LOOKING FOR THE WRIGHT BUYER
Location, location, location
For $4.8 million, you can own a piece of architectural history, furniture included. The futuristic and curvaceous Norman Lykes Home, in the desert near Phoenix, Ariz., was the last house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, commissioned by Norman and Aimee Lykes before the architect’s death in 1959. Listing agent Sander Streeter of HomeSmart describes it as a ‘Picasso’ — a work of monumental art, rarely on the market and generating inquiries from as far away as Australia.
Leslie Ferenc tells us more
A house with a pedigree
It’s a work of art with pedigree and provenance, says Scott Jarson, on the board of stewards for the Frank Lloyd Wright Conservancy Foundation Taliesin West. Wright designed every detail of the 2,849-square-foot, three-bedroom, threebathroom home with its crescent-shaped pool and walled patio. After Wright died, apprentice John Rattenbury oversaw construction, which began in 1967. In 1994, new owners hired Rattenbury to do an interior remodel that preserved the integrity of Wright’s original plan. Enamoured of Arizona’s rugged, ever-changing desert landscape, Wright selected the 1.35-acre site, a remote plateau on top of Palm Canyon, for its spectacular vistas of both downtown Phoenix and a cactus-and-rock landscape that rises to the nearby mountains. Wright’s own winter home, Taliesin West in nearby Scottsdale, is now the headquarters of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
At one with nature
Constructed from concrete blocks carried to the site by hand to protect the ground from damage wrought by construction vehicles, the Lykes house is a series of circles, mimicking the curves of the mountains — a revolutionary design at the time. It was painted flamingo pink to blend into the terracotta hues of the desert. “It doesn’t intrude on the landscape — it enhances it,” says Scott Jarson. “The house is both stunning and harmonious . . . a beautiful sculpture growing organically out of the site.”
‘Built to be lived in’
Wright’s signature is on everything, from the glass tiles in the bathrooms and the curved mahogany kitchen cupboards to the carpets and lighting. Daylight floods into the house through floor-to-ceiling windows. “It’s a treasure — and can feel a bit like a museum, but not fragile,” says Streeter. “It’s very comfortable, very relaxed . . . and built to be lived in.” A stickler for detail, Wright also designed the furniture and accessories, including the grand piano and angular origami wooden chairs, which are surprisingly comfortable, says Streeter.
The master
Frank Lloyd Wright had a portfolio of 1,171 designs over his 70-year career — from famous works, such as the Guggenheim Museum in New York, to churches, schools, offices, libraries, bridges, hotels and 687 homes, as well as an Ontario cottage and a since-demolished pavilion in Banff.
Legacy at risk
While works such as Fallingwater in Pennsylvania are national historic landmarks, 78 of Wright’s buildings have been razed because they were not protected by special designation. The Lykes House is not protected, confirms Michelle Dodds of Phoenix’s planning office, so the house could be torn down. Unthinkable, says Jarson: “Anyone who buys a Wright house recognizes they are caretakers.”