"Undiscovered" Frank LLoyd Wright House

[MPicciotto]

I work for an HVAC company and today visited a very unique home. Purportedly this home was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright as a favor for a friend, That friend was Dr. Lawrence Hafstad. Here is the information from the auction a few years ago of the property:

http://www.expressauction.com/z_newsdetails.cfm?NewsId=2

The sign over the door states "Willow Point" "1967" It definitely has the marks of that era and that architect. Very tall ceilings, lots of concrete elements and exposed but artfully done steel i-beams, a ceiling that looks like a fiberglass lampshade rolled flat and windows, HUGE windows on the water sides of the house. I mean 12ft tall, 8ft wide or BIGGER.

Matt

 

[Justdog]

Pic

Can you post a pic. Frank LLoyd Wright architecture is great

 

[MPicciotto]

I didn't have my camera with me. But will have to try and return to get some pics. I'll have to ask the current owners permission as it's down the end of a rather long lane and I'm not sure my zoom is enough to do justice from road

Matt

 

[Tomasso]

Purportedly this home was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

Is there anything to substantiate the provenance besides Dr. Hafstad’s word? Plans, drawings or even letters?

 

[TM]

I do not see this house on any Frank Lloyd Wright building list. FLW is extremely well documented, so it's unlikely that this house would have been missed.

The auction site states:

"The home design is attributed to Frank Lloyd Wright by Dr. Hafstad. The design was created prior to Wright’s death as a personal favor for Dr. Hafstad. The construction of the house was not begun until nearly 10 years after Mr. Wright’s death in 1959."

First off, the use of the term "attributed to" - this can only mean that they have no proof of the fact.

Second, the last sentance. The house was constructed long after FLW's death, so the architect could not have supervised construction. This means that it can never fully be considered a FLW house, as the architect had no opportunity to make any decisions during construction. Perhaps this is a trivial distinction, but it is meaningful. The Taliesin Fellows used to sell unbuilt projects to new clients, and some of them were built. But they really can't be considered true projects.

This one may have been sketched by FLW "as a personal favor", but it is certainly unlikely that he would have produced complete working drawings of the detail needed for construction as a a favor.

Tony

 

[FourKingTwenty]

Not a Wright house.

I have agree with TM. My guess is the Wright's name is being used to increase interest and bump up the price. Here in St. Louis, Wright's name is often invoked when selling prarie style houses by Taliesin-trained architects like William Bernoudy.

As TM stated, Wright is so well documented that a "lost" or "undiscovered" house is impossible. In addition, he's not known to have provided his services for free. If he made and plans or elevations, they probably came with an invoice. Any contribution he made to the design of the house is probably very minimal, especially if it was for free.

Finding the architect who designed the house should be pretty easy. I don't know how things work in Queen Anne's County, but there should be building and zoning records and property tax assement records available for the house. It was built about 40 years ago, so it's not very old, especially among the old houses of the northeast. Since it was built 10 years after Wright's death, he can't be the architect of record who signed and sealed the plans.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

Here is the "lost" Wright house outside of Buffalo, NY in Derby.

It is called Graycliff and was the summer home for Darwin Martin, a longtime friend of Wright.

The house was considered a minor work because of changes made after it was sold. They stripped away the facades and found a work that echoes Fallingwater. Restoration is well on its way and the house is looking amazing.

See it here: http://graycliff.bfn.org/

 

[MPicciotto]

I think my title was too strong. According to the current owners the Dr. Hafstad's son said that the house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. According to the little information I have it was indicated that FLW visited the Willow Point location as a friend of Dr. Hafstad well before the current home was built. Is it possible that he "designed" it by doodling on a cocktail napkin during one of his visits accompanied by a line like this "Well Dr. I think you should build something like this..."? So not a Frank Lloyd Wright house by definition. But a house whose design was inspired and influenced by the famous architect. I snapped some exterior shots today from the road side and will post them later. Here is the public property data:

http://sdatcert3.resiusa.org/rp_rew...18&SearchType=STREET&AccountNumber=04 067347

As you can see no builder or architect information is listed. Also the house does have a basement in one section and also does have a second floor over one of the wings. So the public data is not neccesarily complete nor accurate.

Matt

 

[Fletch]

They stripped away the facades and found a work that echoes Fallingwater.

Or presages it, being that it predates FW.

 

[TM]

Looking forward to seeing pictures of the house!

The property tax records won't have anything about the architect or builder. That information should be listed in the building permit, which is generally filed with either the city or the county/township that has authority over the property. Unforunately, the architect's name is often ommtted. And rarely do municipalities archive house blueprints. So it can be quite a search for the truth.

Tony

 

[Brian Sheridan]

Or presages it, being that it predates FW.

I stand corrected for my poor word choice! Graycliff was built in 1927 - FW in 1935.

 

[Eyemo]

His backgrounds Welsh you know...hoorrraaaaaahh:eusa_clap lol

(runs back into the cupboard)

 

[DBLIII]

Here in St. Louis, Wright's name is often invoked when selling prarie style houses by Taliesin-trained architects like William Bernoudy.

Saw this and had to laugh - this is so true. I grew up in St. Louis, where as a kid, it seemed like every house was designed by FLW - or, a copy of his design, or the house had "elements" of his design, and on and on.
My big fort in the basement (a large cardboard box) most assuredly had FLW influences!!!
Sorry for the interruption --

 

[MPicciotto]

Pictures!

As you can see the house is Crescent or "C" shaped with the whole outer side being the "water side" I don't have pictures of the water side(s) of the home nor interior pictures. I went back and nobody was home so I just snapped a couple of quick pictures.

Matt

 

[Chas]

That's a house? It looks like a Long Term Care facility. I think that FLW was a genius, but I can't get with this at all.

Just a matter of taste, I suppose.

 

[MPicciotto]

The pictures don't do it justice. Well actually that whole "side" doesn't. Whoever designed this must have not cared about "curb appeal" It's really built to view the water. Interior is pretty neat. I agree. I thought it looked like a conference center.

Matt