House of Rex Stout
Reprinted from the July 1933 issue of Architectural Record.
House of Rex Stout
House of Rex Stout
Photo © F.S. Lincoln
House of Rex Stout
Windows of conservatory with south exposure (at left) and living room windows and terrace (at right).
Photos © F.S. Lincoln
House of Rex Stout
Interior of living room showing windows toward view (at left). There is indirect lighting with glass for diffusion flush with ceiling. Floors are of Teakwood. On the right, a view of garden court from conservatory.
Photos © F.S. Lincoln
House of Rex Stout
Kitchen. Cabinets designed and executed by Rex Stout. Walls are of canary yellow lacquer; cabinet doors are chestnut wood, waxed. Floors are black linoleum.
Photo © F.S. Lincoln
House of Rex Stout
Plan of the Rex Stout House
House of Rex Stout
Drawing of the Rex Stout House
A. Lawrence Kocher and Gerhard Ziegler
Fairfield County, Connecticut
The July 1933 issue featured the house of Rex Stout, designed by former RECORD editor A. Lawrence Kocher with Gerhard Ziegler. View the original pages here.
The rooms of the house for Rex Stout are grouped around a garden court and relate in floor levels to the hillside slope. The house, built in 1930, is one story in height, except that one wing for guest rooms, studio and service is two stories high. The living room faces toward a broad and rural Connecticut valley. The terrace at the northwest commands a view of this valley and of the swimming pool, fifty feet below the terrace. The court terrace is used for sitting and dining.
The exterior walls are of concrete cast in place with Van Guilder steel molds. There are, in fact, two walls each four inches thick with a continuous air space intervening. These two separate walls are tied together with light steel rods at intervals of two feet.
Color is used to emphasize the third dimension. Walls that serve as a background to terraces are in light gray. Terminating wall faces are painted black. All steel casement windows are painted an orange-red color. Window sills and projecting window heads are of aluminum. Doors facing the exterior are orange-red in color.
