Hi Bob, and other members.
The term ‘Usonia’ was first used by Wright in 1925, and is loosely an acronym he applied when referring to houses for ‘true Americans’, or citizens of the United States of North America (USonians). Wright did state that he borrowed the term from Samuel Butler...
As above, the Usonian House design is a small, free-standing, extremely inexpensive home, constructed with wood walls, and a flat roof, of rough crossed timber beams.
These houses offered affordable housing to the masses, after the Great Depression, with most dating to the late 1930’s and 40’s. In fact, over 100 were built.
Bob, if the house you refer to is in fact a FLW original, it should never be altered, despite the fact that’s exterior is likely to be somewhat ugly, especially in comparison to nearby properties. It would be like carving up an early Macdonald or MacKenzie original.
It's unlikely to be a FLW, as whoever has bought property in the Monterey Bay area, could almost certainly have afforded to commission an architect to design and construct a house for them.
There wouldn't be much point, one would suspect, in keeping a faux-FLW, as hoggmeister says.
FYI, The Usonian house served as a spur for later construction principles such as pre-constructed / pre-cast housing components, suitable for large-scale housing developments and other building projects.
The Usonian houses also set design trends, in blurring the borders between the interior and exterior, with glass walls and doors, which opened out to gardens, and provided views of outside landscapes. The interiors of the houses too, were quite flexible, with moveable screens rather than solid interior dividing walls, thereby redefining the interior spaces.
There are many of Wright’s works in San Francisco (especially at Sea Cliff), as well as other points in California, including the Monterey Bay area.
Matthew