airplane house

pics aaa new photos x Mike Crew mike.crew@gmail.com Oct 13 (3 days ago) to me oods Hole's architectural marvel Text Size: A | A | A Print this Article Email this ArticleShareThis Buy This Photo Photo 1 of 6 | View Enlarged Photo Max Burger sits in the circular living room of the Airplane House, a Woods Hole landmark on Juniper Point overlooking Vineyard Sound that he has owned since 1978. The Prairie School-style house was built almost 100 years ago and is considered one of the greatest works of architects William Gray Purcell and George Grant Elmslie. Cape Cod Times By PAUL NEEDHAM paul.e.needham@gmail.com August 16, 2009 WOODS HOLE — A few minutes before the Steamship Authority ferry arrives at its dock here, those passengers who choose to stand on its starboard side for the voyage from Martha's Vineyard are rewarded with a one-two punch of sorts. Just after they see Nobska Lighthouse, one of Cape Cod's most storied attractions, they see one of the area's most revered buildings: the Airplane House. As airplanes go, the house looks more like something that the Wright brothers would have flown than a jumbo jet. It is a low but wide wooden structure that sits, almost ready to take off, on the end of Juniper Point. It is as much a part of Woods Hole Passage as the ferries. And that's because, while the house is built of wood and has a shingled roof, it has almost nothing else in common with other homes on the Cape. Designed by architects William Gray Purcell and George Grant Elmslie in 1911 or 1912, the house is an important example of Prairie School architecture and is widely considered among Purcell and Elmslie's best work. Had the original owners had their way, though, the house would have been nothing more than a prefabricated cabin. When Charles Crane, a philanthropist who would go on to be ambassador to China, first met with Purcell to discuss the project, he asked for a $600 "portable house" to be built in Woods Hole for his daughter and son-in-law. As they talked about the project, though, it became clear that the family would require more space than such a house could provide. And so, according to an account he published several decades later, Purcell returned to his office, where Elmslie told him, "Leave that to me. I know just what they want." Indeed he did. The architects presented Crane with three proposals — everyone agreed that the third plan was the best and few changes were ordered. The construction was finished in just six months, at a cost of $30,000. The house stayed in the family until 1948. Its current owner, Max Burger, purchased the property in 1978. At that time, Burger said in an interview, the house was "in absolute shambles." During the '60s, Burger said, "all the drugs were here." Cigarettes were put out on the semi-circular living room's oak floors. "Not one window which was closed could be opened," he said, "and not one window which was opened could be closed." So Burger, who once taught at Princeton University and is now a professor of biochemistry at the University of Basel in Switzerland, set off to restore the house. Over the years, he's had a new roof installed and storm windows built. He consulted with a Harvard professor to determine the house's shingles are Southern cyprus. Periodically, he has new shingles put on the house that match the original ones. Burger spent years designing a new sectional sofa for the living room, made of some 2,540 pieces of oak and built to look like it could have been designed by Purcell and Elmslie or even the great Prairie School architects Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright. "It's been great fun," Burger said as he recounted the hours he spent working with artists to restore the home's signature stained glass windows. Burger said his one "crime" against the house was a bathroom he added on the second floor. Still, not much has changed in the seven-bedroom home. The Steinway piano on the first floor is thought to be the same one that was there when the construction finished nearly a century ago. It's still tough to tell which door is the front door, since there are four entrances that are each somewhat hidden. And, most important, the house still has incomparable views from Nobska Light to Woods Hole, punctuated by the ferry traffic that passes the house all day. The home is occasionally available for rent, at a charge of $15,000 per week. But, for the most part, the house is Burger's. And he plans to keep it that way, with a trust set up so it will stay in the family after his death. His children, then, will follow the adage spelled out on one of the bedroom walls: "Don't give up the ship." Or, in this case, don't give up the plane. HOME Popular Today Taylor Swift back in Hyannisport? -10/13/2012 Fuller family holds estate sale -10/13/2012Missing NH college student dead; suspect charged - 10/13/2012Cape railroad train struck by rock -10/13/2012 Feds reject casino compact -10/13/2012 It's curtains for Falmouth's Nickelodeon Cinema - 10/13/2012 Ads by Google Current Price: $15 50% off J. R. Brody's Roadside Tavern $15 For $30 to Spend At J. R. Brody's Roadside Tavern Deal Expires: 3d:04h:27m View More Deals 30 COUPONS ONLINE TODAYMORE >> Prestige Valet Parking for your Cape Cod Wedding Prestige Valet Parking.com Summer Membership Specials!! FITNESS Co For Women Couples Two For One Haircut Beauty Pros Salon $5 Off Your Purchase of $25 or More! 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