Frank Lloyd Wright’s Shavin House in Tennessee is on the market

During his profession, Frank Lloyd Wright constructed just one home in Tennessee: the Shavin House, perched on Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga. Now, this distinctive piece of American architectural historical past is in the marketplace.

The house, at 334 North Crest Road, was inbuilt 1949 after newlyweds Seamour – a constructing supplies salesman with an appreciation for contemporary design – and Gerte Shavin determined that, moderately than shopping for an present house, they’d channel their financial savings into commissioning a residence from the period’s most celebrated architect. They paid roughly $33,000 for the home and its Wright-designed built-in furnishings, a substantial sum for the time.

Wright designed the house in his Usonian custom – a design philosophy centred on the concept of the perfect American house: modest in scale, with open interiors, plentiful pure mild and a powerful relationship between structure and panorama. The Shavin residence embodies these ideas, constructed from native Tennessee Crab Orchard stone and Louisiana cypress.

Wright himself by no means set foot on the Chattanooga website; building was overseen by Marvin Bachman, one among his apprentices from Taliesin, Wright’s house, studio and faculty complicated in Wisconsin. Bachman died in a automobile accident earlier than the mission was completed, however the home was nonetheless accomplished in 1952. It remained within the Shavin household for greater than seven many years – Seamour, who additionally served as the house’s basic contractor, lived there till his demise in 2005, whereas Gerte remained part-time till 2020.

Signature Wright touches are in all places: a hidden entrance that reveals the primary dwelling areas solely after entry, clerestory home windows, mitred glass corners that dissolve the visible boundary between inside and exterior, and an enormous stone fire centerpiece. A dramatic cantilevered carport roof extends outward from the primary constructing, whereas inside, Wright’s signature built-in seating, shelving and cabinetry unify structure and inside.

The Shavin House does depart from Wright’s common model in a single notable approach: whereas lots of his homes tuck into their environment, this one instructions the highest of Missionary Ridge, with sweeping views of the Tennessee River, Lookout Mountain and downtown Chattanooga. This distinctive character earned the house a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993, and it turned Chattanooga’s first official native landmark in 1995.

With its entrance to market, the Shavin House gives the prospect to steward one among fewer than 100 accomplished Usonian homes in existence. While it might not carry the celebrity of Fallingwater or the Robie House, many contemplate it one of many best surviving examples of Wright’s residential philosophy.

The Shavin House is on the market with Sotherby’s International Realty for $1.6 million.