This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
William and Catherine Cass house is a Marshall Erdman Prefab House located in Staten Island, New York. The Erdman Prefab houses were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and manufactured by the Wisconsin-based Marshall Erdman & Associates. The Cass House, also known as Crimson Beech (named after the Copper Beech tree on the property), was erected in 1959 and is an Erdman Prefab #1 with a standard carport. It is one of only three Frank Lloyd Wright works in New York City.
The colleciton includes one album created by the Cass family about Crimson Beech and 59 working drawings used for the construction of the dwelling. The album includes photographs of the exterior and interior of the house, the "Erdman Homes Standard Specifications & Package Content" document, clippings, and 4 architectural drawings by D. Korves. The working drawings were produced by Marshall Erdman & Associates and are primarily technical drawings.
Frank Lloyd Wright's original drawings for the Prefabricated house 1 for Erdman Homes can be found listed as Project 5518 in Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives : architectural drawings, ca. 1885-1959. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York).