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David and Gladys Wright House
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David and Gladys Wright House
The David and Gladys Wright House is a residence at 5212 East Exeter Boulevard in the Arcadia neighborhood of Phoenix, Arizona, United States. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in an organic style for his son David and daughter-in-law Gladys, it was built from 1950 to 1952. By the 2010s, the house was one of four remaining buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Phoenix and one of nine such buildings in Arizona. The main house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The site also contains a small guesthouse to the northeast.
The main house is a curved structure made of concrete and sits on seven piers; it is accessed by a spiraling ramp. The house has 2,553 square feet (237.2 m2) of space, with three bedrooms and four bathrooms, and is made of concrete blocks and mahogany boards. The house forms a 270-degree arc around an interior courtyard, with a kitchen to the northeast, a living room to the southwest, and bedrooms to the southeast. The interior uses circular motifs and geometric shapes, in addition to furnishings designed by Wright, such as a carpet. The guesthouse is built of similar materials to the main house but is much smaller, with one primary room.
David Wright and his wife Gladys acquired land for the house in 1950 and 1951. After the building's completion, the couple initially invited guests, though they had stopped doing so by the 1960s. The couple continued to live in the house until their respective deaths. After Gladys died in 2008, her granddaughters sold the house the next year to a limited partnership, JT Morning Glory Enterprises. The new owner canceled a planned renovation of the house, instead reselling it in June 2012 to the real-estate development firm 8081 Meridian, who planned to demolish and redevelop it. Following efforts to preserve the house as a landmark, it was sold to Zach Rawling in December 2012. Rawling attempted to repurpose the house as a museum and cultural center before trying to donate it to the School of Architecture at Taliesin, though neither plan was carried out. After Benson Botsford LLC bought the house in August 2020, the family of Bing Hu and Wenchin Shi moved into the residence, renovating it.
The house was designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built for the architect's fourth child David, along with David's wife Gladys. It is located at 5212 East Exeter Boulevard, with an alternate address of 4505 North Rubicon Avenue, in the Arcadia neighborhood of Phoenix, Arizona, United States. The site covers either 5.6 acres (2.3 ha) or 5.9 acres (2.4 ha). There is a detached single-story guesthouse to the northeast. The surrounding area includes detached ranch homes, some of which have been replaced with newer mansions. These include a house to the south, designed by Wright's eldest son Lloyd Wright. Prior to the development of the David and Gladys Wright House, the land had been part of block H within the politically separate subdivision of Arcadia. The site was among hundreds that were created in 1919 when Arcadia was platted out into multiple land lots.
By 2012, the house was one of four remaining buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Phoenix and one of nine such buildings in Arizona. The house is also one of two that Wright designed for his children, the other being the Robert Llewellyn Wright House in Bethesda, Maryland. An example of organic architecture, the David and Gladys Wright House has a circular plan. The house uses numerous design elements seen in Wright's other buildings; for instance, Wright used natural materials from the surrounding area, arranged the living room around a central hearth, and used geometric motifs inside. The house wraps around an interior courtyard that originally had an almond-shaped pool and bougainvillea flowers, though the pool has since been infilled.
The house is raised on seven piers, which are made of curved concrete blocks. At the time of construction, the area was full of orange trees, and Wright wanted his son and daughter-in-law to be able to see above the trees. The pier design allowed breezes to pass through the building as well. The rooms themselves are placed on a concrete slab that is cantilevered above the piers. Circular columns carry the roof above the cantilevered floor slabs. The exterior of this floor slab is decorated with a cast-concrete frieze. The frieze contains scalloped patterns, which was cast using aluminum formwork. The decorations are similar to those used at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel and at several houses in Greater Los Angeles. The house's outer wall forms a circular arc with a 77-foot (23 m) radius.
The facade is mostly composed of rectangular concrete blocks, which are hollow and are filled with pumice. To create the impression of a curved facade, rounded blocks were used for the piers, and smaller blocks were used in walls with sharp curves. Wright left gaps in between the blocks to create contrasting light and dark patterns, and he applied silicone-based paint onto the concrete for waterproofing. Glazed window panes are used as well; these windows are flat, contrasting with the rest of the facade. There is a circular window just outside the kitchen, which is similar to those in Wright buildings such as the Marin County Civic Center, Gammage Memorial Auditorium, and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. To take advantage of natural light, there are floor-to-ceiling windows on the southern wall of the master bedroom and living room. The other windows have miters to give the impression of invisible corners.
A ramp ascends counterclockwise from an entry courtyard at the northeast to the front door at the house's southwest corner. Though there are claims that the spiral ramp predated the design of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Wright had designed buildings with spiral ramps as early as the 1920s. The David and Gladys Wright House and the Guggenheim Museum are two of three extant Wright structures with spiral designs, the other being the V. C. Morris Gift Shop in San Francisco. Just outside the front entrance, a second ramp ascends from the main floor to the roof deck. Wright wanted his son and daughter-in-law to be able to observe the nearby desert and Camelback Mountain from the roof. The rest of the roof is painted turquoise and has diagonal seams.
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David and Gladys Wright House
The David and Gladys Wright House is a residence at 5212 East Exeter Boulevard in the Arcadia neighborhood of Phoenix, Arizona, United States. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in an organic style for his son David and daughter-in-law Gladys, it was built from 1950 to 1952. By the 2010s, the house was one of four remaining buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Phoenix and one of nine such buildings in Arizona. The main house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The site also contains a small guesthouse to the northeast.
The main house is a curved structure made of concrete and sits on seven piers; it is accessed by a spiraling ramp. The house has 2,553 square feet (237.2 m2) of space, with three bedrooms and four bathrooms, and is made of concrete blocks and mahogany boards. The house forms a 270-degree arc around an interior courtyard, with a kitchen to the northeast, a living room to the southwest, and bedrooms to the southeast. The interior uses circular motifs and geometric shapes, in addition to furnishings designed by Wright, such as a carpet. The guesthouse is built of similar materials to the main house but is much smaller, with one primary room.
David Wright and his wife Gladys acquired land for the house in 1950 and 1951. After the building's completion, the couple initially invited guests, though they had stopped doing so by the 1960s. The couple continued to live in the house until their respective deaths. After Gladys died in 2008, her granddaughters sold the house the next year to a limited partnership, JT Morning Glory Enterprises. The new owner canceled a planned renovation of the house, instead reselling it in June 2012 to the real-estate development firm 8081 Meridian, who planned to demolish and redevelop it. Following efforts to preserve the house as a landmark, it was sold to Zach Rawling in December 2012. Rawling attempted to repurpose the house as a museum and cultural center before trying to donate it to the School of Architecture at Taliesin, though neither plan was carried out. After Benson Botsford LLC bought the house in August 2020, the family of Bing Hu and Wenchin Shi moved into the residence, renovating it.
The house was designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built for the architect's fourth child David, along with David's wife Gladys. It is located at 5212 East Exeter Boulevard, with an alternate address of 4505 North Rubicon Avenue, in the Arcadia neighborhood of Phoenix, Arizona, United States. The site covers either 5.6 acres (2.3 ha) or 5.9 acres (2.4 ha). There is a detached single-story guesthouse to the northeast. The surrounding area includes detached ranch homes, some of which have been replaced with newer mansions. These include a house to the south, designed by Wright's eldest son Lloyd Wright. Prior to the development of the David and Gladys Wright House, the land had been part of block H within the politically separate subdivision of Arcadia. The site was among hundreds that were created in 1919 when Arcadia was platted out into multiple land lots.
By 2012, the house was one of four remaining buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Phoenix and one of nine such buildings in Arizona. The house is also one of two that Wright designed for his children, the other being the Robert Llewellyn Wright House in Bethesda, Maryland. An example of organic architecture, the David and Gladys Wright House has a circular plan. The house uses numerous design elements seen in Wright's other buildings; for instance, Wright used natural materials from the surrounding area, arranged the living room around a central hearth, and used geometric motifs inside. The house wraps around an interior courtyard that originally had an almond-shaped pool and bougainvillea flowers, though the pool has since been infilled.
The house is raised on seven piers, which are made of curved concrete blocks. At the time of construction, the area was full of orange trees, and Wright wanted his son and daughter-in-law to be able to see above the trees. The pier design allowed breezes to pass through the building as well. The rooms themselves are placed on a concrete slab that is cantilevered above the piers. Circular columns carry the roof above the cantilevered floor slabs. The exterior of this floor slab is decorated with a cast-concrete frieze. The frieze contains scalloped patterns, which was cast using aluminum formwork. The decorations are similar to those used at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel and at several houses in Greater Los Angeles. The house's outer wall forms a circular arc with a 77-foot (23 m) radius.
The facade is mostly composed of rectangular concrete blocks, which are hollow and are filled with pumice. To create the impression of a curved facade, rounded blocks were used for the piers, and smaller blocks were used in walls with sharp curves. Wright left gaps in between the blocks to create contrasting light and dark patterns, and he applied silicone-based paint onto the concrete for waterproofing. Glazed window panes are used as well; these windows are flat, contrasting with the rest of the facade. There is a circular window just outside the kitchen, which is similar to those in Wright buildings such as the Marin County Civic Center, Gammage Memorial Auditorium, and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. To take advantage of natural light, there are floor-to-ceiling windows on the southern wall of the master bedroom and living room. The other windows have miters to give the impression of invisible corners.
A ramp ascends counterclockwise from an entry courtyard at the northeast to the front door at the house's southwest corner. Though there are claims that the spiral ramp predated the design of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Wright had designed buildings with spiral ramps as early as the 1920s. The David and Gladys Wright House and the Guggenheim Museum are two of three extant Wright structures with spiral designs, the other being the V. C. Morris Gift Shop in San Francisco. Just outside the front entrance, a second ramp ascends from the main floor to the roof deck. Wright wanted his son and daughter-in-law to be able to observe the nearby desert and Camelback Mountain from the roof. The rest of the roof is painted turquoise and has diagonal seams.
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