Welcome to the Archives of the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation. The purpose of this online database is to function as a tool for scholars, students, architects, preservationists, journalists and other interested parties. The archive consists of photographs, slides, articles and publications from Rudolph’s lifetime; physical drawings and models; personal photos and memorabilia; and contemporary photographs and articles.
Unless otherwise noted, all images and drawings are copyright © The Estate of Paul Rudolph and The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation. Please speak with a representative of the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation to get permission to use any drawings or photos. Drawings, sketches and other materials produced by Rudolph’s architectural office at the Library of Congress are maintained there for preservation, but the intellectual property rights belong to the Paul Rudolph Estate and Ernst Wagner, founder of the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.
LOCATION
Address: 202 Ridgelawn Drive
City: Athens
State: Alabama
Zip Code: 35613
Nation: United States
STATUS
Type: Residence
Status: Built
TECHNICAL DATA
Date(s): 1961-1964
Site Area: 57,120 s.f.
Floor Area: 4,654 s.f.
Height:
Floors (Above Ground): 2
Building Cost:
PROFESSIONAL TEAM
Client: John W. Wallace and Frances Garth Wallace
Architect: Paul Rudolph
Associate Architect:
Landscape:
Structural: John Altieri
MEP: Herman J. Spiegel
QS/PM:
SUPPLIERS
Contractor:
Subcontractor(s):
Wallace Residence
Paul Rudolph moved with his parents and three sisters - Mildred, Marie and Ruth - to Athens, Alabama in 1936. He went to Athens High School and during this time met Frances Garth Wallace.
This Southern Greek revival structure has an all white exterior and 96 x 22 colonnade of 32 brick columns.
It has a central courtyard to shade the building and an extensive covered porch.
It has two major circular staircases, one interior and one exterior.
The residence is featured in the February 26, 1965 issue of Life magazine.
This property was last sold for $499,000 in 2015, to Beth Beasley who did the renovation of the house.
Currently, it has an estimated value of $404,900.
“I don’t believe any figure of the ancient world ever walked down a gallery more inspiring than our back porch. We feel close to all the great moments of the past.”
“The house has the efficiency of a trailer combined with the grandeur of the Acropolis.”
“The house is located just right for the sunset. And we never like to miss one.”
“When we have company the maid knows that people facing the view take twice as long to finish dinner.”
“My first impressions of architecture were of the Greek Revival Architecture of the south. This attempted restatement has overlays of early twentieth century European architecture and can be read on many different levels. Each ‘room’ is posed in space, each staffered in plan and section, so that an unfolding interior space emerges. The firectional quality of space is emphasized since the walls opposite each other are either solid or open. Thus the varying quality of appropriate space is the chief organizing element, not structure.”
“Years ago I designed a house in Alabama based on Greek revival architecture of the South. I was brought up in that area, I knew it well, and my first memories of architecture were the Greek Revival buildings of the area and the sharecroppers’ cottages, both of which intrigued me no end. Both seemed to have a complete validity - in other words, vernacular and so-called high architecture. This house in Alabama has double-story-high porches on four sides, over-scaled columns not based on structural need but on character - yet it’s a modern house. It doesn’t ever deal with Greek columns, capitals and bases, cornices, nor the use of symbols, but the image of the south is very clear. The design comes from the climate, the environment, how people live, what was suitable. It gets very hot in summer; therefore, the enclosure is put in man-made shade, which lowers the energy consumption of the air-conditioning system. It has many symmetrical parts, but the circulation and spatial organization is asymmetrical. If you know the location of this house it is clear that it really comes from the Greek Revival architecture of the South, but it certainly doesn’t have any Greek Revival symbols, although its image is similar because it tries to solve some of the same problems.”
“This is probably the closest I’ve ever come to post-modernism. It occurred to me at the time that if you paid too much attention to the old, the result became merely picturesque.”
DRAWINGS - Design Drawings / Renderings
DRAWINGS - Construction Drawings
DRAWINGS - Shop Drawings
PHOTOS - Project Model
PHOTOS - During Construction
PHOTOS - Completed Project
PHOTOS - Current Conditions
LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION
RELATED DOWNLOADS
PROJECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Rudolph, Paul Marvin. “Paul Rudolph / A Note to the Architects of Japan.” Kokusai Kentiku, April, Volume 32, p.17-70, (1965)
Dunnavant, B. Jr. (1968, April 28). Candlelight Pilgrimage To Feature Nine Athens Homes. Decatur Daily, p. 31
Rudolph, P. and Moholy-Nagy, S. (1970). The Architecture of Paul Rudolph. New York: Praeger, pp. 72-75.
Davern, Jeanne M. "A Conversation with Paul Rudolph." Architectural Record 170 (March 1982): 90-97.
Axford, F. (1999, April 18). Spring Pilgrimage Offers Varied Sites. Athens News Courier, p. 34
“Wallace Home Often Mistaken Wright Design.” Athens News Courier, November 26, 2003. p. 54
Gibbs, A. (2016, December 24). Beasley Family An Athens Name. Athens News Courier, p. 8