Winslow Elliot Wedin; September 30th, 1933 - February 13, 2013

Winslow Wedin, 2010

How to eulogize my friend Winslow? I'm afraid I don't know.

Ensculptic is how we met, but designing that home was just the tip of the fingernail of the pinky of his left hand. I am grateful for the time I was able to be his friend. And I miss him terribly.

He was an architect second to none. He was an artist with an eye for color and form that was out of this world. He was kind and generous and full of fun.

You can read his obituary here.

And Ensculptic has once again been in the news over at the Minneapolis StarTribune. Read about it here.

Bon Voyage, Winslow. And thank you.

Xanadu

Have you heard of the Xanadu Houses of the Future?

They were experimental foam houses, but the focus was on the technology inside... early showcases of computerized, automated homes. They were meant as tourist attractions, not actual homes for actual people. Not surprisingly, none of them exist today. Originally there were three - the first one was build in Wisconsin Dells, and there was one in Tennessee, but the most famous (and longest-lasting) Xanadu was built in Kissimee, Florida.

This is what it looked like:

And this is the architect, Roy Mason, taking you through some of its technological features:

And this is a series of videos taking you on a tour of the abandoned and neglected Xanadu house prior to its demolition in 2005:

Finally, a look at the former site of the Xanadu house in Florida, and the last sad remnant of its short life, the sign advertising the "home of the future", now passed.

One of the things I love the most about Ensculptic is that it was designed and built for a real family, and was lived in and loved by the people who owned it. Yes, it was allowed to fall into disrepair, but thanks to the passion and vision of the new owners, Ensculptic is still with us and will be for a very long time. This is the difference, I think, between architecture for human beings and architecture for cynical commercialism. The Xanadus were never meant for human habitation, which is why they have faded into oblivion. Ensculptic is a wonderfully human home, and with care and love should be standing for generations to come.

Ensculptic in the news again!

How exciting! Twin Cities Live did a segment on Ensculptic, including an interview with the new owner, Ron Hietala. The place is looking great!

You can watch the segment here.

Winslow Wedin installing Windows in Ensculptic

The Architect, Winslow Elliott Wedin, is shown, in this summer 1969 photo taken by Carol Wedin, installing one of the thermopane windows in the dining area of the Ensculptic -III home in Minnetrista, Minnesota. Openings in the roof overhang follow the shapes of the windows. The strong orange color of the urethane foam ( a product of the 1960's) is the result of the new, spray applied, white foam being exposed to sunlight.

At this stage, the foam will be sanded smooth by the members of the student construction team and be followed by a professionally applied structural layer of glass reinforced fiberglass forming a thin shell. To this shell an opaque  protective "Gel Coat" is applied. The Architect had intended this gel coat to be a metallic gold, similar to the boat hulls being constructed at the factories near by, as the model had indicated. However, the Littlejohn's selected a white, which in winter blended the building into the snow cover producing a continuous environment following the philosophy of the Architect.

The ropes shown dangling from the roof are part of the safety system for the sanding procedure already in progress.

The Auburn Bulletin - Thursday, August 14th, 1969

A recent "find" from Winslow Wedin! Click the pic to view full-size. Winslow would be tickled to hear from the students mentioned in this article:

Joe Rabun
Rick Thompson
Steve Swicegood
Roger Sparks
Mike McClure
Stacey Darden
LaHayne Livingston
Margaret Summerville

Drop him an email and say hello! wincarol<monkeytail>bellsouth<dot>net

Dick Clark's Ensculptic-inspired house

Oh wow. Now I have a new house to lust after! Check out Dick Clark's amazing house!

 I'd even consider moving to California to live in this exquisite house! Now all I need is the $3.5 Million purchase price, plus a rich and steady income to cover the cost of living, and property taxes... any ideas?

See more photos of this gorgeous home here.

Ensculptic Interiors - Kitchen, Living Room and Den

Welcome back! As promised, I have more interior photos from our visit to Ensculptic last January. 

1.
When last I left you, we were looking down the hall toward the reading nook... and the stray door. You can see the unique shape of the door here, and also get an idea of how cozy the reading nook is. Since I am not a television watcher, chances are that you would find me curled up here with a cat or two and a good book.

2.
Your intrepid blogger, camera in hand, completely awed by the fact that I am INSIDE of Ensculptic.

3.
I would never get tired of this view. Seriously.

4.
Looking at the kitchen from the pass-through next to the fireplace area. You can see the NuTone Built-In Food Center in the middle of the counter.

5.
Here's Grant, checking out the under-counter storage. We have the same brand of kitchen cabinets at home, but our kitchen has oak fronts, orange walls, stainless steel appliances, and white tile countertops.

6.
Still at the pass-through, looking up the central pillar. You can see the fin of the swordfish that hangs above the fireplace on the left.

7.
Let's sneak around the corner for a second and peek into the den again. Check out the shelving and cabinets.Plenty of places to stow and display all sorts of goodies!

8.
Standing in the living room looking up toward the den on the right, the fireplace area on the left, and Grant standing at the planter in the center.

9.
Moving over to the fireplace area... I'm not sure if that is mouse poop or what.

10.
Looking up toward the ceiling from the fireplace area.

11.
Looking at the arched entryway to the fireplace area, up toward the ceiling. This part is very smooth, unlike most of the rest of the surfaces inside of Ensculptic.

12.
The dining room windows, as seen from the fireplace area. It looks like the ones in the ceiling have actually been covered over from the outside.

13.
Looking into the living room from the fireplace area.

14.
Outside of the fireplace area. Again, you see the uniquely shaped wall outlet openings and push-buttons for the lights.

15.
Another delicious view upward. And you thought flat textured ceilings were interesting to look at. This even makes our dome ceiling (which I love) seem boring by comparison.

16.
Let's go around the fireplace area toward the dining area.

17.
You can see that there are napkins pinned over some of the windows. Those are the ones that are broken and not repaired...

18.
Another view of the dining area. You can see how many windows have been covered with napkins, and notice again how dark the ones in the ceiling are.

19.
Looking up, you can see that there must have been significant water leakage through those ceiling windows. Yes, that is algae you see peeking through the paint, and a roughly scraped off plug of foam left raw to really draw your eye to that flaw.

20.
Looking up toward the kitchen from the dining room. That little nook is perfect for a bar.

21.
Here's Sandra, demonstrating how very conversation-friendly the kitchen is!

22.
Looking up at the window that allows light to pass from the kitchen into the master bathroom, and at the strange little nook next to it. You know where our cats would spend a good deal of their time, right?

23.
Here's a somewhat longer view of the window and the "cat nook".

24.
Here's what's on the other side of the window in the kitchen. This was the master bath, but as you can see, most of the bathroom stuff has been taken out.

25.
The mirror is still affixed to the wall, but the sink is gone. There is a motley assortment of cabinetry, but no toilet.

26.
This is the sunken tub in the master bath. The original light fixture is gone, and this is what's been put in its place. That is a tote full of hoses sitting on the side of the tub. You can just see the laundry door on the right.

27.
Here is one of the more interesting outlet openings. You know I would have to put a pink night-light in there...

28.
One of my favorite features of the master bedroom - a built-in revolving shelf!

29.
Here is how it looks closed. The pivot is no longer smooth, and it required a little care to get it to cooperate for photos. Still a cool idea.

30.
Oh, the overspray! You can see how carelessly the horrible brown paint was applied to the exterior of the house. It looks like someone made a half-hearted effort to scrape it, but gave it up as a bad job. A little care in preparation would have prevented this from happening.

31.
Back out to the main hallway. You can see the skylight above the planter was buried in snow.

32.
This little salamander didn't mind. He's dusty, but he was alive. This photo was taken by Carolynne in March, when she and Kal went to look at Ensculptic with their builder.

33.
No matter how you look at it, even with all of the flaws, neglect and abuse, this is a lovely house.

34.
We all tried to think of ways to make it work... we discussed all sorts of options. The dancers thought of ways of making Ensculptic into a dance retreat. The photographers discussed a shutterbug camp. The woodworker mentioned a woodworking workshop. The artists talked of an art retreat, and the writers of making it into an author's retreat. The musicians discussed making it into a recording studio. Kal and Carolynne actively sought the means to purchase Ensculptic, but ultimately had to give up their quest.

We are all very happy to know that Ensculptic was purchased not for the land, but for the house, and are excited for the new owners - they have a lot of work ahead of them, but it's a one-of-a-kind property and it's wonderful that it has a chance to live again!

I am still obsessed with Ensculptic, but knowing that it has new owners allows me to be at peace. Plus, thanks to this blog, I have been able to get to know the architect through email and phone conversations, and have gotten to learn a whole lot more about architects  and artists I was previously unfamiliar with. I have also been inspired to reacquaint myself with artists I had all but forgotten about, and discovered new books. I think I have all but exhausted the Ensculptic subject for the time being. Thank you for allowing me to share my obsession and work through my weird grief cycle.

I am continuing to write for my personal blog; feel free to drop on by and check it out some time!

~Rana

Ensculptic Interiors - Entries, Lower Level and Small Bath

I apologize for the delay on writing this entry. I finally uploaded the new photos I had picked out, and wow - there are a lot! So I decided I will do a couple of different entries rather than one enormous overwhelming one. It will be a lot easier for me to finish shorter entries, and you won't get bored half-way through!

So, without further ado, let's return to the interior of Ensculptic...

1. 
 The back door. This is where we first came into the house. I love the little slit window! Good call having a purse shelf and boot nook there, too. I'm not 100% keen on the placement of the floor vent right in front of the door like that; I'm a big fan of floor mats inside of doors.

2.
This is the door that goes into the garage. The note indicates that the door can't be opened. You can see the moisture damage to the door.

3.
Here is the spiral staircase to the lower level; note the lighting at the top of the stair. You can see the natural light from the lower level window wall shining through the railing.

4.
Looking down the spiral staircase. Note the raw stair treads spattered with paint. It's a very tight curve going down. I admit I found the descent a little nervous the first time...

5. 
 Here we are in the lower level, looking in toward the back room that has the bubble skylight (you will recall that the skylight leaks).

6.
Standing at the doorway looking into the back room in the lower level. The lighting is all from the skylight.

7.
The result of the leaking skylight - the flooring is buckling and peeling up. When Kal and Carolynne went to look at the house again in March of 2011, this room was flooded. The leak is worse than we had thought in the winter.

8.
Here is the other side of that lower level back room. I don't know what used to be on that wall at the end of the countertops. Were we to live here, this would probably become the pinball room.

9.
Looking back out the door from the lower level back room toward the door and window wall. You can see the light from the skylight streaming in across the wall.

10.
Back upstairs; the edge of the planter is in the foreground, and the kitchen is to the left. You can see the door to the master bath open and the laundry room door is on the right. The amber glow in the far back is the staircase to the lower level.

11.
Looking at the planter from the kitchen pass-through area toward the front door and the hallway to the small bedroom and bath. Needless to say, the decor left something to be desired.

12.
The hallway to the small bedroom and bath. Edge of the planter is visible in the lower right corner. Note the uniquely shaped wall opening for the electrical outlet.

13.
Inside of the front door. You can see daylight through a couple of places; that needs to be repaired. The door also needs some paint. I am glad to say that the floor vent at this door is in a much better position than on the back door. Of course, there's no saying there is enough clearance between door and floor to have an entry rug.

14. 
I love these unique accent lights! Yes, they would get amber lights.

15.  
 There are spots in the ceiling where the foam looks a little... odd. Undoubtedly some attempts at repairing small leaks and other problems.

16. 
 Another look at the small bathroom. I love the natural light that streams in through the skylight, and the red sink is marvelous!

17.
Another view of the sink. You can see the small vanity area that ought to have a mirror, which would be perfect for doing makeup while Grant uses the larger mirror and sink to shave. Right now there is a circle of plywood. You can see the entrance to the spiral shower in the mirror.

18.
A closer look at the bathroom skylight. I love how the artificial lighting in Ensculptic is so well integrated into the design and complements the natural lighting sources. You can see that the skylight was buried in snow, but the sunlight still made it in.

19.
Here is the entrance into the spiral shower. You can see there is a bench to the right, and the light switches are on the left. The shower itself is deeper inside the spiral - very cozy, and no danger of splashing into the bathroom!

20.
I will leave you looking down the hallway from the small bedroom and small bathroom, along the hallway / reading nook and toward the living room. Note the door that is lying against the bench. Yes, Ensculptic has seen some neglect and abuse in its time... but I have hope that the new owners will lovingly restore it and make it even better than it originally was.

Check back soon - I am working on one last post about the interior. After that, I'm not sure how this blog will develop - if at all - but if you have been enjoying my goofiness, please feel free to check out my personal blog. I am also working on a blog and a Wikipedia entry on Winslow Wedin's father, Swedish-American painter Elof Wedin.