Summer Sights: The Duncan House
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto
on 06.16.07

Another summer site that is now open is the Duncan House, a Usonian design by Frank Lloyd Wright that was moved from Chicago to Polymath Park, a resort near Pittsburgh. Usonian houses were "ypically small, single story dwellings without a garage or much storage, L-shaped to fit around a garden terrace on odd (and cheap) lots, and environmentally-conscious with native materials, flat roofs and large cantilevered overhangs for passive solar heating and natural cooling, natural lighting with clerestory windows, and radiant floor heating (WP)"

It is the usual sad story: a developer bought it and wanted it out of the way, so it is expensively taken apart and reassembled. At least it found a good home; “It was a major jigsaw puzzle,” said Thomas Papinchak, a builder who said he spent “close to seven figures” buying and reassembling the components. Polymath Park is home to three houses designed by Wright or his apprentice Peter Berndtson; three can stay in it for $385 per night. for ::Polymath Park via ::New York Times

Duncan House before it was moved
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