Matsen House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Matsen House. Now, some houses just sit there on a lot. This one was thought about.

Picture it: 1953, and Frederick Albert Matsen, a distinguished professor of chemistry and physics at the University of Texas at Austin, and his wife, Cecelia Christina Matsen, born Kirkegaard, are putting their heads together with two Austin architects, Carlton Brush and Joseph Buffler. And those architects, well, they were carrying some influence with them. Frank Lloyd Wright, who was active in Racine, Wisconsin.

And here's a quiet little detail worth pausin on: Racine, Wisconsin happened to be the native town of the Matsens themselves. So when Wright's ideas showed up in the design, they weren't exactly strangers to them. What came out of all that thinking and planning was a two-story house built of limestone walls and cedar shakes on a wood frame.

It sits on its lot the way a careful person enters a room, working with the slope of the site rather than against it. The floor plan incorporates that slope right into itself. And then there's the look of the thing.

Mid-century modern, international in character, horizontal emphasis in the flat roof and the windows, and a deliberate invitation to natural light. Frederick Matsen was born in 1913 and lived until 2006. Cecelia was born in 1910 and also lived until 2006.

Two people who spent a life thinking precisely, building precisely, and left behind a house that still makes the case for what happens when you take your time and do it right.

What the marker says

In 1953, distinguished professor of chemistry and physics at the University of Texas at Austin, Frederick Albert Matsen (1913-2006), and his wife, Cecelia Christina (Kirkegaard) Matsen (1910-2006), built this home. The couple worked with Austin architects Carlton Brush and Joseph Buffler, influenced by Frank Lloyd wright, who was active in Racine, Wisconsin, native town of the Matsens. The two-story house is built of limestone walls and cedar shakes on a wood frame. It exhibits mid-century modern and international elements, including horizontal emphasis in the flat roof and windows, use of natural light, and a floor plan incorporating the slope of the site.