This beautiful home is on the corner of Walnut and Warm Springs. The original house was a modest two-story Queen Anne on the rather small lot. William H. Langroise and his first wife, Vernetta Sullivan Langroise, lived there, for close to twenty years, with their son Billy. Vernetta and Billy died in the house fire in most likely 1962. Bill Sr. lived in the Imperial Plaza Apartment House for several years after the fire and built the the existing house in about 1966 with Jedd Jones III (Hummel, Hummel & Jones at the time) with Nelson T. Miller as co-designers.
It was designed as a duplex with Bill’s unit at the alley side. Both units, I believe, were just one-bedroom size. Bill lived there for several years until he married Gladys and bought the C.C. Anderson house (down the street on Warm Springs)after C.C’s death.
One of the owners after Bill Langroise moved out was Mrs. Robert Lloyd (Patsy Fraser Lloyd), the widow of Dr. Bob Lloyd. She lived there for about ten years until she died. She remodeled the interior and eliminated the duplex arrangement. Jedd Jones and Charles Hummel worked on that project as well.
In 1996, the house was remodeled, adding a room and larger kitchen. Currently, the owner of the house has lived there for five years and has remodeled the master bedroom and bathroom and the courtyard. This home adds to the diversity of houses off of Warm Springs. The architectural style of this home is International, which is a modern and mid-century architecture. This style began in Germany in an art School called Bauhaus. When World War II started, the school was shut down because of the invasion of the Nazis. The directors of the school came to America, where the style was introduced in Universities. This style consists of steel, glass, stone, wood, brick, and concrete. Another significant feature of the International style is the courtyard, which is in the center of the house and open to the outside.The Walnut House is a very unique building. It is a 3,000 square feet with four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and two fireplaces. It has no attic or basement, which is a common characteristic of the international style. It wraps around a small, open courtyard that sits in the middle of the house. The courtyard contains a small pool and a very modern landscaping design. Each room has a very modern style but is original in its own way. From the odd-shaped lamps to the large pieces of art, the home is beautifully decorated. The owner of the house adores the original style of her home, and hopes to further remodel it so that it will eventually look the way it did when it was first built.This house has great significance to the neighborhood and Boise’s history. One reason is because there are no other houses like this one in the area. Another reason is because of the significance of the style for this time period. In the 1960s, the International style was seen as extremely modern and unique. The International style is an unmatched and exclusive type of architecture. This house brings originality to its neighborhood and portrays a fine example of unique houses from its time period. The Walnut home and its International style are unique and brings a wonderful diversity to the city of Boise.
Idaho Architecture Project
