Russel Wright working in his New York City studio

Photo: Manitoga Archives

This place has been here forever, will be here forever. Oh, it's gradually changing, yet it is eternal. There is joy and personal pleasure here. . .It is a very moving thing to be walking through something so much greater than me.

Russel Wright, 1975, Feel Nature Tour

Photo: Winter View; Robert Glenn Ketchum

I wish this shelter to blend with the landscape . . .I will make it of the rock to be found there, of the lumber to be found there, and I will cover it with the vines that are native.

from A Letter from Russel Wright to All Those Working on the House, circa 1960

Photo: Tara Wing Photography

The House is a study both of BLENDING and of CONTRASTING. . .By blending, I mean that the rocks, boulders, and even the trees are brought into the house. For contrasting, the rectangular shapes of the windows contrast with the organic pattern of the landscape outside.

Garrison Slide Lecture Script, prepared and typed by Russel Wright, April 1961

Photo: Rob Penner Photography

Color studies were made for winter and summer schemes because I wanted my house to be always interesting; and I wanted it to be cool and refreshing in the summer and warm and snug in the winter

Garrison Slide Lecture Script, prepared and typed by Russel Wright, April 1961

Photo: Tara Wing Photography

Night is just as beautiful as day at Garrison. I have done a lot of experimenting with the lighting ... fluorescent, incandescent, and a new phosphorous lighting - - candlelight, oil flares, and Indian oil lamp.

Garrison Slide Lecture Script, prepared and typed by Russel Wright, April 1961

Photo: Manitoga Archives

This is a design project that I am most pleased with, more than any other project throughout my career. I hope you will take joy from my home.

from A Letter from Russel Wright to All Those Working on the House, circa 1960

Photo: Rob Penner Photography