Beth and Gary Spencer on the pool deck of their new house at 1601 Prospect St. in Sarasota. The modernist house, designed by architect Guy Peterson, has been turning heads, and gaining admirers and detractors since it started taking shape in 2012. While proud if its architecture, Gary Spencer says, "It's not a museum, it's our home." Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 4-30-2012.
Beth and Gary Spencer are no strangers to architectural debate.
In a small town in Iowa, his parents caused some double-takes when they built a house that was out of the ordinary.
“Every house there is white frame,” Gary Spencer said. “They built one that wasn’t, and it was referred to as ‘the sheep shed.’ ”
“It was modern for the time,” said Beth, seated on the pool deck of their eye-catching new house, designed by Guy Peterson, on Orange Avenue at Prospect Street in Sarasota.
“I guess my family has architectural controversy” in its history, said Gary.
The Spencers are proud of their new house and happy that so many people – motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists -- have stopped to praise it.
“Attitudes don’t easily change, so I have not detected any major shifts in attitude,” said Gary. “I think a lot of the neighbors are happy to see the more finished product, because it was hard to understand the house as it was being built. Now it is more understandable. Rarely do we get a less-than-warm comment on the house.
“We have heard more positive comments (than negative),” he added. “Before, people were kind enough to not say things to our face if they were negative. We are getting more positive comments from the broader Sarasota area because a lot of people are riding by and stopping specifically to see the house. The people who are driving by are interested in this style of architecture and have very positive comments.”
A lot of praise also is directed toward the landscape architecture, which was done by Dane Spencer, Gary’s brother.
The Spencers are from Chicago, where they lived in and restored a 100-year-old house and also resided in a “pseudo-Mies” highrise.
Having been exposed to Chicago’s rich architectural fabric, they quickly gained a sense of Sarasota’s modernist roots after they bought a second home – a 1970s ranch -- at 1601 Prospect. “We really loved the lot,” said Gary. “We had to decide whether to stay in this location, fix up that house or build. The house did not have enough salvageable value to save it. But we loved the location.”
In deciding what to build, architecturally, they relied on what they learned by looking at homes for sale.
“We have a hobby of going to open houses, and we kept gravitating to Sarasota modern,” said Beth.
“It spoke more to us,” said Gary.
“Beth searched the architects and narrowed it down to two. We selected Guy on the basis of better communication. He seemed to be the best for us. He is soft-spoken, and he listens. The first thing he asked was for us to list all the features we liked about the houses we have lived in, and what things we wanted in this site. He took that information and went to the drawing board and came up with the design.”
“He came up with two,” said Beth.
“Then he decided, in reflecting on what we wanted to achieve, that his first design wasn’t quite as strong as he’d like, so he did a second design, gratis,” said Gary. “He sat us down and said, ‘I have two; which one do you like?’ He was right: The first design was beautiful, but it didn’t quite as well incorporate our wants and desires quite as well as the second design.”
As for the perforated wall that is getting so much attention, the wall near the front door did not have any perforations as Peterson designed it. Beth suggested that it be perforated, too, to visually connect the ground-floor living room to the front yard and street.
“We want to feel part of the neighborhood, so that let’s that happen. And we have that wonderful south sun in the winter.
“We want to be good neighbors,” said Beth. “That is important and was part of the consideration in the design. It was also part of the consideration in selecting the contractor and the people who would be brought it. But as far as people’s opinions of the house on artistic merits …”
“It is fantastic that it is a prime architectural achievement,” Gary interjected, “but it is a place where we are going to live. It is very livable to us. It is just a very comfortable space for us. We weren’t going for a museum, we were going for a home. “
“And Guy made it spectacular,” said Beth.
Gary’s favorite part of the house is “usually the one I am in at the time. Every day is like Christmas. The very top deck – I will spend a lot of time up there. Early morning, it will be a great place to have coffee, and a great place to watch fireworks on the fourth.” (The space is unsheltered, and will stay that way. “Having an umbrella or awning up there would detract from the line of the house,” he said.)
For them, it is just one more aspect to the house’s unique design.
“We take a 7 a.m. walk in Harbor Acres,” she said, “and we came back one morning, before the paint went on, and there was a young couple riding bicycles, and he’s yelling back to her, ‘Do you think it is going to be an office or a museum?’ It is just fun.”
That walk comes after Gary goes for a very-early-morning bike ride, when there is no traffic.
“When the lights are on at 4 in the morning, it is very dramatic,” he said. “I think, ‘Wow, I get to live there.’ ”
