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Copyright Architectural
Structure VAU 420-401 USA Jan 16, 1998.
The Rotunda Regale
Of all the outdoor wooden
structures in California, this has to be the most elegant. It provides a
graceful transition from an elevated doorway down to the garden below. In
the transition, the round platform deck beckons one to pause and view the
vast panorama of this backyard park-like setting.
The curved railing has a ribbon of wood
running through the balusters just below the carved handrail, which
reminds one of the style of wrought iron railings in the French Quarter of
New Orleans. The round railings curve beyond the canopy posts on both
sides of each stairway to give these rounded steps a flared look befitting
a southern mansion. Yet, it was built in up-scale Los Altos Hills.
Click on any small photo for larger view.
One of the questions most
asked about the intricate canopy is: How do you get the wood to bend
like that?
It's not bent at all -- the
canopy is made of many curve-cut pieces which are then laminated
together in overlapping fashion, glued and screwed. The individual
components are then sanded cross-grain to get the final smooth
contour.
What highlights the
exquisite craftsmanship is that no brackets or bolts are
visible, anywhere! The whole structure looks as though it were
set in place. Yet the structure's canopy is filled with hidden
hardware.
This arbor was inspired by an 18th century
ground-level London classic,
but has been given a modern day flair by cantilevering the canopy well out
beyond the lowest rung and elevating the entire structure on a 4-step
pedestal.
The canopy extends 18" out beyond
the base ring so that the planted wisteria hangs down from the outermost
ring in a valence of colorful blossom-sickles. This same profusion of
color is also propagated as blossom-stalactites throughout the cavity of
the canopy.
It's now an acclaimed
American classic.
When it was just
completed
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