Pope-Leighey House

On the second day of Girls Weekend 2012, Mom, Mrs. Fish and I ventured out to Alexandria, VA to see the Pope-Leighey House - a Frank Lloyd Wright designed, Usonian home.  I don't want to act like a Usonian expert or anything because most of my FLW knowledge stems from the fictional Howard Rourke and what the nice tour guide told us last Saturday.  I will only recommend that you drive the half hour out to Virginia to see it for yourself.  I will also recommend that you read The Fountainhead, but that's mostly unrelated.

I thought the house was incredible - though I'm not super down with the ug furniture, or the fact that you can never change it.  But the windows, the built-in bookshelves and the screws that are all horizontal were really beautiful touches.  Pope-Leighey is one of the smaller Usonian homes - built for the 'average American' with a budget that started around $5,000.  This got me thinking: About ten years later (hm, give or take), Levitt homes would be sold for just under $8,000 and they would open up suburban living and make homeownership an integral part of the American Dream.  Wright totally had 10 years on William Levitt and was more of a pioneer than I had previously realized.  Also - none of that Levitt stuff was on the tour.  I'm just that smart.  You're welcome.

So now, I'd be really interested in seeing a Wright home at a grander scale - aka - who wants to drive four hours with me to see Fallingwater?  Car must have radio and ac/heat, so Matt is disqualified from this adventure.  I'm now accepting applications.

Below are some pictures of the exterior of Pope-Leighey.  For some reason, the historic society doesn't allow pictures of the interior.  Google it.