Wright Chat

Frank Lloyd Wright McCook House


David

I've been in this house.

I nominate this home for the designation: "Least visited, least published" of Mr. Wright's houses, because McCook is in the middle of nowhere. Located 262 miles east of Denver and 289 miles west of Omaha.

The house was completely restored by the current owners and a seamless addition and free standing garage were added to the rear of the home by John Thorpe & Associates. All of the stained glass windows that were missing were recreated locally.

The owners are very friendly and they lived in the basement while the construction was being done. He is the local banker.

These owners never got a Wright Spirit award, or any recognition, from the Conservancy for saving this house.

UPDATE: The current owners, Van and Janet Korell, received the 2019 Wright Spirit Award for their restoration of the Sutton House.

Perhaps only Teater is more isolated.

Although Sutton was never in the condition Glenbrow was in, at its ebb it was a mess, and the current and previous owners (Poore) should be honored for their work in bringing the place back to life.

This is a far better video treatment of the Sutton residence by Nebraska Public Television:

https://www.pbs.org/video/nebraska-stor ... ton-house/

I just saw the house featured on 2004 Anriques Roadshow revisited (2018), with the first plans, later plans, and correspondence. Anyone know where those papers are archived now?

The Antiques Roadshow episode ran here last night, too. I missed the first part. What do you recall seeing and hearing, Ron ? Was the young lady a
descendant of the original owners ? How many drawings were shown to the camera ? I saw one clearly, and perhaps another lying on the table.
Many others, and many letters, were said to be a part of the collection.

The house depicted in the drawing looked much more like, say, Adams, or Boyton, but with some strongly-articulated coursing -- of brick ? -- on its side
elevation. A grandmother is quoted as pricing each brick, thought the built Sutton residence has no brick on its exterior.

Further in the episode are seen some unusual Teco, including a monster vase. The episode is called "Vintage Omaha" (2004), re-edited in 2018.

SDR

The woman at ARS is a great granddaughter of the Suttons. She jump for joy when the "punch line" was $125,000, so I suspect the archive has not been donated to any institution, but has found its way onto the market.

The show is airing in LA tonight on KOCE, 50.2 @ 9. When they showed the value in 2018, did it rise, fall or remain the same? I suspect it dropped significantly. The heyday of FLW stuff on the market seems to have fallen quite a lot.

Did you see the original airing, c. 2004 ? In the rerun, the value of the collection rose significantly -- according to whoever makes these appraisals.

The granddaughter said they didn't intend to sell, if I recall correctly; that may have changed.

SDR

I think the value of the collection dropped to $60,000 but don't quote me.

The original house plan offered by Wright but rejected by Mrs. Sutton seemed very elongated and with several sections compared to the final drawing, which was more like the House Beautiful model.

SDR, you must have reversed the figures. The original 2004 value was $125K, and by 2018 it had dropped to $60K. Since the big collectors, like Monaghan and Streisand, have quit collecting, value has dropped significantly.

One thing they edited out of the replay: All the drawings and letters had been sealed in laminate, which greatly reduces their value.

The Conservancy and/or the Foundation could do worse than to approach sellers and other owners of Wrightiana, when these surface, with the request to copy the materials. What reasonable owner would refuse them ?

SDR

It’s not just Wright. The value of American Arts and Crafts era design in general has fallen, for example Stickley, etc.

Mid century modern is still hot, but the classic well known mass modern American stuff has leveled or even fallen. The more obscure European and South American objects produced in smaller quantities are still rising in value. Rarity is often trumping quality.

This house looks like it was made of concrete, but I assume it's stucco over wood. It makes me wonder how much Wright was influenced by the early French modernists working in concrete.

Matt, the 1905 Sutton House predates the French modernists.

Peter, that's true about the A&C prices, especially the pottery. I was surprised to see that the monumental iris vase actually rose in value. Much of even the best of it has dropped by 50% or more.

SDR, when Sutton first appeared, I sent an email about it, referring them to FLWBC, but they responded that they never forward any communication to the people who appear on the show. Probably a legality thingy.

1862 Paris:

http://globalfirstsandfacts.com/2017/09 ... is-france/

An octagon house? That may be concrete and French, but is it modern? I don't think so. Did FLW ever come across it? I doubt it.