I'm sad that we're coming up towards 100 years on from Fallingwater being built, and yet the American preference for new houses of a similar price (after inflation) is the sort of awful stuff that shows up on mcmansionhell.com.

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tptacek 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The instinct to preserve and honor Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park, where I live, has basically frozen the place in amber, which isn't something Wright would have wanted, and also worked synergistically with exclusive zoning to keep the Village ultra-expensive (it directly abuts the Austin neighborhood in Chicago, which is low-middle income) and white (unlike Austin, which is 90+% Black).

No idea what Wright would have thought about racial housing segregation, but it was certainly a knock-on effect of the preservationist cult he accidentally created.

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nullc 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The kind of bespoke construction in Wright's buildings couldn't be built today at an order of magnitude higher price, even considering inflation. A side effect of mass produced standard construction materials has been custom ones becoming astronomically expensive due to the skilled labor to build them having been replaced with mass production.

I suspect projects like fallingwater have siting considerations that wouldn't allow it to be built at all anywhere in the US... isn't it built basically on top of a WOTUS?

	▲	linksnapzz 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It'd be in litigation forever; which is why nobody with the means would try to build something like that today. Even if they could afford the construction, they can't afford the time in court. Larry Ellison owns a replica Japanese daimyo mansion in Woodside, two mansions on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, and 98% of the island of Lanai...but none of those structures there are (AFAIK) atop a permanent watercourse.

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ramesh31 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

People want square footage and comfort, not design. Frank Lloyd Wright homes look stunning in an Architectural Digest spread, but living in them is not really up to par for modern standards.

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linksnapzz 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The newest homes that FLW had a hand in building date from 1959.

By the standards of the time, they were comfortable (if a bit lacking in closet space).

If you'd like, you can buy a modernized kit Usonian (inspired by the Jacobs I house) from Lindal here:

https://lindal.com/home-designs/madison/

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hibikir 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That hous is still extremely small for what most people in the US would put in a full sized suburban lot: Nowadays a median build is 2300 square feet (213 square meters). It makes that 1600 square feet look very small. The hallways, the large space dedicated to a great room and just 2 bedrooms won't help.

You will find new houses that small, but typically when it's extremely high value land, so typically infill. And then chances are it's a multi story house that fits the lot to the limit.

	▲	linksnapzz 4 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Lindal has larger models, for those so inclined. That said, the kit pictured will, if constructed, will have amenities & physical qualities that the similarly sized original Jacobs house has had to have retrofitted at great cost.
	▲	bombcar 4 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		1600 square for two bed/two bath will feel large if well designed; many modern houses are not well designed for their size - usually one version of a given plan is the "optimal/designed" version, and you can keep adding things that make it frankly ridiculous, weird winding hallways, small rooms, etc.

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anjel 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Looks more MCM than FLW to me

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WillPostForFood 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

The main house uses 9,300 square feet of which 4,400 is outdoor terraces, while the guest house totals 4,990 square feet of which 1,950 square feet is outdoor terraces.

https://fallingwater.org/media-resources/fallingwater-facts/

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therobots927 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Anyone downvoting you clearly doesn’t watch Arvin Haddads YouTube channel because it really is revolting how much subpar trash sells for $50 million+. Even at the highest end of the housing market you see a consistent demand for absolute garbage that is about as close to art as a pile of rancid shit.