FLW House first time on Market in MPLS

[vertical_doug]

I am sure there are Frank LLoyd Wright fans on this forum. So get out the check book:
Rare Frank Lloyd Wright House Goes on Market For First Time Ever - Curbed

Interior looks like all the orignal period furniture is there too. Really fantastic


If you buy it, I will donate a cassina barrel chair.

[Too Tall]

Swoon

[Dave Thompson]

A real time capsule alright, it looks like FLW just left.

[caleb]

Gorgeous house, and the four acres of land it sits on must be worth most of the asking price. Among houses in its range, its probably a bargain.

[fmbp]

I saw this in the local paper this morning. The house is 1.5 miles down the greenway (MUT) from my house. Such a cool opportunity for someone, and the location is really excellent.

[clunk]

Absolutely stunning. Seems ridiculously cheap for such a trophy.

[davids]

I wonder if any of the furniture is included. There's some amazing stuff there.

OTOH, I hear most of the FLW houses are poorly built. It might need another $500k to last.

[vertical_doug]

I wonder if any of the furniture is included. There's some amazing stuff there.

OTOH, I hear most of the FLW houses are poorly built. It might need another $500k to last.

I remember reading what the new owners of the Kaufman House by Neutra in Palm Springs spent on a renovation. Pretty sure it was in 7 figures at the time, but the Kaufman House is another rare rare beauty. Don't most of the issues stem from the cantilevered roof?

But who cares.... it is art history.

[Peter Polack]

So what does one do with a house like this?

Do you keep it original to preserve its artistic value/dollar value?

Do you renovate, as many people do, to make a home "theirs"? Would that be like painting over a masterpiece?

Looks like some of the rooms are dated, but some of the rooms such as the kitchen, have new counters and sink fixtures. I definitely get the sense the house is from the '50's, at least from the inside. I agree that at redo to something more contemporary would be very expensive and not left to the typical contractor.

[BSUdude]

OTOH, I hear most of the FLW houses are poorly built. It might need another $500k to last.

Not necessarily poorly built, but have inherent elements to their design which require more maintenance. In this case, the long, clear span, low-slope, probably raftered roof would be the biggest potential issue...if it starts to sag to the point of requiring additional bracing or shoring that is gonna be quite costly. In one of the photos you can see a crack in the ceiling at the peak...may or may not be cause for concern, but certainly something to be cautious of/investigate/monitor

FLW.JPG

I refrained from calling them design flaws, since that is in the eye of the beholder. But FLW's most well know work is a house built on concrete beams cantilevered over a waterfall....ask any engineer about whether or not they think that is a good idea.

Beautiful nonetheless though.

[robin3mj]

As FLW houses go, the exterior of this one leaves a little to be desired. Inside is stunning though.

I guess it's testament to how influential he was, but my first thought on looking at that exterior entryway was, "every catholic school I ever attended or visited."

[hidayanra]

architect, specializing in remodels of existing structures here - with some relevant work/background.

FLW's work is art. There's not much argument about that, I think?


The difference between art and craft when it comes to the built environment can be a hazy line - but I'd generally suggest that buying FLW properties is more akin to dating a particularly amazing person with particularly amazing upkeep requirements than buying a nominal building. The main cost isn't the upfront one.

His work pushed envelopes that weren't engineered to last forever - and it shows on most of his projects that are still open to the inquiring eye.
He was the Baylis of his world - if Baylis's frames came apart at unpredictable intervals.

I generally come away from his work awed, and a good bit repulsed.
Truly a master of his craft - his designs are titanic successes, and full of unbelievable failures - all at once.

[zetroc]

I like it. Somebody has to push the envelope, even if the end result is suboptimal.

As far as originality goes, it would probably best be left in the hands of someone who really loved Wright's work and would keep it as original as possible. Of course that would also limit the potential market, but at least no one would be painting hardwood floors black or demolishing historically significant gazebos.

[Waldo]

As a happy owner of a very reliable Baylis, I resent this part of the comparison (;-))

... He was the Baylis of his world - if Baylis's frames came apart at unpredictable intervals...

[j44ke]

There is a FLW house in Phoenix that is in a perpetual state of tearing itself apart because FLW used redwood in the desert. Redwood basically turns to powder in the dry desert air. I learned that first hand when I built our outdoor furniture out of redwood and couldn't figure out why the screws kept loosening up. This was before the Internet made me a genius. In the end, I had to stain and seal the furniture, effectively plasticizing it, to keep it together. Fortunately it moved to Virginia shortly thereafter, so all was fine. But me and FLW were equally stupid about wood - that's my claim to fame.

Anyway, to straighten the analogy out, owning a FLW house can be like owning a 40' wooden sailboat boat full of beavers.

FLW is the architect who famously sent a client some tin buckets when they complained about the leaky roof. The houses didn't work well when they were new.

But they changed architecture. Those long halls, the arrangement of windows based on activity in the room, the use of natural light to illuminate spaces, asymmetric room shape, etc. etc. etc.

[Matthew Strongin]

There is a FLW house in Phoenix that is in a perpetual state of tearing itself apart because FLW used redwood in the desert. Redwood basically turns to powder in the dry desert air. I learned that first hand when I built our outdoor furniture out of redwood and couldn't figure out why the screws kept loosening up. This was before the Internet made me a genius. In the end, I had to stain and seal the furniture, effectively plasticizing it, to keep it together. Fortunately it moved to Virginia shortly thereafter, so all was fine. But me and FLW were equally stupid about wood - that's my claim to fame.

Anyway, to straighten the analogy out, owning a FLW house can be like owning a 40' wooden sailboat boat full of beavers.

FLW is the architect who famously sent a client some tin buckets when they complained about the leaky roof. The houses didn't work well when they were new.

But they changed architecture. Those long halls, the arrangement of windows based on activity in the room, the use of natural light to illuminate spaces, asymmetric room shape, etc. etc. etc.

Taliesin West, right? We went on a tour a couple months ago when visiting Arizona (it was a great tour, by the way). The house was amazing, but the construction standard left a lot to be desired. If I'm remembering the tour correctly, most of the house was built by his "Apprentices" so that's what you get. He was an interesting character with a large persona who built livable works of art. I don't think I'd jump at the chance to live in one of his designs, but I think it's pretty cool that others get that opportunity.

[Badonkadonk]

just to pile on, when my wife and i were younger and waaay cooler (no kids), we rented the top floor of this place in LA which was built by Lloyd Wright, FLW's son who went into business with dad.

Lloyd Wright Studio and Residence in West Hollywood on Market for $1.9 Mil | Architect Magazine | Architecture, Business, Construction, Design, Historic Preservation, Infrastructure Projects, Interior Design, Interiors, Residential Projects, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA, Eric Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Los Angeles Conservancy, California

OMG it was a glorious piece of shit. everything crumbling, rat infested, dangerous electrical, drafty, leaky, horrible, and the coolest place i'll ever live. i miss LA, which said differently means "i miss being young and oblivious", which as you know is the same as LA.

[j44ke]

Taliesin West, right? We went on a tour a couple months ago when visiting Arizona (it was a great tour, by the way). The house was amazing, but the construction standard left a lot to be desired. If I'm remembering the tour correctly, most of the house was built by his "Apprentices" so that's what you get. He was an interesting character with a large persona who built livable works of art. I don't think I'd jump at the chance to live in one of his designs, but I think it's pretty cool that others get that opportunity.

Yep. Beautiful property. The smartest thing that FLW did was secure the water rights for the land he bought. So any water under that land is his. Not the default situation in AZ as I understand it (unless you are a mining company,) but that was a very shrewd move.

[xjoex]

Love Frank Lloyd Wright, during a tour of Falling Water they said he designed houses to only last a generation. Which might explain why they need so much up keep. Then again maybe that was just the guides way of excusing the amount of renovation it needed ($11m in 2001).

-Joe

[nahtnoj]

A genius, no question.

Hope the people living in these drive Civics. Their houses are Maserati Quattroportes...