Bass Residence

Bass Residence (1970) is a home in Fort Worth, Texas classified as Modern architecture and designed by architect Paul Rudolph, a founder of the Sarasota School of Architecture, and he designed the home in that style. It was designed for Sid Bass and Anne Bass. The house features cantilevered horizontal shapes.

Bass Residence
Bass Residence
General information
Status	Completed
Type	Single family home
Town or city	Fort Worth, Texas
Country	United States
Construction started	Designed in 1966
Completed	1970
Owner	Sid and Anne Bass
Technical details
Material	White enameled structural-steel, white porcelain-enameled aluminum
Floor count	4
Floor area	18,270 feet (5,570 m)
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Paul Rudolph
Other designers	Landscape: Robert Zion, Russell Page
References
[1][2]

History

Paul Rudolph sketch showing overhead view of the many levels of the Bass Residence

The home is an extravagant white multilevel structure which can be classified as Modern architecture.^[3] The single-family home was designed by Paul Rudolph for Sid and Anne Bass in 1966. Sid Bass was a billionaire who made his fortune in the oil business. Sid Bass commissioned the home while he was a young man. The grounds included a swimming pool and a courtyard for vehicles.^[2] The entrance is found at the uppermost level of the home. The driveway extends out of the east portion of the home and leads to the entrance.^[4] Above the entrance there is the dramatic feature of a horizontal 40 feet (12 m) cantilevered overhang. The architect, Paul Rudolph, thought that the Bass house was the best home he had designed.^[2]

Design

The home is built around a steel frame which is covered by glass and aluminum. The design draws from those of Frank Lloyd Wright and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. It reflects a minimalist approach and straight lines. There are no curves in the home.^[2][5] The house features cantilevered horizontal shapes overlapping each other surrounding a courtyard. Inside there are four floors which have 12 level changes and there are 14 separate ceiling heights.^[1] It is said to resemble Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater design.^[6] The building's design constructs an illusion of levitating horizontal planes: vertical planes are disguised by the cantilevered planes.^[4]

The landscape was designed by landscape architect Robert Zion. There were a total of 8 acres in the estate for which Zion was the original designer. From 1981 to 1982 another landscape architect Russell Page worked on a redesign of the estate's grounds. He stated "...the structure needs the tranquillity of an all green base." According to his plans, the grounds had few flowers, and one rose garden.^[7] The grounds also include a reflecting pool with a nude sculpture.^[2]

Plans

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