Nelson / Sprague House : 1957
Claire Dr, Sacramento CA
Original home built around 1957, with additions under a new owner circa 1970 with Carter Sparks designing those.
Email Notes (6/6/10) from the original owner's daughter, B. :
My parents took great pride and interest in working with Carter who was a friend from college days at Cal. Some of the details in the house include strips of 3/8" copper that ran vertically between the wood paneling in the living room. Also there was an elevator from the garage to the living room area with the intended use for transporting groceries from the lower level to the upper level. Later my dad stabilized it and used it as a place to put his firewood.
Carter designed the light fixtures that were in many of the rooms. They looked very 'Frank Lloyd Wright' ish.
Much of the flooring was redwood, and very beautiful but difficult to maintain.
The house was oriented to the south to receive a lot of sun, yet with minimal windows on the west side. This was a deliberate effort to control the temperature in the house.
My parents hired a famous Landscape Architect from San Francisco to do the original planting plan. (*ed- not Royston, Halprin, Ekbo or Church..)
Much of the plant material was natives to California. (Which was quite progressive for that time)
My dad put in a walkway on the east side of the house using blocks of wood which were about 3"x3"x7". They were from a pencil factory. It looked really great, though I doubt that it is still there as it would be more than 50 years old by now.
We sold the house to a family (Sprague) in the 70's. They added on to the front of the house and used Carter's services to maintain the original look of the house.
O: Edgar + Connie Nelson
