Esherick House 

located in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

ARCHITECT
Louis Kahn

DATES
1959-1961

Kahn’s principles of geometry, light and materiality are clearly expressed in the Esherick house, imbuing the intimate residence with a sense of monumentality. The material nature of the house—what it is and how it is made—is apparent at first glance: a private, contemplative building simply constructed of warm beige concrete and natural Apitong wood. Clarity and tranquility characterize the whole of Kahn’s work, and the Esherick house (1959-1961) is no exception.

The cubic layout of the interior of the two-story house is accented by beautiful Apitong wood and crisp textured white walls. Light streams in the floor-to-ceiling windows, reflecting and refracting throughout the open plan. As the house was designed for a book lover, the living room incorporates nearly ceiling high built-in bookcases within an impressive double-height space saturated with the natural light. The dining room overlooks the large private backyard that shares an edge with a pastoral park, while the expansive bedroom and original walk-in closet mirror the craftsmanship and tranquility found throughout the house.

The architect and 2006 Louis Kahn professor David Adjaye states, “I had the great pleasure of visiting the Esherick House in the Spring of 2006. As a student I was always mesmerized by its playful graphic geometry of the windows and the deceptive simplicity of its plan. It was a real surprise to see the care and joy of the materials still very much intact and it being lived in as I’m sure Kahn would have approved. There were two particularly ecstatic moments for me. Firstly was ascending the beautifully crafted, Japanese- or Shaker-esque, staircase with its simple timber balustrade, which overlooks the living room. The second was opening the shutter of the window in the library where knowledge and nature seemed to freeze into one image. The Esherick House is definitely one of Kahn’s most important works which defined lessons he’d go on to use in later projects.”

Todd Eberle notes: “Photographing Kahn’s Esherick house was the first time that I have seen such a clarity of space and volume since the early nineties when I photographed Donald Judd’s work in architecture in Marfa. The house is a monument to Kahn’s rigorous vision, which made me fully grasp Judd’s deep admiration of Kahn.”

http://www.dezeen.com/2008/04/03/esherick-house-by-louis-kahn/