Some remember the nineteen-nineties in America as the second coming of the nineteen-fifties. Whatever holes one can poke in that historical framing, it does feel strangely plausible inside Frank Lloyd Wright’s Circular Sun House. Though not actually built until 1967, it was commissioned from Wright by shipping magnate Norman Lykes in 1959, the last year of the architect’s life. Almost dated though it may have looked by the time of its completion, supervised by Wright’s apprentice John Rattenbury, it would have accrued some retro cachet over the subsequent decades. Then, in the renovation-mad nineties, the house’s owners brought Rattenbury back out to do a thorough update and remodel.
The result is a kind of hybrid fifties-nineties aesthetic, which will suit some tastes better than others. But then, so do all the residences designed by Wright, of which the Circular Sun House in Phoenix, Arizona, is the very last.
In the Architectural Digest video above, posted when the house went on the market in 2021, real estate agent Deanna Peters points out a few of its Wrightian features: its circular form, but also its curved hallways, its custom-built cabinetry (Philippine mahogany, of course), its signature “compression-and-release” and “inside-out” spatial effects, its cantilevered balcony, its integration with the desert environment, and even its carport — Wright’s own coinage, and indeed his own invention.
Also in the manner of most Wright-designed homes — as he himself was known to acknowledge, and not without a boastful note — the Circular Sun House seems easier to look at than to live in, let alone maintain. “The 3‑bedroom home last sold in 2019, before it had a brief period on Airbnb (rented for approximately $1,395 a night),” wrote Homes & Gardens’ Megan Slack in 2023. At that time, it was on the market for $8.5 million, about half a million dollars more than its owner wanted in 2021. Paradoxically, though it remains unsold as of this writing, its asking price has risen to $8,950,000. Wright’s name brings a certain premium, of course, but so do the trends of the moment: one hears, after all, that the nineties are back.
Related content:
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Based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and culture. His projects include the Substack newsletter Books on Cities and the book The Stateless City: a Walk through 21st-Century Los Angeles. Follow him on the social network formerly known as Twitter at @colinmarshall.
I’m sorry to say this, but the Circular Sun House narration is SO bad, I couldn’t listen to the entire video. A sing-song reading is hard to take.
There were so many quick, jumping clips that it was impossible to appreciate any of them. I quit trying to watch.
I finally just turned the volume off. I don’t know who’s idea it was to have this woman’s irritating voice and lack of knowledge to narrate a spectacular Fraknk Lloyd Wright home, but they should be fired.
grossly overpriced at $8mil.
house is super dark & dreary.
pool is nice,
This home is Taleisin 5908. His last design was actually Taleisin 5909, and was recently built in Willoughby Hills, Ohio.
https://www.riverrockhouse.com/about/history
That womans voice is so awful I’m beginning to think this is a joke.
My company LaCasa Builders renovated the Lykes/Melton home in 1994 for it’s new owner, Linda Melton. John Rattenbury Served as the project architect. He was the senior architect for Taliesin Architects at the time, and was the apprentice for Mr.Wright during the original construction in 1959. The residence was in such disrepair that we took down to the bare bones and rebuilt everything, bringing up to todays luxury standards. The original home had 5 bedrooms, which we renovated into 3 bedrooms. We also turned Mr. Lykes workshop into a media room. We added the pool which was on the original plan but was not built by the Lykes. They had a large family and needed a grass play area for the children. Hundreds of additional upgrades were made. All new cabinets. hvac system,(including new underground air returns), new lighting system, wet bar, new roof, new flooring, new french drainage system, new water lines from the meter, all new plumbing, and new septic system. There is much more that I could include. But in closing without the vision and finances of Linda Melton the residence would have been torn down. Many people looked at the home and walked away before Linda saved it.Linda passed away, and her daughters sold the home for 1.6 million dollars.
The building is stunning but lacked the proper narration. Attention wall the stone work needed to be elaborated on more closely. The man himself was most definitely ahead of his time and doesn’t get enough credit for all his inspiration!!