LAS VEGAS, NEV.- Esteemed artist
Rita Deanin Abbey (1930-2021) penned the following essay as a birthday gift for her husband, Dr. Robert Rock Belliveau (1932-2024), on February 1, 1983. In a notecard to Robert, Rita wrote: “Robert - Happy Birthday! - 1 February 1983 - with love from “Beans.” Your love has expanded my humanity and art. You nourish my dreams, happiness, and strengthen my weaknesses. You, alone, are my “Garden of Light”!!"
THE FIREPLACES AT GAN OR
(The Garden of Light)
The Setting
Gan Or, a living and studio complex, is set on ten acres of the Nevada desert near the city of Las Vegas. It is surrounded by the Las Vegas and Sheep Mountain Ranges on the north, by Sunrise and Frenchman Mountains on the east, by the Black or McCullough Mountains on the south, and by the Spring Mountains, with distant views of the Red Rock area and Mt. Charleston, on the west.
The two structures of Gan Or are positioned to receive maximum solar energy during the winter months and to benefit from the desert vistas. The southern expanses of glass windows in both buildings maximize passive solar aspects while also transmitting atmospheric light conditions. The interiors are infused with the shifting forces of light from the sun, sky, clouds, and surrounding landscape.
The exteriors of the buildings bathe in diffused, lingering crepuscular light but tend toward strong contrasts during most of the day due to the simplicity of design. Large open areas are juxtaposed with arched windows, supportive columns, and stark planes that cast shadows, which alternately emphasize the two- and three-dimensional forms aspects of the structures. The courtyard east wall, which contains a staircase leading to the east porch of the living area, in Barrigan fashion, unites the two structures. The rectangular simplicity is broken by 45° angled walls on the west ends of both buildings and by a curved upper-level porch which overhangs the entrance to the main building. Solar hot water panels for the pool and house line the south wall above the columns below he clerestory.
The circular staircase in the foyer of the main building leads to the upper living area, which is characterized by cathedral ceilings, clerestory windows, and sculpture fireplaces. The west window frames the jagged limestone formations of Monte Cristo and Bird Spring in the Spring Mountains. The lower level of the living structure features a swimming pool and a gymnasium. The unobstructed spaciousness of the studio (with office aloft and guest area) is inspiring and conducive to creating freedom and productivity.
Gan Or was in the planning stage for eight years. It was conceived of with aesthetic imagination and vision as well as a recognition of energy-saving factors, desert space, function, and personal expression.
The total impression of Gan Or will undoubtedly be different for everyone who sees and experiences it. It is both awe-inspiring and overwhelming. Aesthetic harmony is balanced with utilitarian purpose. Love and Light are its inner significance.
The Fireplaces
The fireplaces at Gan OR are expressive of the surrounding desert mountains and the rhythms of sand dunes. The free-form sculptures are constructed on prefabricated, zero-clearance, 36” heater units. The focus of the master-bedroom and living-room areas is directed towards the organic, flowing lines, forms, and shadows of these sculptural fireplaces. Their curvilinear contours complement the arched windows and doors and contrastingly soften the stark, geometric openness of the rooms. The chimneys repeat the style of the interior-exterior aerial, yet massive support columns, which rise past the clerestory to the height of the ceilings.
After discarding the plasticene models and preliminary sketches I had spent months preparing, the sculptures were freely developed in process to scale, over the heatilator units which had been positioned on the hearth platforms. Rerod was bent, shaped, and welded into skeletal, three-dimensional relationships. The forms were then covered with metal lath and secured with tie wire to add sufficient strength to enable them to receive the plaster. Surprisingly, the structures at this point in their development had already achieved a particular sculptural quality that was eventually hidden beneath the plaster. The following list of materials used in building the armatures reveals their mass and complexity:
570 lbs. of #4 rebar
963 lbs. of metal lath
3000 ft. of tie wire,
3 lbs. of welding rod
Since both structures are located on the second story of the dwelling, additional weight-bearing supports were engineered in these areas. Consideration for weight limitations was carefully € enforced in building the armatures and in the selection of all other materials. Twenty-two 98-lb. sacks of Structo-Lite--scratch coat and brown coat--were used over the two armatures, reducing the overall weight from regular plaster and sand by 50 percent. Structo-Lite contains a proportioning of properly graded and sized perlite aggregate, which weighs significantly less than plaster and sand.
Other advantages include higher fire ratings than those attainable with plaster and sand, as well as high manipulability for hand application.
First, the base scratch coats were applied to a thickness of ap approximately 3/8 “. These coats were cross-scored using a commercial scarifier. Heat was set at 70° overnight, and the following morning, doors and windows were opened to allow for ventilation to remove moisture.
Second, the brown coats were applied to approximately ½ inch thickness. First, a scratch coat was meshed into the basecoat and immediately doubled over to a ½" thickness and then lightly scored to receive the finish coats. All corners and details were executed without the use of corner beads or corner aids.
Third, two sand coats were applied to create more suction for the finish coat work. These coats were made with two 99-lb. sacks of Keenes cement-mix, four 50-lb. sacks of dry lime, six 100-lb. sacks of #60 silica sand, and 50 lbs. of #30 marble dust. The finer grades of sand were used on the second sand coat in place of #20 or #30 to create a finer sand finish, which was then stippled to break up the continuity and to add a subtle texture to the final finish coat.
The curvilinear design of the sculptures required several weeks of hand rasping to integrate the relationships of the flowing forms. However, the most time-consuming aspect of this project was the construction of the annotations.
The hearths were faced with Mexican floor tile and brick pavers, and each one was covered with 3/4", 25-ft. Italian marble slabs. Roso Collemandina and Breccia Pernice marbles were selected due to their intrinsically beautiful matrix patterns and colors, as well as their coordinative relationships with the fireplaces and interiors of the rooms. White acrylic latex caulking was applied with a palette knife as a filler for the seam between the marble and the base of the sculptures.
The fireplace screens were constructed of 40 ft. 1/8” x 1” mild steel flatbar, ½” – 16-gauge metal screen, and 22-gauge sheet metal. The screens obscure the rectangular openings of the heatilators, as well as the vents and grid coverings of the units, without disrupting their function. The screens functionally and aesthetically unify and complete the fireplaces.
Rita Deanin Abbey
Acknowledgement and appreciation are extended to the following individuals for their generosity, expertise, and interest in my project:
Michael Enfield - Mason, fireplace consultant.
Paul Vinzant - master plasterer, plastering consultant,
Curt Cajka - marble cutter
John Kane - friend, builder of the screens.
A special thanks to Bill Mastrini, Tom Harrop, Joel Faragher, Martin Knight, and to Malcolm Brown, friend and builder, from Taos, New Mexico, who gave me the inspiration and fundamental information to initiate this project.
Note: Materials are quantified in this article for both fireplaces.
