For those willing to accept the challenge of owning a dwelling designed by America's most-famous architect, there are about 20 Wright homes currently up for sale in eight states. That's the largest number in recent years. Those on the market now range from a six-bedroom Illinois home listed at $649,000 to a sprawling Montana ranch with a price tag of $5.6 million. "It is a good time to buy a Wright house because there is a variety of prices and locations,'' said Janet Halstead... — online.wsj.com
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FLW was sort of hit and miss, if one reads up on him. One of his first works, some mansion in Oak Park IL, circa 1893, was kind of ho-hum His houses in that area got better, though. His commercial works are also varied: The Guggenheim, which is conceptually cool, but has low ceilings, probably because his lens were those of a short man, the Grady (somebody) auditorium at Ariz State Univ, with those spindly columns with these weird decorations at their tops, and Marin County Civic Center, beautifully set into the site, but obnoxiously repetitive in the different proportions of the arches. In terms of his Pasadena houses, they almost look neo-Egyptian, meaning one would expect to see hieroglyphics carved into the blocks. I don't know if La Miniatura and Millard, shown here, are one and the same. I probably liked Johnson and Johnson headquarters in WI the best, along with Fallingwater (sp) and that skyscraper in Oklahoma. He had something like 5 wives and a very complicated life. What a storied career.
Millard = La Miniatura
I don't remember where I read it, but it's my understanding that Wright can't be solely credited with the design of the Marin County Civic Center. Whatever this source was stated that Wright died before completion, allowing for deviation from his design.
The original article is certainly interesting. Sometimes the comments are more revealing than the article. I seriously doubt Wright would have sited this house this way if flooding had been a problem at the time. Any number of changes made in the surrounding area could have caused it to be an issue now. As far as other problems go, if one take chances they're not always going to work out. Wright took chances, so some of those ideas haven't worked.
I'm not sure why people continue to search for the negative of Frank Lloyd Wright's life and work after all these years. The WSJ reporter failed to report the great things one of the home owners interviewed had to say about living in a Wright house.
I have known many original Wright clients, all voiced what a great experience it was to work with Wright. I lived in a Wright house and found it a great experience for the most part. I now live in a house designed and built be a Wright apprentice and love every inch of it, including the 22" in wide doors, red concrete floors and occassional leaks. The experience of living in a place that is so beautiful and livable far outweighs what others would see as beyond quirks. I understand negative sells papers and books more than the truth.
The Millard House I been to and it is really nice. The composer Peter Sellers was renting there at the time.
The Millard (La Miniatura), The Storer, The Ennis-Brown and one or two others, are all 'knit-block' construction and have had problems. The designs are from Wright's Pre-Colombian phase (not Eqyptian) and stem from his fascination with the then newly discover Mayan ruins.
The detailing, the intimate yet grand scale, the quality of the light and the detailing are what you go for to see Wright. When i do my tourist guide thing for out-of-towners I visit Wright. His work are the highlights of Los Angeles Architecture
Millard = La Miniatura
Thank you. It looked awfully familiar. Maybe not neo-Egyptian (I was thinking the original Egyptian theater on Hollywood Blvd.) but neo-Mayan or neo-something. It isn't "Usonian" to me.
I reread. He had 3 wives. Regardless, his work and his persona are the subject of scrutiny because he enjoyed the limelight, or he wouldn't have had commissions from sea to shining sea. I'm sure he was somewhat ornery. Probably a little bit of "Napoleonic syndrome" tossed into the batter.
Custom-designed homes might be interesting to visit and read about. But, as far as flipping through channels with a remote and eating breakfast in your bathrobe, I'll take a regular newish house with nicely massed hip roofs. BTW, the massing of hip roofs is very "Prairie School" in etymology.
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Clarification: he had 3 wives, but not at the same time ...
wasn't he like 5'-9"? that's not really that short.
I think 5'6" +/-. 5'10" is the average height in the U.S., IIRC.
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