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From the RECORD Archives: ‘Contemporary Town House Uses Vaulted Roofs’

Architectural Record - 1964-mid-May - OPENER.jpg — *© Architectural Record, Mid-May 1964, photos by Joseph W. Molitor*

© Architectural Record, Mid-May 1964

In 1956, RECORD editors dedicated an entire issue of the magazine to showcasing top residential design. Ever since, Record Houses has become an annual (and coveted) staple for our readers. The current House of the Month, a recent renovation and addition by Robert M. Gurney to a residence originally designed by I.M. Pei, first appeared in the pages of the 1964 Mid-May issue of Record Houses. Pei, then 47, was published alongside other noted architects, including Craig Ellwood, Ulrich Franzen, and Richard Meier, for his bold, triple-vaulted project in the Washington, D.C., suburbs.

Editor’s note: This article has been condensed for ease of online reading but reflects the original text. Architects who may be interested in submitting their own projects to Record Houses may do so here.

“Contemporary Town House Uses Vaulted Roofs”
No author attributed
Architectural Record, Mid-May 1964

When Urban Renewal Administration Commissioner William Slayton and his family planned to return to the city after living in a suburban home, a search of the older, built-up neighborhoods of Washington, D.C., turned up a bypassed, vacant lot in the Cleveland Park area. I. M. Pei’s design for the property has produced a handsome, contemporary version of a town house with a walled-in front court. The lot measures 50 by 135 feet, and has a slight slope away from the street. This slope was used to advantage in creating a split-level scheme well suited to family life in the city. Great privacy was achieved, not only by the high wall of the front court, but by almost completely blank walls on the sides—which are quite close to existing houses. Inside, however, the feeling is one of great openness, with front and back walls of glass. The structure is brick bearing wall, topped by a triple, poured concrete vault. The interiors are brick and plaster.

© Architectural Record, Mid-May 1964, photos by Joseph W. Molitor

The Slayton house gains a great sense of space and variety by good zoning and its split-level scheme. At the front, the house appears to be a single, high-ceilinged story. The main living areas and adjoining walled-in garden are on this side. Other rooms, each one bay wide, form a two-story section at the rear. A “service spine” is a buffer between.

The spatial quality of the vaulted rooms is quite impressive. Mr. Slayton comments: “I remember clearly the day—when it was just becoming twilight—that I drove by the house when the forms for the vaulted roof had been removed. I walked through what is now the glass doors into this space, and for the first time realize what I. M. Pei had conceived. It was a tremendously moving and emotional experience; I shall never forget it.” The vault over the stair is further dramatized by a skylight.

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