worked to ensure historical accuracy and future sustainability. Read more here

Not quite as glamorous as the "textile" blocks the house is built from, but just as crucial to its success. Workers are now installing the site's connection to the local sewer system. Like a lot of highly skilled work, this too will be unseen when the project is complete. See more in the April Gallery.

Lakeland-based EarthLinked Technologies gave us a tour of their headquarters today and a primer on how their geo-thermal heat pump will work to heat and cool the Usonian house. It was nice to discover that the project didn't have to leave home to find the right stuff. Learn more about it all in the Resources section.

Plumbers are on site now to install the sewer lines, so once again the earth has been moved to make way for a project. Masons are on site too, installing the wall caps, which involves custom fitting by hand grinding, and drilling holes in the caps to match the steel rods emerging from the floor. See everybody at work in the March Gallery.

Heavy equipment was on the site yesterday to dig out the second half of the geo-thermal field, an eight-foot deep pit about 30 feet wide and 90 feet long. Workers in the pit continuously check the depth and rake the ground to ensure a smooth, flat surface. Today, others are installing the copper pipe system that will provide heating and cooling to the house. See more photos in the March Gallery and see the video here.

Looks like some earth moving is on the agenda. In fact, the heavy-equipment guys will be on hand to dig out the second half of the geo-thermal field, so keep an eye on this site (or the actual construction site if you can) to see how it all comes out - and goes back in!
Click here for a look back at the work they did in July for the first half.

The plywood decking is in place and now we await the roofers. Some of the wall capstones remain to be installed so I think we'll see the masons again soon too. As you'll see in the March Gallery, the interior lighting is dramatically different and you'll get a hint of how the perforated blocks and skylights will contribute to the house's essential character.

The fact is that this project has enjoyed some uncanny luck with Florida's famously fickle weather. The winter was milder than almost anyone can remember, making for great block-laying days for the masons who did the bulk of their work in November and December. The carpenters had to cover part of the house in advance of a rainy weekend, but the real season won't be here for a couple of months, so there ought to be plenty of time for roofing. See the video (above), and check out the latest photos.

The carpenters are busy now laying down the plywood decking in advance of the roof installation which is due to begin this weekend. It was pretty windy on Wednesday and made it a little tricky to be handing up the big sheets. More progress on Thursday and we can hear them nailing and sawing today. See the pictures in the March Gallery and watch the video on the March page in the Month by Month section.

Carpenters are now adding a little "beef" to the joist perimeter, 2x8s all around. Still looking forward to roofing day, but there's a little more structural work to be done first. Lots of care and precision for the "supporting" actors who will never actually be seen "on stage".  See all of the February progress here.

Carpenters were walking around on the "roof" this week, but it was pretty hard to see how until we got a little altitude. They are installing boards between and across the joists that cap the house's walls. In some places they need to drill holes to match up with the steel rods. More work like this in the coming week and then the roof decking and the roof itself pretty soon. See all the photos in the February Gallery.

The carpenters are installing the the roof joists over the metal window frames on the highest walls of the house seen here from the northeast. The roofing company has visited the site and it looks like we might see some of their work in the next week or so. See more photos in the February Gallery.

The light will not be as intense (because of the roof, of course), but what shines in through the colored glass inserts in the perforated blocks will warmly illuminate the living room and invite guests to simply sit quietly and soak in the scene. Visitors will enter from the left and walk past the short wall you see straight ahead. As they turn the corner, they will encounter the wide-open view through the south side's floor-to-ceiling windows, and then the living room's central feature, the open-hearth fireplace (seen here at left).

See more in the February Gallery.

On Wednesday, the carpenters made and installed the roof joists over the living room where the ceilings will be the highest. It can't be long before we start seeing what the roof itself will be made of and look like. Watch how it's done on the February page in the Month by Month section and see more photos in the February Gallery.

The masons are working the details now, pinning (literally with steel pins) the cap blocks to the walls. In cases where they won't be exposed, the caps are drilled through from the top and the pins are anchored with epoxy. In places where the caps are visible, the pin holes have to be drilled from the underside and aligned perfectly with the vertical rods coming up through the walls. See the video on the February page of the Month by Month section and more photos in the February Gallery.

This unexpected change of scenery was part of an amazing trip to North Brookfield, Massachusetts, to see how the blocks are made. The video above documents the process and more photos are in the North Brookfield Gallery.

These perforated blocks form one of the most prominent features of the home's southern face. All of the holes will be fitted with colored glass inserts which will bathe the interior in warm, bright light from late morning until early evening. See more in the January Gallery.

The carpenters have come and gone again, but this time we were there to see some of the action. Carefully cut, neatly positioned, the roof joists over the northwest bedroom were nailed to the support frame. Other areas of the roof structure have also been put up recently. See more in the video on the January page of the Month by Month section, and more photos in the January Gallery.

It's really a little farther from finished than that, but a sight like this makes you think it won't be long before all of the blocks are in place. In a way, however, that's just the beginning. All of the perforated blocks will need glass inserts, carpenters will need to add roof beams (and the roof), and all of the interior wood will have to be installed. And landscaping, and furnishings, etc., etc. Check the January Gallery for more photos.

The carpenters come and go so fast that it's hard to catch them in the act. Their work has to dovetail with the masons', and the details are getting more complex as we approach the topping out. With the first set of interior roof joists in place over the southwest bedroom, you can begin to sense the cozy scale of the private spaces. The living room, by contrast, will feature a vaulted ceiling four courses (three feet) higher. See more in the January Gallery.

Most of the blocks have been laid and carpenters have now joined the masons on the site. The steel that isn't hidden by blocks will eventually be covered with wood details. In the December Gallery you can also see why the big beam came with large cutouts and get a close-up look at some of the blocks that are too heavy for one man to lift.

Wright envisioned a process that would allow unskilled labor to create and position the blocks, which were sized at 36 x 9 x 3 and weigh about 80 pounds. However, for some special applications -  like corners on the highest course or components of the small planter - the design calls for larger and heavier blocks which will be positioned with a forklift.

Stacking the blocks up from the floor required expert precision of course, but it might seem easy compared to the complex cutting and fitting needed now to "wrap" them around all of the steel beams. See for yourself in the December Gallery.

... or "sticks" to go with the "stones" ... There must be a hundred puns, but we'll just move on to the matter at hand.

Framing lumber was delivered recently and workers wasted no time hanging the first set of roof beams. With visiting principals (Jeff Baker, Ken Uracius, and Terry Dennis) on hand along with masons and carpenters hard at work, the site was humming with activity. Perfect weather is an ongoing bonus. Catch up with a visit to the December Gallery.

The big red steel is dominating the scene right now, but the masons are rapidly moving blocks into position so that the New-York-City-skyscraper-look will give way to an historic neighborhood bungalow. I gauge the main beam clearance to be about 81" - not exactly a high-rise, eh? See more in the December Gallery.

One of the steelworkers welds a beam into position as more steel is added to the roof structure. Take a look now, because when the house is completed, you won't see any of it at all. See more in the December Gallery.

At the entrance, arriving visitors are greeted by an intersection of interior and exterior walls, with some of the most elaborate blocks (soon to be decorated with custom glass inserts), and complex masonry in the entire house. When it's done, the big red beams will be completely hidden.

See all the details, including a complete set of "walkabout" images, in the latest version of the November Gallery.

You're looking up from the floor through the fireplace's flu opening. No smoke will ever escape this way, because no fire will ever be lit here. But the sight of it gives enticing clues as to how the interior will eventually look and feel. The wythes here are the same as the others, and sit on a steel frame above the hearth. The masons must remove the back edge of the bottom "cove" to mount the first course. See more details in the November Gallery.

The masons are steadily adding blocks and making them fit. Each one requires some fine adjustment to ensure it sits exactly as planned. In this view, you see the inside wythe of the Northeast corner showing the metal spacers that guide the horizontal steel rods. One of the masons inspects the fit of a block on the fireplace. See all of the recent progress in the November Gallery.

Watch the video on the November page in the Month by Month section.

The first five rows are in place for every wall now and the scaffolding has moved to the west side of the house. More blocks have arrived and the weather is beautiful, so it looks like this part of the project might be completed this month. See more in the November Gallery and learn more about Wright's textile block walls in a report prepared for the World Monuments Fund in our Resources section.

The most elaborately detailed blocks form the upper half of the west wall of the house's main entrance. See more details in the November Gallery. And speaking of blocks, we've added a report prepared for the World Monuments Fund that addresses the findings of a study of the issues regarding the preservation of Wright's textile blocks throughout the campus. Download it from the Resources page.

Sometimes it's hard to resist a pun. I'll try harder in the future.

The steelworkers have been on site since Wednesday, unloading, installing, and assembling the dramatic beams and other steel components, making it possible to more easily visualize the finished project. In the November Gallery, you'll see the frame for the fireplace and the cantilevered beam over the front walkway, along with many interior details. For more on the engineering of cantilevered beams click here.

For video of the installation, see November in the Month by Month section.

This is the entrance from the front door of the bungalow. Notice the light coming through the cutouts in the bottom row of blocks and imagine that sight with the glass inserts in place. This certainly would have been a beautiful place to come home to for the lucky faculty members who might have lived in it.

See many more interior details in the October Gallery.

The space between the parallel wall components is filled with an expanding foam insulation, but it can't be allowed to block the cut-outs which will be fitted with colored glass inserts. So, the simple tools shown here are used to temporarily fill the spaces; sticks for the small ones, and square, hollow tubing for the large.

See a lot more details in the October Gallery, where you'll also see that it isn't only the Postal Service that keeps working through the rain.

Sometimes a construction site can get a little disheveled, what with the men and machines moving and removing material and waste. But every now and then things need to be put back in order so that the work can progress smoothly. We say "again" because we took note of the care and neatness that was used to manage the concrete pouring for the floors back in July.

See more in the October Gallery.

While work on the Usonian house moves along meticulously, a bobcat operator makes quick work of breaking up and removing the driveway next to the little green house.

More to see in the October Gallery along with a new link to Don Gunning's site in the Resources section.

They started ripping into the little green house which will be restored to its original plan and renovated to serve as a rest and refreshment facility for the tourism center. We caught some video in the morning and it's a good thing we did, because by the end of the day the porch was gone and there were nothing but still images to shoot.

They are also preparing bricks for the fireplace (we assume), and continue to raise the walls all around.

Thanks to a neighbor, we now have some access to the north side of the site, allowing us another angle on the project. See the October Gallery for more.

Thanks to our friend Jim McNally, you can see that we have now reached the five-block milestone on the southeast corner and it's looking more like a house every day. We were in New York for a few days and Jim volunteered to keep up with the progress. Most intriguing, the new pallet of what appears to be red blocks.

See Jim's other images in the October Gallery and visit his website at www.FLWright.us

... is getting obscured. Bound to happen of course, but as we watch the walls go up, along with the scaffolding, we know that before too long we won't have much of a view into the interior. The window framing on the south side will give us a portal for awhile, so we'll still have a good look from there. Before it closes, we'll fire away to give you the best view of the project that we can.

Check the September Gallery for more.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I, along with Network Solutions, being new to embedded blogs, have failed to find all the handles. As a consequence, your comments have not appeared ... until today. Details of my shortcomings being unimportant, I now encourage all of you to post away and I promise to do my part to get you published.

Please scroll through to find your own and the others.

Thanks for your interest and contributions.

Michael

Well now we can see what's going to fill the gap between the two parallel wall components. Actually, we only know what it looks like, not exactly what it is. More pictures show more detail in the September Gallery.

Skilled workers are now pumping a filler substance into the "tubular" voids created by the alignment of the blocks and the matching-up of their "half-pipe" coves on all four sides. It appears to be a cement-like compound, mixed in small batches and forced in with a hand pump and hose assembly. In other images the effect can be seen as wetness where the blocks meet.

So now we have the blocks laid out and stabilized with a mastic, organized with horizontal and vertical re-bar, and solidified with a dose of cement-like filler. The wall pairs are also connected with custom-made metal spacers to maintain precisely parallel structures.

These walls will not come a-tumblin' down! See more here.

We've posted lots and lots of pictures of the assembly of the walls. With 47 varieties it doesn't seem likely that we can have too many images. We look for details in the blocks themselves as well the placement and connections. And we think you'll find them as amazing as we do. So do ya?

Click here for the whole September Gallery

You can now see most clearly how the pieces and parts are coming together, or rather, are being put together. The uneven tones on the blocks themselves are mostly the result of the packing conditions that placed a styrofoam-like separator between them. It drew moisture out as it contacted the block and accounts for the lighter shade. As the blocks are exposed to Lakeland's late summer sun, they will eventually dry and their tones will be more uniform, but probably never exactly the same.

See much more in the September Gallery

Work now revolves around precise placement of 47 different blocks for both exterior and interior walls. The blocks are aligned and held in place with vertical rods (looks like re-bar), custom spacers (see the test slab in the May Gallery), and horizontal rods (the green re-bar that was delivered a couple of weeks ago. The blocks are attached to the floor and each other with a mastic applied with a caulking gun.

As shown in the video, holes must be drilled to receive and seat the vertical rods which are slowly becoming a "forest". There are no sounds of diesel engines or "back-up" beepers, but the work proceeds intensely as the blocks are sorted out and carried to their assigned location.

See more detiled views in the September Gallery

Please take a look at our newest section, Community, where we will regularly update information about our audience, meaning you of course. Click here or on the link at the top of the page.

The scaffolding is here! You know what that means. Workers will position and assemble the supports and planks to make working platforms for building walls and hanging beams. It's going to get a little harder to see what's happening but that's part of the process. When the scaffold comes down it's like an unveiling. Stay tuned.

See more in the September Gallery

A sparkling feature of the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel will also be part of this house. You can see - in the September Gallery - where some will be placed along the bottom of the wall.

When the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy held a conference in Lakeland in 2001, attendees (and some others) were given colored inserts like the one above. A brief review video is posted on the September page of the Month by Month section.

See more in the September Gallery

September is off to a great start! The wraps are off several pallets as the various blocks are needed for specific locations. The masonry men are smoothing and grinding a little to get a perfect fit. It won't be fast (or furious) but it will be quite a sight (and site) to see as progress continues.

See more in the September Gallery

Skillful work, executed with precision, requires patience and deliberateness. Just exactly what we are seeing now as these blocks are being positioned and fitted into place. They sit on top of the concrete that was poured over the flashing. We'll know more about their role as the work progresses. Any guesses?

Click here for the whole August Gallery to date and see more of this phase