Issue Jul 10th 2024 July 10th 2024

The Headlines

Unbuilt Masterpiece: The Call Building

Digital 3D maestro David Romero recently contributed to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation’s quarterly magazine for a special issue on Wright’s high-rises, including the famous Mile-High Illinois. But one design always stood out for him: the beautiful un-built Call Building.

A fellow Wright enthusiast, Theodore Zheng, a game art designer, reached out to David and after a quick email exchange, they decided to team up. Theodore tackled the building’s main structure, while David handled everything else – decorative elements, textures, environment, you name it. The result is the imagery you see at David's Hooked on the Past website. Follow the link to read and see more.

Wright's Winn House Comes On The Market For $1.8M

After buying the Robert D. and Winifred L. Winn House—one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian homes—in 2012, the sellers embarked on an $800,000 restoration.

Now the 2,469-square-foot home in Kalamazoo, MI, is ready to be handed over to a new steward. Fred Taber of Jaqua Realtors is representing the listing.

Built in 1950, it has three bedrooms and 2.5 baths. The $1,850,000 list price makes this Kalamazoo’s second-most expensive home listing. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2022.

The Winn home features an open layout, walls of windows, and concrete-block exterior walls. The two-story home is the only one in the subdivision with a walk-out lower level with a bedroom and half bath. It’s also the only one without radiant floor heating, a hallmark in Wright’s Usonians.

“Winifred did not want the radiant floor heating,” says Taber. “They didn’t understand it at the time. It was something new. They went with standard forced air.”

The lot size is a sizable 2.3 acres. “It’s the only Frank Lloyd Wright home in the community that has two lots,” says Taber.” It’s the most private setting of all the houses. It’s like you’re leaving the city, and within 100 yards, you’re in the country.”

In 2012, the sellers snapped up the home for $200,000.

“We know there’s been at least three owners of the home,” says Taber. “They did over $800,000 in restorations of this home. We’re talking all the walls. It’s like it was supposed to be.

“When the house was built, the Winns deviated from the plans (that called for) a half-wall around the kitchen,” he continues. “Instead, they built a full wall. The kitchen now features a half-wall.”

Another deviation from the plans: a walled-in back porch that the sellers retained. Wright had designed an open terrace.

The sellers hired Lee Doezema, a carpenter specializing in Wright restorations, to update the home. “He’s very skilled,” says Taber. “The level and the quality of his work far exceed anything else.”

Cement flooring was also updated, and the home features four origami chairs based on Wright’s designs.

“The house is going to come with most of the items in it,” says Taber. It will also include blueprints.

Compared with Usonian homes on the coasts, Michigan’s are a bargain—but slowly trending upward. Last fall, two neighboring Wright homes in Galesburg, MI, came on the market for $4.5 million.

Taber thinks the buyer will come from outside of Michigan.

Based on “the amount of interest we had with the McCartney House, people (were) from California, Washington, Louisiana, and Florida. I expect it to be the same” with this house, he says.

Even so, “the goal is to always find a buyer who will take care of the home and continue the legacy of the house and not gut it,” says Taber.

Behind The Architect's Wheel: Frank Lloyd Wright's Preferred Automobile

Frank Lloyd Wright, the famed American architect, believed your car should reflect your station in life. Advertisement

So he drove a Cord L-29. Wright liked the long lines that looked becoming to his house designs. The car was a technical advancement as the first front-wheel drive luxury car in the U.S.

Wright also said his 1940 Lincoln Continental was the most elegant car ever made. It's the only American car that's ever been in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Watch the video from KCCI to see the type of car Wright's students drove.

Two Wright Public Events in New York State

What is it like growing up in a house designed by renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright? Kim Bixler, whose parents purchased the Wright-designed Edward E. Boynton House in Rochester, New York, in 1977, says the daring home, built in 1908, was as unconventional as its architect. In her multi-media presentation Bixler recounts the joys and pitfalls of owning and living in a Wright-designed house. Living with the public’s curiosity, playing hide-and-seek, coping with the habitually leaky roof and managing constant renovations make this an unforgettable story.

Master storyteller Timothy Totten will kick off both events with a whirlwind tour of the life and work of America’s famous architect. With insightful architectural analysis, hundreds of photos and dozens of intimate stories, Totten weaves a tale of love, adultery, murder and the Emperor of Japan to illustrate the genius and personal foibles of the man the American Institute of Architects has called “The Greatest American Architect.”

At the Rochester event, Christopher Brandt from Bero Architecture will detail what it takes to restore a masterpiece by a daring and experimental genius of American architecture. This engaging interview and discussion is moderated by Timothy Totten and will include time for audience questions.

If you love home renovation or historical restoration stories, you will enjoy these programs.

(1) AN EVENING AT THE EVERSON WITH FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT Special event sponsored by AIA Syracuse at the Everson Museum Wednesday, July 24, 2024 6:00pm - 8:00pm (2.0 CEUs)

(2) FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT AND HIS EDWARD E. BOYNTON HOUSE IN ROCHESTER Half-day symposium at the Rochester Academy of Medicine in Rochester, NY Saturday, July 27, 2024

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