Massaro House
41°22′58.95″N 73°44′18.51″W / 41.3830417°N 73.7384750°W
Massaro House is an architecturally significant residence on privately owned
In 1996 sheet metal contractor Frank Massaro acquired Petre island and the long dormant drawings for the main home. In developing a plan to construct the home with numerous modifications, including some reflecting improved systems and technologies, a conflict arose over the project's authenticity with the
Due to the subsequent out-of-court settlement between Massaro and the foundation the home can only be described as being "inspired by Wright" rather than a faithfully rendered, certified Wright design.[1]
Concept
In 1949, architect
Wright worked on designing a one-story, 5,000-square-foot (460 m2) house for three months, but the project was cancelled when Chahroudi realized he would not be able to afford either the $50,000 budget that Wright envisioned for the home or a second more modest version he requested.[4] Instead, he had Wright build a three bedroom[2] 1,200-square-foot (110 m2) guest cottage the architect had designed for the island (known today as the A. K. Chahroudi Cottage),[4] later occupying it with his family as a summer retreat.
Design
In 1996, Petre Island was purchased for US$700,000 by Joseph Massaro, a sheet metal contractor.[3] Though he had seen the original Chahroudi commission drawings for the main home years earlier, he initially intended merely to restore the island's Wright-designed guest cottage.[3]
Massaro received Wright's main house renderings as part of the purchase of the island.
Heinz employed
In common with Fallingwater, the house's design does not merely accommodate but actually incorporates the local topography. A 12-foot (3.7 m)-high, 60-foot (18 m)-long rock forms the exterior to the entry and an interior wall, while a smaller rock doubles as a kitchen and bathroom wall. Again, like Fallingwater's signature terraces, the house features a cantilevered deck that stretches 25 feet (7.6 m) over Lake Mahopac. Its 18-foot (5.5 m)-high living area is illuminated with 26 triangular skylights.[1]
Massaro sold his sheet metal business in 2000 to focus on building the house, a fluid process that included solutions and adjustments made on the fly between 2003 and 2007. These included changes to the skylight design and a staircase descending from the home like Fallingwater's, the addition of foam insulation, and an increased in the concrete's structural stability and to comply with modern building codes,[7] among others.
Controversy
Denial of authenticity
Throughout the construction, Massaro was in conflict with the
The foundation refuses to officially recognize Massaro House as an authentic Frank Lloyd Wright creation on a number of aesthetic and construction grounds beyond Massaro's refusal to comply with certification. Massaro countered that he believed that Wright would rather the house be built than not built at all.[8]
Criticism of design
Rejection of the house by critics as a Wright design extends beyond the architectural supervision and fees, and includes details of the Massaro House construction.[9]
Notably, William Allin Storrer, an adjunct professor of architecture and Wright historian, points to the desert masonry and skylight selection. Additionally, the quality of the roof fascia and a set of missing stairs descending from the cantilevered deck to the shore below that was included in the original design are highlighted as contentious details that should remove the house from consideration as a Wright design.[10] Storrer argued that rocks set flush in Wright's signature desert masonry designs (as well as the native rocks used on Petra Island on the Chahroudi cottage that Wright designed and oversaw the construction of in lieu of building the proposed main home) project too far out from the concrete surface on the Massaro House, appearing to be distinct from one-another, randomly applied, and protruding at odd angles from otherwise finished walls. Evading the aesthetic consequence of design choices made, Massaro countered that 4 inches (100 mm) of Styrofoam insulation had to be added in order to adhere to modern building codes, resulting in the stones projecting beyond the original dimensions. He claimed that it was a concession even Wright would have been forced to make.[10]
Another signature of Wright's designs is the use of many windows, with the Heinz design for Massaro House including 26 skylights. The skylights chosen and installed in the home are domed, rather than the typically flat Wright designed panels. Massaro pointed out that flat panels are shown to leak, which Storrer conceded is a known issue with Wright designs but countered that solutions exist that would have allowed Massaro to stay true to "Wrightian" design principles.[10]
Homes designed by Wright often incorporate a unique design in the fascia or window frames. To stamp the custom design into the copper to be used for the fascia on the roof, Massaro created a special machine. Wright defenders insist that the design is stamped too lightly and shallowly to satisfy Wright's design standards.[10]
Several of Wright's design drawings for Chahroudi include a set of stairs that descend from the cantilevered deck to the rocky shore below, a motif borrowed from Fallingwater, where they descend to the stream that home is built upon, Bear Run. Massaro explained that had the stairs been included in his design they would have descended into 3 feet (0.91 m) of water, disregarding that the flight could have been shortened to accommodate a raised lakebed or stone base in that immediate area.
Status
In November 2012 the property was listed for sale at US$20 million.[11] This was reduced to below $10 million in increments through January of 2019.[12]
An
The properties are still listed for sale, referred to generically as "Petra Island" without an asking price, in August 2023.[14]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Ivry, Bob (November 13, 2006). "New 'Frank Lloyd Wright' Home Rises; Purists Protest". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
- ^ a b Dangremond, Sam (Jul 27, 2017). "This Private Island for Sale in New York Has Two Frank Lloyd Wright Homes". Town & Country. Retrieved Jan 30, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Rose, Steve (Aug 28, 2006). "Steve Rose on a new building by Frank Lloyd Wright". Retrieved Jan 30, 2020 – via www.theguardian.com.
- ^ a b "Do The Wright Thing", Alternative Energy Retailer, August 2007
- ^ a b Brenner, Elsa (Sep 19, 2004). "Westchester: Using a Legend's Plans, 53 Years Later". Retrieved Jan 30, 2020 – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ "Frank Lloyd Wright Design Comes to Life with the Help of ARCHICAD". www.graphisoft.com. Retrieved Jan 30, 2020.
- NYPost. Archived from the originalon August 13, 2007. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
- ^ "Home lives up to Frank Lloyd Wright legend, owner says". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved Jan 30, 2020.
- ^ Dan Howarth (Aug 15, 2017). "Frank Lloyd Wright-designed private island on sale for $14.9 million". Dezeen. Retrieved Jan 30, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Ivry, Bob (11 November 2006). "Squabble over architecture pits homeowner against purists". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ Architizer
- ^ Warren, Katie (January 22, 2019). "A private island an hour from NYC is for sale for $13 million, and it comes with 2 homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and a private helipad". Business Insider. Insider Inc. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
You can now buy ... for $12.9 million.
- ^ "For sale/rent the Petra Island of the former Brangelina". MVC Magazine. 2021-05-21. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
- ^ Petra Island, Chilton and Chadwick