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• #FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT HOUSES PHILADELPHIA SERIES#

He and Marla became their own general contractors. When Tommy Kane began interviewing contractors, it seemed that none of them understood Wright or the house. The radiant heat under Wright’s signature concrete floors no longer operated both bathrooms needed replacement the original electrical system was, of course, outmoded. The leaking flat roofs and decks had not weathered well the Kanes joked that their own unit should be renamed “Bailing Water.” (Each private dwelling is quite independent other units, too, have been or are being renovated without disrupting the whole.) Previous owners had not maintained this home. Bailing Waterīy the time Tommy and Marla Kane saw Suntop in 1999, time had taken its toll.

#FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT HOUSES PHILADELPHIA SERIES#

In fact, a series of similar quadrants were to be built across the country, but World War II, high construction costs, and (eventually) protests by more traditional neighbors conspired to make this the only example ever realized. Conceived as an affordable solution to the suburbs’ increasing density in single-family dwellings, Suntop was revolutionary. He used glass, brick, and concrete along with wood: cypress on the exterior, mahogany trim inside, and Philadelphia pine for the tongue-and-groove ceilings. They are surprisingly spacious, each about 1,400 square feet. Wright named it Suntop for its profusion of outdoor decks. Like his Usonian houses, the project was an innovative design for middle-class homeowners-in this case, a quadrant of four homes joined in a pinwheel and asymmetrically sited so that no unit looked directly at another. In 1939, he designed a project in Ardmore, a tree-lined suburb of Philadelphia. The open living space, concrete floors, fireplace, and bookshelves are iconic Wright statements.įully a generation after he rose to prominence with his Prairie School houses, architect Frank Lloyd Wright was at the peak of his success. Ahead, discover some of Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpieces from your home.Built in 1939, Suntop was revolutionary.

“We hope that taking a virtual visit to any of these Wright designs around the country will bring a little joy to their day and bring them into our community that remains connected around our shared passion for beauty, architecture, nature, and design,” says Jeff Goodman, vice president of communication and partnerships at the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. All of the public Wright sites have been impacted by the pandemic, between budget cuts and furloughed staff, and are relying on donations from supporters to continue their preservation efforts. The foundations in charge of the project hope the virtual tours will encourage viewers to support the different structures so that they can continue to welcome visitors in person once again in the future. The tours are remarkably in-depth and informative, as they’re often given by the directors of each house.

PT through July 9, each site shares a video tour of another site. The project, which launched earlier this month, is spread across the social media channels of the various participating sites, in an effort to cross-promote all of Wright’s architectural gems.