The Kalil House I got to see recently, it’s the newer acquisition. It’s a Usonian Automatic, meaning the owner was meant to buy the plans and the molds for the concrete blocks, and the build it themselves. Long story short: it didn’t go exactly as planned.
The house is fascinating though: much of it is a concrete gray rather than the warmer tones we usually associate wiry Wright’s work. It feels less tied to the place it’s built than either the Zimmerman House or Fallingwater. It feels much less starkly architectural, and more connected to the way regular people live, more attainable, insofar as you can use that word with Wright. They also both have ceilings that work with taller people. Fallingwater is downright claustrophobic in places.
Highly worth the trip if you’re in the area.
And if you’re in the area of Fallingwater, Kentucky Knob is basically right there. If you’ve travelled more than a few hours to see Fallingwater, you’d be nuts to miss it.
Great works of art are meant to be religious experiences. At Falling water, every part of the house & estate feels like it was meant to be there. The shapes and curves feel so right. The emphasis on integrating natural materials makes it feel one with nature. Frank Lloyd wright cared a lot about sight lines, which makes every space easy on the eyes.
I've had similar experiences in great Basilicas[0] such as Sagrada Familia[1]. Smaller objects have evoked similar feelings too. Be that cars (The Ferrari Roma[2] or Alfa 33 Stadale[3]) or intricate jewelery (Earrings [4] or watches [5]). Great beauty feels divine, and Fallingwater is one such example.
[0] Special shout-out to the new Romanesque basilica in DC - https://maps.app.goo.gl/8r59NzbgVnqKYAv2A
[1] https://thebarcelonafeeling.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/S...
[2] https://media.architecturaldigest.com/photos/5f96f18f0a2396c...
[3] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Alfa_Rom...
[4] https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/39320
[5] https://www.watchclub.com/upload/watches/gallery_big/watch-c...
The contrast in attitudes and aesthetics between the two is incredibly stark, and it's very interesting to see the reactions of visitors to each location.
https://alumni.cornell.edu/cornellians/reisley-wright-last-c...
Viewed in isolation it is a bit underwhelming, but if you see it in landscape it has a charm. I think a copper roof on both structures would make it pop.
No idea what Wright would have thought about racial housing segregation, but it was certainly a knock-on effect of the preservationist cult he accidentally created.
I suspect projects like fallingwater have siting considerations that wouldn't allow it to be built at all anywhere in the US... isn't it built basically on top of a WOTUS?
Larry Ellison owns a replica Japanese daimyo mansion in Woodside, two mansions on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, and 98% of the island of Lanai...but none of those structures there are (AFAIK) atop a permanent watercourse.
By the standards of the time, they were comfortable (if a bit lacking in closet space).
If you'd like, you can buy a modernized kit Usonian (inspired by the Jacobs I house) from Lindal here:
You will find new houses that small, but typically when it's extremely high value land, so typically infill. And then chances are it's a multi story house that fits the lot to the limit.
That said, the kit pictured will, if constructed, will have amenities & physical qualities that the similarly sized original Jacobs house has had to have retrofitted at great cost.
https://fallingwater.org/media-resources/fallingwater-facts/
