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Telesis House

January 12, 2021 by NCL

People Saving Places Through Preservation

2020 Award of Merit Recipient

 

Telesis House front view. Photo courtesy: Drew Kelly.

The Telesis House award was presented by NCL Board Director, Dan Cutright. His remarks, “Merriam Webster defines “Telesis” as “Progress that is intelligently planned and directed – the attainment of desired ends by the application of intelligent human effort to the means”.

Napa County Landmarks has given its annual Award of Merit to Metropolitan Architecture Practice (MAP), Katherine Lambert and Christiane Robbins, owners. The award is for Category 1, Restoration and Preservation of an existing historic building at least 50 years old.

Telesis House main entrance. Photo courtesy: Joe Fletcher.

This house is aptly named. The original owner/builder was Milton Munger, a nuclear submarine engineer at Mare Island Naval Shipyard and a founding member of the Sierra Club. His wife, Winifred, was the Napa County librarian in 1950 when construction of the house began. Notable Bay Area architect Jack Hilmer was commissioned to design the home. Hilmer was a visionary and himself part of the association of intellectual peers, mostly architects calling themselves “ Telesis’.

Interior living room facing southeast. Photo courtesy: Joe Fletcher.

The group was rooted in the idea of “collectivism” which had at its core “searching for a better life for us all”. This house was born of that philosophy, a groundbreaking effort at energy efficiency and early ‘green’ building.

 

Mungers working on foundation circa 1950. Photo courtesy: Munger Family Archives.

Hilmer’s philosophy and Munger’s sensibilities resulted in a collaborative design of a house far ahead of its time. It is stunning in appearance and incredibly innovative in its incorporation early sustainable building and systems methods. It sits on a beautiful one-acre site in southwest Napa featuring finished landscaping, a pool and privacy screening provided by an architecturally designed perimeter fence and heritage oak trees.

There is a long list of notable innovative features including a first generation ‘warm floor-radiant heating system’ where heated water is pumped through a system of copper pipes embedded beneath the custom baselite tile floor. The original system, save the boiler, is intact and in use today. The Munger’s, who literally built the house themselves, sometimes with the help of neighbors, even cast the floor tiles onsite themselves, from molds still in possession of the current owners. The Mungers, tolling over 10 years from the start of construction in 1950, never really completed the house entirely.  The restoration, which restored the house to nearly 100% original, also resulted in the house’s final completion by Katherine & Chris.  There are only minor changes, including the re-purposing of a large display case built of old growth redwood (no longer available as building material today) and a simple change in the ‘flow’ of the access to the wing where the bedrooms and bathrooms are located. The old growth redwood was 100% repurposed in the house and used for the repair in other areas where needed. All of it survived.

Data collection of sun’s time of day impact facing south. Photo courtesy: Dwell Magazine.

 

The notable design of the home’s sloping roof lines and its orientation to the south and east, takes maximum advantage of the movement of the sun throughout the year to maximize the ‘passive’ solar benefits of its cool shading in summer and warmth in winter.  Munger, an engineer, performed painstaking calculations (many years before computers and CAD programs) as well as months of personal observation of the sun’s movement throughout the year to accomplish this.

 

Floor plan. Photo courtesy: Munger Family Archives.

Four materials compose the house, old growth redwood, custom cast baselite for floors and wall layering (between layers of old growth redwood), glass and steel. The layout begins at the kitchen, the house’s core and unwinds from there as an unfurling ribbon, when viewed from a bird’s eye.  There are no 90-degree angles in the house, rather a series of 120-degree angles as it unfurls. It is thought that Joseph Eichler, of Eichler Homes fame, was a guest here and took inspiration from its for his distinct subdivisions.

 You can view pictures and obtain more information about the house by visiting telesishouse.net.”

Filed Under: Award of Merit

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Preservation Corner

Wooden Window Restoration

Top Ten Reasons to Restore or Repair Wood Windows

1. Because your windows fit your house.
    •  Quirky as they might be, your older windows fit your house. Care was taken to match the weight and style of window to the building, the trim, etc. They have expanded and contracted with the seasons. With proper weather stripping they can be made to fit and seal even better. Replacement windows have a rigid structure that fits within your window openings. Old houses move and shift over time and frequently the gaps that open up around replacement windows and the window openings result in more drafts than the original windows.

2. Because you appreciate good craftsmanship.
     •  The true mortise and tenon construction of antique windows is incredibly strong and even when it begins to weaken is easily repaired. Many unique window shapes were created because of the craftsmanship with wood joinery. Antique windows were built to last and not end up in landfill.

Example of curved antique glass. Photo courtesy: www:clearywindowrestoration.com.

3. Because you value good materials.
     •  Antique wood windows are constructed of old growth timber. The wood is much denser and more weather resistant than today’s tree farmed softwoods. Delicate profiles are possible because of the density of the wood. The reason these windows are still around, even with years of neglect, is because the wood is of very high quality requiring no cladding or additional materials to give them weather resistance. Minus all the ugly paint your wood windows are usually quite beautiful, graceful, and strong.

4. Because you love the character of antique glass.   
     •  Even the glass in antique windows tells a story. It may be roundel or cylinder glass, each indicating a certain era of manufacturing. Old glass has varieties of color and texture that are a delight to the eye. Two layers of glass are better than one, and in an antique home that second layer of glass should be the storm window that protects the original window.

5. Because you think a warranty should be more than 20 years.
     •  Chances are your windows have done their job for fifty or more years already. Sure, they may be a little creaky and may not be as attractive as they once were, but it’s a far better investment to repair a proven performer than to sink money into a new window that only has a 20 year warranty at best. With proper maintenance your antique windows should last another 100 years. Heck, even without maintenance they may last that long!

6. Because you want to avoid vinyl.
     •  Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is becoming one of the greatest concerns in the building industry. Not only does the production of it create an environmental nightmare, but the gases it emits over time are becoming a concern. Heaven forbid your house catches fire, and PVC burned will release toxic amounts of dioxin. If you are concerned about lead, please understand that it is used as a stabilizer in the manufacture of PVC. If you are concerned about our planet’s health you should read up on efforts to reduce the use of vinyl.

7. Because you want more light.
     •  Replacement windows are set into the window opening, and the sash is smaller than the originals. You get less viewing area and less light. Who wants less light?

Restoring the weight & pulley system in an antique window. Photo courtesy: doublehungwindow restoration.com

8. Because windows are a functional part of your house.
     •  Weights and pulleys are the best balance systems ever invented. There is a prevalent myth that a lot of cold air comes in through the weight pocket. If there is cold air in the weight pocket it’s generally because there is a gap between the outside trim of the house and the siding. It may also indicate a poor seal at the floor joists. Replacing easily serviceable weights and pulleys with vinyl jamb liners or invisible balance systems means installing a system that has a maximum life span of 10-20 years but generally fails in less time. You can’t believe how joyful it is to open and close windows easily with one hand when everything is restored to the way it was designed to work!

9. Because you really can save 30-40% on heating costs.
     •  According to the Field Study of Energy Impacts of Window Rehab Choices conducted by the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, the University of Vermont School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering laboratory the estimate first year energy savings between a restored wooden window with a good storm window vs. a replacement window was $0.60. Yup, less than a buck. In their conclusions section they noted “The decision to renovate or replace a window should not be based solely on energy considerations, as the difference in estimate first year savings between the upgrade options are small.” Broken glass, failed glazing, no weather stripping – these small and repairable items are what really effect energy efficiency in windows.

10. Because the greenest building is one that is already built.
       •  Replacement windows are touted as a way to save energy. But when evaluated from the perspective of the entire production, shipping, installation and removal process replacing windows consumes a whole lot of energy, or viewed the other way an older building has a great deal of embodied energy. If the total energy expenditure to manufacture replacement windows is considered the break even period stretches to 40-60 years. In the words of Richard Moe, President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation “We can’t build our way out of the global warming crisis. We have to conserve our way out. That means we have to make better, wiser use of what we have already built.” Repairs and restoration work are done by local craftspeople paying local taxes. The use a minimum of materials and resources and a maximum of labor. Restoring windows is the best use of existing materials and the best way to support the local economy.

 

Restoring antique stained glass windows. Photo courtesy: www:savingspaces.org.
 
Article written by New England Window Restoration Alliance, www.windowrestorationne.org
 

2021 Ten Most Threatened Treasures

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