Lykes House
N 33° 32.317 W 112° 00.133
12S E 406948 N 3711450
Quick Description: This is the last Wright design that was built by the original client... on the original site.
Location: Arizona, United States
Date Posted: 11/4/2007 5:44:47 PM
Waymark Code: WM2HC4
Views: 243
Long Description:Among the last sketches to come from Wright's hand was a pencil
study for a house dramatically perched on a rocky promontory
("http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=N+33%C2%B0+32.317+W+112%C2%B0+00.133&ie=UTF8&ll=33.538723,-112.00263&spn=0.00085,0.001537&t=h&z=19&iwloc=addr&om=1"
target="_blank">visit link) . Apprentice John Rattenbury was at
his side as Wright sketched two embracing circles and described the
general plan. After a while he got up from his desk, never to
return to the drawings again. The next week, April 9, 1959, he
died.
Rattenbury finished the presentation drawings and the Lykes'
were thrilled with the design, but waited seven years to build it.
Rattenbury also supervised construction. The 3,000 sq. ft.
futuristic residence wraps around the mountain with two drumlike
pavilions separated by a curved bedroom wing. All of the bedrooms
open out to the view, including the master bedroom which has a
small southfacing balcony.
Aimee Lykes lived in the house for nearly 20 years and then
rented it out to a succession of tenants. The house was sold in
1994 to new owners who refurbished it. The home's new owner had
Rattenbury modify the interior, enlarging the master bedroom by
extending it into an adjacent bedroom, combining two other bedrooms
into a single guest room and converting a workshop into a home
theater. The county assessor's 2005 value of $784,600 does not seem
to reflect the true market value of the property
("http://doney.net/aroundaz/celebrity/wright_franklloyd.htm"
target="_blank">visit link) .
References:
Legler, D., 1999, Frank Lloyd Wright: The Western Work,
Chronicle Books, San Francisco, pp. 116-121