The Zimmerman House

The following text is a sidebar to "Modern and Historic," September-October 2007.

The Zimmerman House

Manchester, New Hampshire
www.currier.org
603.669.6144

This red-tiled 1950 Frank Lloyd Wright house sits low to the ground at an angle on a suburban lot, its backside facing an expansive landscape that appears to float into the home through plate-glass windows flanked by planters on both sides. “The whole idea was to make the walls disappear between the garden and the room,” said docent Douglas Chamberlain ’73 on a recent tour. “And all the interior spaces are joined together at corners, instead of by walls and through passageways.” These hallmarks of modernism, along with 50 built-ins, elegant geometric furnishings, Wright’s signature “Cherokee red” palette, and the abundance of natural materials—brick, clay, and the warm glow of Georgian cypress—make this tightly designed 1,600-square-foot home a prime teaching tool. Commissioned by Lucille and Isadore J. Zimmerman ’25, the home is now operated by the Currier Museum; it is the only Wright home open to the public in New England. A prominent pagan-looking hearth anchors the house, a testament, Chamberlain asserts, to Wright’s passionate Celtic heritage. Also clear is Wright’s fascination with things Japanese: his rice-paper lampshades emit soft bedroom light, a painted screen sculpts the living room, and the low dining table, with matching ottoman stools—a sure novelty for any of the Zimmermans’ dinner guests.

(Top) Neva Austrew / Zimmerman House / Currier Museum of Art. (Bottom) J. David Bohl / Zimmerman House / Currier Museum of Art

Click here for the September-October 2007 issue table of contents

Most popular

Intellectual Entrepreneurs

Three Harvard Advocate alumni helped found a highbrow literary periodical.

The Downsides of Prozac

Harvard researchers discuss the side effects of Prozac and other SSRIs

Danielle Allen Debates Far-Right Blogger Curtis Yarvin

Popular monarchist debates Allen on democracy.

Explore More From Current Issue

Walter Wick’s I Spy Series

I Spy Creator Walter Wick at the Norman Rockwell Museum 

Harvard’s Plant Collection Meets Space Science

Light-based analysis of botanical collections link plants to Earth’s changing climate.

Harvard Economist Nicole Maestas on Aging and Health Policy

The Harvard health economist not afraid to get in the weeds