Comments by "William Tyre" (@williamtyre523) on "This House" channel.

  1. The back story of this house is fascinating - a world class architect being challenged to design a beautiful and functional house for $5,000 - and succeeding! Glad to hear it has been carefully restored and continues to be used as a residence.
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  2. Pretty amazing that this street survived over three centuries, thank goodness for those who fought for its preservation, so that we can all appreciate it today. Thanks Ken for another fascinating video and glimpse into the past.
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  3. A stunning house for sure. But I think many of the houses you feature should be called follys. An extraordinary expense for a house that is used little by its owners and doesn't last long before being demolished. I feel badly for the talented craftsmen who toil on these projects, only to have their exceptional handiwork destroyed, and bulldozed into the ground.
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  4. The tropical house was quite stunning. So sad the house couldn't have been repurposed into a hotel or private club.
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  5. Fascinating story, thanks as always. It is very interesting how often these grand houses, seemingly built to last a thousand years, have a very short life span before ending up abandoned, converted to institutional or business use, or falling to the wrecker's ball.
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  6. Great house, thanks for the rare chance to peek inside. Hard to believe the VP no official residence until the 1970s!
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  7. Interesting that he quickly tired of both houses, so not a surprise that he also married and divorced twice. Seems that in spite of all his money, he had trouble finding what would truly make him happy. The house is impressive, but I can't imagine living in such over-scaled grandeur.
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  8. I was always fascinated by the story of the first house, designed by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, being torn down because the wife found it "drab." Yikes - if my husband built a house like that for me, I wouldn't complain at all!
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  9. Thank you for focusing on what I consider to be one of the most artistic houses ever designed and built in the United States. The surviving portions of the house, including the amazing Daffodil Porch, reconstructed at the Morse Museum in Winter Park, Florida, are well worth a visit to see!
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  10. I really like the design of the original house, both the exterior and the main hall, although it feels more like a hotel or club than a private residence. What a shocking surprise about the man who built his reputation fighting corruption, being the most corrupt of all!
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  11. Thanks for another great video. I really enjoyed the comparison between these enormous houses. And how interesting to note the relatively short time many of these stood, given the time and money that went into building them. It is sad to see the incredible craftsmanship, the handiwork of countless artisans, destroyed and hauled off to landfill.
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  12. I have visited this site twice, which is administered by the National Park Service. The landscape and house were both quite interesting, but what I enjoyed most was the rare opportunity to see the historic offices, giving a real sense of stepping back in time. It is so rare to see spaces like these intact and preserved. Just think of how many of us across the country have benefitted from the ideas that germinated in those rooms!
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  13. Very glad to learn about this wonderful house and an underappreciated architect. My favorite bit was the discussion of Neutra's questionnaires for his clients to make sure he was designing a house that would actually function as the client wished. What a concept, I can certainly see why he didn't stay with Wright for long.
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  14. A comfortable, family home. So glad Rose Kennedy took the initiative to purchase and restore it and then donate it to the NPS for future preservation.
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  15. A beautiful, livable house. So glad to see it has been well cared for over the decades.
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  16. Really enjoyed seeing all the images from the servants' areas, which are often not documented.
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  17. A fascinating and rarely explored phenomenon in American residential design. Well, some of this hardly qualifies as "design" 😞
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  18. She was indeed quite the astute businesswoman, especially to realize so early on how valuable that land would become.
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  19. Excellent video and wonderful to see so many spectacular houses. The best part is that she was able to enjoy many years of happiness after she was given the opportunity to marry for love.
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  20. This is a great house, literally frozen in time, I have enjoyed my visits there. The elaborate decoration in the house is amazing, and really needs to be seen in person to appreciate the rich colors. Nice video!
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  21. A wonderful house, I enjoyed my visit there about 20 years ago. I especially like the approach from the water, and how the estate overall fit so well into its natural surroundings.
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  22. Another great video. I've never heard of a better story of an architect and client miscommunicating about what was to be built. Maybe his wife was secretly communicating with the architects about what SHE wanted built, as it seems she really enjoyed it once it was built.
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  23. A really stunning home and setting. Sad that it was lost, but at least it was enjoyed for a good number of years by the couple, who appear to have been devoted to each other.
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  24. An amazing house, thank goodness the French government took the initiative to preserve and restore it, and making it accessible to the public.
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  25. Another great story, . But once again, someone so successful, who had more money than he could spend, wanting even more, and losing most of his fortune. I guess you need that sort of drive to be this successful, but it seems rare the story ends on a happy note. My favorite part of the house? I love that he had a full time pianist!
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  26. Thanks for another great video. C.K.G. Billings was a very interesting guy. I first became aware of him while researching summer homes at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. He had a home there, and after the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, purchased the Norway building, had it disassembled, and reassembled on his Wisconsin estate. It would be great to see a video about his Lake Geneva estate and what became of the Norway building.
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  27. Thanks for another great video. I was familiar with Mizner's work in Florida, but had never seen this treasure. Would like to see videos about some of his Florida houses. I really love the Great Hall, it must have been amazing to stand in that space. What a tragic loss.
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  28. Very interesting to see the house incorporated into the church complex today, Bessie would be pleased!
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  29. Another fascinating story, well told. The summer home, Ferncliff, in Rhinebeck, NY, looks very interesting, hopefully the topic of a future video.
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  30. Great overview of the city's architecture. Like so many cities, the mid-20th century was a dark period where these architectural treasures were underappreciated, and swept away without much thought.
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  31. Great video, and such a nice story. So often it seems the adage "money doesn't buy happiness" is true, but in this case they had a happy life, knowing how their generosity would help so many others.
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  32. Very nice to hear the house has returned to residential use and remains much as when it was built. Your videos have shown an interesting phenomenon, namely that many of these big houses end up in the hands of the Catholic Church. I always think of priests, monks, and nuns living simple lives, but when they end up occupying houses such as this, simple doesn't apply!
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  33. A great story well told. Both her overcoming the significant struggles in her early life, and the survival of the house for its continued use in the spirit of the woman for whom it was built.
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  34. I agree with others that the exquisite stone staircase was the most outstanding feature of this house, it must have been quite overwhelming to have stood in that space and looked up at its wonderful craftsmanship. Thanks for another great video!
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  35. A great story of two people committed to preservation and making sure that the buildings would not only survive but be accessible to the public. I visited there about 20 years ago and loved it!
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  36. Fabulous seeing this in color, thank you for all your efforts!
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  37. Such an elegant home, I can definitely see the hand of architect Benjamin Marshall in its design. So sad that it lasted such a short period of time.
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  38. All too often these stories don't have a happy ending. Alas, money doesn't buy happiness (although it apparently does buy a lot of gold leaf 🙂). The library was my favorite room.
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  39. What a relief to get to the end of this video to discover that his third house not only didn't burn down, but is still standing today!
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  40. Great video and nice to see a focus on my favorite time period in Chicago history. Sure wish I could time travel, but the video is definitely the next best thing!
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  41. Really interesting story behind this house and the origins of Stanford University, which was an important early project for the architectural firm of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, formed after the death of H. H. Richardson in 1886. It is also interesting to note how many instances there are of these big old houses being donated to the Archdiocese in their respective cities. Thanks, as always, for an educational and enlightening video.
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  42. How fun to match up a Hollywood film with the actual house! It was of such a scale I would have easily thought that front flight of steps was a movie set. Thanks for another great video!
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  43. What a lovely setting, I really like the way the architect designed the house and other buildings to fit into the landscape. And what a nice story about him openly sharing the estate with his neighbors, so all could enjoy.
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  44. Thanks for another great video. I really like the cottages built for the estate staff and their families, much better than the cramped servants quarters provided in many other houses like this. Glad to see the beautiful grounds are publicly accessible.
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  45. Another great video. And thank you for clarifying the issues between the Glass House and the Farnsworth House, which came first, and what the architects thought of each other's work.
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  46. Beautiful house, love the use of all the oak. This one definitely feels more livable than some of the others of the era. Thanks as always, for a great video and another interesting story.
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  47. Very interesting chronology, and I enjoyed learning about a house I knew nothing about. Well done!
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  48. Thanks for sharing information on this interesting building form, I've seen them periodically in my travels and was always curious. Not sure I'd want to live in one though!
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  49. Another great video. I wish I could have seen the breakfast room in color, it must have been magnificent! His father's house also looked really interesting, and BIG.
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  50. A fascinating story, I confess I did not know about her, only about Nellie Bly. What courage it would have taken for a woman at the time to undertake a journey like that. Regarding the house - absolutely beautiful, both the architecture and the setting. And unlike many of these big houses, it feels livable and comfortable. Thanks for another great video!
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