It all started in 2016 when Frank Lloyd Wright's final residential design was put on and off the market. The original list price was $3,600,000. Right now, the asking price is $2,985,000. This house is known as the Norman Lykes Home. Frank Lloyd Wright designed the home for Norman and Amiee Lykes just before the architect's death in 1959. John Rattenbury, Frank Lloyd Wright's apprentice finished building the home with an area of 3,095 square feet in 1967.
The iconic architect, Frank Lloyd Wright is known for his exemplary work such as that of David and Gladys Wright Home, and the Guggenheim. The former features a spiral design that cools down the house even if it is located in the desert, while the latter features a cylindrical building with ramp galleries that embodies art as the temple of the soul.
The Norman Lykes Home, notable for its curving set of concentric circles, is a perfect example of the architect's late career style. The unique residential abode, resembling a set of intricate gears from a clock, is located on a desert plateau in Phoenix's Palm Canyon.
The design concept of the late architect was inspired by the curves and forms of the mountains that make up the surrounding landscape of the project site.
Inside the residence are curved walls clad in golden hues of the Philippine mahogany. Several windows are circular, some are semi-circular, while others are of various geometric cutouts. The interior also features custom built-in furniture that is designed by Wright himself.
The exterior walls, on the other hand, were constructed with concrete blocks that are desert rose-tinted.
Ratenburry updated the interiors in 1994 from originally having five bedrooms to the current three bedrooms and three bathrooms. The update on the interior layout provided a larger master suite for the homeowners. Taliesin West, Wright's winter home and school in the desert from 1937 until his death, approved Ratenburry's changes in the design.
As an architect, Frank Lloyd Wright was keen on incorporating elements that could serve the lifestyle of the homeowners. For example, the Norman Lykes Home is designed with a crescent-shaped pool to mitigate the desert heat. This feature contrasts nicely with the desert ambiance.
Frank Lloyd Wright designed over 1,000 structures, 532 of these have been built. The architect has a philosophy of maintaining the harmony between the environment and humanity, which he called organic architecture.
