Ross V. Coutts, a general contractor, executed the design by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin
for Ricker House, completing the house about 1912. The original design
for the garage was not completed, as Ricker did not own the lot to the north
and there was not adequate space to build it. When he acquired the lot next
door, a garage design by Griffin associate Barry Byrne was executed.
The
Byrne design alters the orientation of the garage as the Griffins had
intended. Originally, access to the garage was to be at the north (side) facade;
as built, access is at the front of the house, off a semicircular drive that
allows for plantings in front of the garage door.
It
is known that Walter Burley Griffin also designed a landscape plan for
Ricker House. While no plans have been discovered, it is believed that some
plantings on the property date from the time of the house's construction.
