LIFE&HOME
THE ARCHITECT’S SON
As a reminder, he left a charred tree in a prominent place on his terrace. It was many years before I realized it was a symbol of fire’s power to cleanse and renew.
70 SEASONS •
STYLE
A Natural Order of Design Remembering Bob Conner, architect By Peter Freeman Photograph by Amy Freeman
O
ne of my earliest memories is what we called “the big fire.” It was next door. I was no more than 3 or 4, and my biggest impressions were the wailing sirens and the raging flames that overtook the house . . . and I can faintly remember the firemen. My brother, nearly three years my senior, remembers more. He recalls that Mr. Conner came over to use the phone, not once but several times. Although agitated, Mr. Conner was collected and polite. Tugging at his beard as well as his suspenders, he apologized for having to use the phone over and over again. My brother was afraid that the fire would spread through the woods and set our house on fire. It burned for what to me seemed to be the rest of the day.
& DESIGN
As the firetrucks pulled away, very little of the Conners’ house remained but its absence made a big impact. We humans have a complicated relationship with fire. Of the classical elements, earth, air, fire and water, fire may be the hardest to command. But Robert “Bob” Conner the architect — and our neighbor — had a unique way of coming to terms with the elements. Bob was not just an architect. He he was also a naturalist and an environmentalist. He was passionate about the elements, and it showed in his architecture. And in time, the fire that destroyed his own creation seemed to be part of the natural order of things. Mr. Conner rebuilt his house almost exactly as he had originally designed it. As a reminder, he left a charred tree in a prominent place on his Summer 2017