Neighborhood of Five Houses: Heisey House

Cluster of five houses with common land and communal structures, located on Lake Travis, outside Austin, Texas; only three out of the initial five houses were built. The three house designs were made in close consultation with each family, which ...

Light rafter and sub-rafter structure for the roof eave. Shaped rafter tails form the roof edge and eave; the eave is more complex and makes a better center by the shape of the tails.

Timber thick columns and shaped capitals were developed after a series of cardboard mock-ups until size, proportions and shape got right.

Exposed wooden beam coffered ceiling in the living rooms, with a cross shaped wooden ornament at the intersection of the beams.

18-page report providing detailed information including property description, location, maps, pictures, etc. which results in estimating market value and a guide for Federally-related loans.

2-page signed agreement that the attorney represents only the lender in the matters required by the loan processes and will prepare all legal instruments and documents necessary. The undersigned understands and accepts all rules set forth in the document including ...

3-page affidavit given to Life Savings Bank, to induce lender to make the disbursement to borrower under the certain and spelled out promissory note; a list of six rules is set forth.

Photographs of sketches depicting the two floor plans of the Heisey house.

Photographs of the drawings of the Heisey house; the first two depict the floor plans of the two levels and the other two the house elevations.

Four exterior views of the Heisey house; the first is a distant view, while the other three show the house volume and its enclosed porch from two different sides.

Christopher Alexander recognized the importance of the geometry of centers and for years he was looking for the common structural features among buildings, paintings, streets, carpets, doors, windows, etc. which have "life" and "wholeness". He identified fifteen structural features which ...

Each act of building needs to have a positive effect on its surroundings; to complete them, preserve their structure, make them better, by creating strong centers in them and next to them. Each new building is more alive when it ...

In the last two centuries "modular" design has produced identical apartments, arranged in typical apartment blocks. The same is true for mass-produced furniture. Uniqueness, which expresses personal needs and whiches, and which springs from the need to adapt and connect ...

“The Process of Creating Life”, the second volume of “The Nature of Order” series presents a dynamic theory of living structure. It begins with an analysis of transformations, which occur in nature, and the distinction between structure-preserving transformations, responsible for ...

“A Vision of a Living World”, the third volume of “The Nature of Order” series, presents, for the first time, a full spectrum of Alexander’s and CES built and unbuilt works. The book describes hundreds of buildings, plans, neighborhoods, drawings, ...

A full scale mockup of the living room ceiling ornaments.

Two copper sample mockups of medallions, about 12″ in diameter. The medallions were used at the height of the perimeter beam of the first floor of the houses; also one wooden mold which was used for the shaping of the ...

Image of the house framing focusing on the roof overhang and the detailing of the shaped rafter tails, forming the roof edge and eave.

Image of the Heisey house enclosed porch with the colums and their capitals as built for this house.

Two images of the exposed timber coffered ceilings with cross shaped ornaments at the intersection of the beams. The first image is from the Goddu house, while the second from the Heisey.