A house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in New Canaan, Connecticut, was sold for $6 million – 25% below the asking price – to an undisclosed buyer. Called Tirranna, the 7,000-square-foot property, built in 1955, is one of the famed architect's largest residential projects and one of his last.
Although small in size, the idyllic city of Nova Canaã became a focus of architectural experimentation in the 20th century. It is estimated that between 1948 and 1973, more than 100 modernist homes were built in the area by architectural greats, including Marcel Breuer (creator of the Whitney Museum of American Art on the Upper East Side), John M. Johansen and Eliot Noyes. They were part of the Harvard Five, a group of architects who settled in New Canaan in the 1940s after graduating from the university's design department. Philip Johnson's famous Glass House also calls New Canaan home. Like Wright, everyone emphasized the simplicity, functionality and honesty of materials.
Tirranna gets its name from an Aboriginal Australian word meaning “running water,” referring to a nearby stream and reminiscent of the architect's most iconic residential project, Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. The classic Usonian residence has seven bedrooms, and a cellar converted into an air raid shelter. Tirranna's interior features Philippine mahogany paneling, Cherokee red Colorundum concrete flooring, and a clerestory for an abundance of natural light. The architect also designed large windows with views of nature. In 1958, an observatory was added above the master bedroom.
The land surrounding the house was transformed into gardens by horticulturist Frank Okamura and landscape architect Charles Middeleer. Okamura is credited with reviving the bonsai tradition in America through his decades-long work at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and his book “The Art of Bonsai.” A greenhouse, circular swimming pool and tennis court can also be found on site.
Wright himself briefly stayed at the house while overseeing the construction of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, some 40 miles away in Manhattan. With its semicircular style, Tirranna reflects the spiral ramp that makes the Guggenheim one of the city's most recognizable pieces of architecture.
Source: Artnet News