Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Architecture Wednesday: The Rubber House

There are houses for everyone and this one, well, this is so not for me. I don’t care for much of it, save the master bedroom and feel like it needs a good cleaning and a fresh paint job and a whole new kitchen and a reimagining of spaces and, oy, that is too much work for this queen.

But this is the  Rubber House, sort of a case study architectural project of landscape architect Tom Pritchard, who built it in 1981 for choreographer Eugene Loring and his partner, a chef. That explains the upstairs dance studio.

The Rubber House in Accord is completely covered in a grey-black neoprene skin and features a contrasting colorful, postmodern interior, filled with glazing and dappled light. It has a double-height staircase void capped with a curving glass roof, glass-to-glass corners and a roof terrace, connecting it to its wooded setting. Actor Willem Dafoe, who once called the property home, remarked that “nature has a dialogue with it… the inside looks out, the outside looks in”.

I love the glass, and the setting, and the boulders littering the property, but the house needs a fresh paint job, something that won’t detract from the view, and the kitchen, well, I’d keep the stove, but it needs an updating if I were to live there. I get modern-day Winchester Mystery House vibes what with the curving staircases and stairs behind doors and terraces and balconies and studios and bedrooms and how do I find my way around!!!

Pritchard embraced eco-friendly techniques such as a paint-free neoprene exterior—hence the ‘Rubber House’—and natural ventilation to create the home, which has a vaulted chef’s kitchen, a freestanding geometric fireplace, and a two-person bathtub.

The rural two-bedroom property is about 100 miles from New York City and lies on prehistoric boulders in seven-acre grounds, just outside Accord and the Mohonk nature reserve. It is available to rent as a creative retreat for about  $600 a night.

I don’t think I’d sleep a wink.

13 comments:

  1. That is one fugly abode! After yesterday's post "Rubber Room" is kind of apropos. The Ingraham-Taffer home for the criminally deranged.

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  2. @Deedles
    I love your thought process!!

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  3. Ok, so I like the house?
    I like the in/out philosophy and the setting. I don't mind the outside color and love the way it's integrated to the landscape. I would balk at that hideous pink bedroom and that underwhelmingly used dance studio. They could have set up a beautiful bedroom with a sitting area there. Almost a suite.
    I would not rent it, though. Have I ever told you I've never been to an AirBNB? Ever. *shudders*

    XOXO

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  4. Nice color palate, no whites, no grays.

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  5. @Six
    It needs a change in color on the inside, and that neoprene outside needs a good Silkwood Scrubdown.

    @Dave
    I'll pass on all those odd color choices.

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  6. I got lost just looking at the
    pictures! And feeling claustrophobic.
    xoxo :-)

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  7. Afterthought- Ya know, if those bright colors are too much for me, it's pretty bad!

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  8. Uh, no. At first I thought oh it’s not so bad. But before I reached the end of the photos I was already tired of it. I love colors on walls but not those colors on those particular walls. Something about that green bedroom creeps me out. The view from dining room to living room reminds me of a pre-school ... and not in a good way. It’s all so disappointing.

    And “… the inside looks out, the outside looks in”? I think that’s how it usually works, isn’t it?

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  9. @TDM
    I usually like the houses I pick, and I like the “idea” of this but lathe the end result.

    @Deedles
    Neon, Deedles, NEON for the love of thegoddess!!! WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY??

    @Mitchell
    I love some color too., but not these. NOT THESE!!!!!

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  10. Oh, I rather like this. Very economical... Not sure about how well it fits with the landscape, but... oh, well. I like the interiors. And the furnishings. I would be mad about that dance studio. I would dance for an hour a day! At first I feared there was no light... no windows... but there seems to be plenty. The guest bedroom is hideous. And I don't understand the purpose of one of the upstairs rooms.. The bathroom is too dark. But I could live with it. I like the kitchen, dining area and living room. I like the master bedroom. Interesting choice, Bob. It's cozy. Thanks for sharing.

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  11. It is a pretty setting to build a nice house. I don't know as that one can be saved.

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  12. @Travel
    I could look at the outside, but don't make me go inside.

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  13. @upton
    I'd visit you there, as long as I got to stay at the inn in town.

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