Can you imagine owning your own Frank Lloyd Wright home? If you can, here's your chance. The Bowler Home, also known as the Bird of Paradise house, is for sale. It's in Rancho Palos Verdes, one of the nicest neighborhoods in LA, not too far from where I live. Its being sold "as is" - which has some people wondering about the condition its in. It was originally built in 1963 and renovated by Wright's son Eric in 1991. Wright was known for paying attention to every interior of the interior as well as the exterior - down to designing his own furniture for his homes. The interior photos show the original Wright furniture, and the listing states furniture "on display" - but what that means, no one seems to know. It sounds as though this is a trust sale. Even so, its hard to believe that its going for $2.5 Million when you consider that the oceanfront places down the street here in Manhattan Beach go for more than twice that. It's your chance to own history, so get your stuff together and buy it! And if you do, can I be your pool boy?... [note: be sure to see comments - it looks like this is probably a Frank Lloyd Wright Jr home. Nonetheless, its still just as impressive - and a steal, and I'd still be happy to be your poolboy!]
1 comment:
It turns out I may be incorrect on the Bowler house - here's an email I received from a reader (sounds like he knows more about this stuff than I do, so I trust his info!):
It's easy to get mixed up with all those "Lloyd Wright" surnames floating about, but...
I think you are mistaken about the Bowler House in Rancho Palos Verdes. It was actually designed by Frank Lloyd Wright's son, Frank Lloyd Wright Jr., whose other major area design was the Wayfarer's Chapel (The Glass Church) in Palos Verdes. Eric Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright Jr.'s son and Frank Lloyd Wright's grandson, may also have had a hand in the design. The date for the Bowler House is 1963, four years after the death of FLLW (April 8, 1959). I don't believe that FLLW has a built design in Palos Verdes. The Ralph Jester house (1938) was originally intended to be built in Palos Verdes, but was actually built in 1971 on the grounds of Taliesin West, many years after Wright's death, by Bruce Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, chief archivist of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Pfeiffer lives there to this day.
I was raised in Palos Verdes and remember when the (controversial) Bowler House was built. I now live in Wickenburg AZ. I have been a tour guide for nine years at Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home in Scottsdale.
For reference, see Lloyd Wright. The architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright Jr., by Alan Weintraub, Abrams (Publisher), 1998.
--Joel Prescott
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