Seamour and Gerte Shavin House

Last updated
Seamour and Gerte Shavin House
Seamour and Greta Shavin House.jpg
USA Tennessee location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Chattanooga, Tennessee
Coordinates 35°3′7.203″N85°15′0.8994″W / 35.05200083°N 85.250249833°W / 35.05200083; -85.250249833 Coordinates: 35°3′7.203″N85°15′0.8994″W / 35.05200083°N 85.250249833°W / 35.05200083; -85.250249833
Area2000 sq. ft.
Built1952
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Architectural style Usonian
NRHP reference No. 93000149 [1] [2]
Added to NRHPMarch 23, 1993

The Seamour and Gerte Shavin House is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed Usonian home in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. [1]

Contents

History

The house was commissioned by newlyweds Seamour and Gerte Shavin in 1949 and the home at 334 North Crest Road on Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga was completed in 1952. Seamour was a building materials salesman. It is the only building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Tennessee. Both the exterior and interior of the house use primarily crab orchard stone and treated Louisiana cypress wood. The stonework is reminiscent of Fallingwater: laid horizontally, stones are allowed to protrude (or "stick out") at points from the line of the wall, resembling stone ledges.

The house is sited on top of a hill to take advantage of the view of the Tennessee River and Lookout Mountain. The home features a kitchen, den and bathroom at the top of the hill, and sleeping areas down some stairs on the lower, or eastern, side of the hill. The den/living room is the focal point of the home, featuring a large stone fireplace. Mitered glass in one corner and wood framed corner glass doors that open outward allow the eyes to wander both outside the home and around the interior.

There are many classic Wright details, such as a stunning example of a 12'×16'×16' cantilevered roof over the carport that is similar to the Goetsch–Winckler House. There are double clerestory windows with cut-wood light screens. The home has a hidden entrance. The Shavins' house contains built-ins and furniture designed by Wright, resulting in a unified design scheme.

Wright, who died in 1959, never visited the site of the Shavins' house during or after its construction. Marvin Bachman, an apprentice of Wright, supervised the construction. In 1951, Bachman was killed in an automobile accident. During the summer of 1952, Bachman's sister, Gloria, and her husband, Dr. Abraham Wilson visited Seamour and Gerte Shavin and helped them move into their new home. On the drive back to New Jersey, the couple decided to commission Wright to design the Bachman–Wilson House.

Related Research Articles

Hollyhock House historic house in Los Angeles

The Aline Barnsdall Hollyhock House in the East Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright originally as a residence for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall. The building is now the centerpiece of the city's Barnsdall Art Park. In July 2019, along with seven other buildings designed by Wright in the 20th century, it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Hollyhock House is noted for developing an influential architectural aesthetic, which combined indoor and outdoor living spaces. It is the first time modern American architecture has been recognized on the World Heritage List.

James Charnley House United States historic place

The James Charnley Residence, also known as the Charnley-Persky House, is a historic house museum at 1365 North Astor Street in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1892, it is one of the few surviving residential works of Louis Sullivan, and features major contributions by Frank Lloyd Wright, who was then working as a draftsman in the Adler & Sullivan architecture firm. The house is owned and operated as a museum and organization headquarters by The Society of Architectural Historians (SAH). It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1998, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Rosenbaum House United States historic place

The Rosenbaum House is a single-family house designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built for Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum in Florence, Alabama. A noted example of his Usonian house concept, it is the only Wright building in Alabama, and is one of only 26 pre-World War II Usonian houses. Wright scholar John Sergeant called it "the purest example of the Usonian."

Meyer May House

The Meyer May House is a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house in the Heritage Hill Historic District of Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the United States. It was built in 1908-09, and is located at 450 Madison Avenue SE. It is considered a fine example of Wright's Prairie School era, and "Michigan's Prairie masterpiece".

Kentuck Knob United States historic place

Kentuck Knob, also known as the Hagan House, is a residence designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in rural Stewart Township near the village of Chalk Hill, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, USA, 45 miles (72 km) southeast of Pittsburgh. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2000 for its architecture.

R. H. Hunt architect

Reuben Harrison Hunt, also known as R. H. Hunt, was an American architect who spent most of his life in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is considered to have been one of the city's most significant early architects. He also designed major public building projects in other states. He was a principal of the R.H. Hunt and Co. firm.

Peter A. Beachy House United States historic place

The Peter A. Beachy House is a home in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois that was entirely remodeled by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1906. The house that stands today is almost entirely different from the site's original home, a Gothic cottage. The home is listed as a contributing property to the Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District, which was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Edward R. Hills House United States historic place

The Edward R. Hills House, also known as the Hills–DeCaro House, is a residence located at 313 Forest Avenue in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois. It is most notable for a 1906 remodel by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in his signature Prairie style. The Hills–DeCaro House represents the melding of two distinct phases in Wright's career; it contains many elements of both the Prairie style and the designs with which Wright experimented throughout the 1890s. The house is listed as a contributing property to a federal historic district on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and is a local Oak Park Landmark.

George Furbeck House United States historic place

The George W. Furbeck House is a house located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, United States. The house was designed by famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1897 and constructed for Chicago electrical contractor George W. Furbeck and his new bride Sue Allin Harrington. The home's interior is much as it appeared when the house was completed but the exterior has seen some alteration. The house is an important example of Frank Lloyd Wright's transitional period of the late 1890s which culminated with the birth of the first fully mature early modern Prairie style house. The Furbeck House was listed as a contributing property to a U.S. federal Registered Historic District in 1973 and declared a local Oak Park Landmark in 2002.

Oscar B. Balch House United States historic place

The Oscar B. Balch House is a home located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, United States. The Prairie style Balch House was designed by famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1911. The home was the first house Wright designed after returning from a trip to Europe with a client's wife. The subsequent social exile cost the architect friends, clients, and his family. The house is one of the first Wright houses to employ a flat roof which gives the home a horizontal linearity. Historian Thomas O'Gorman noted that the home may provide a glimpse into the subconscious mind of Wright. The Balch house is listed as a contributing property to a U.S. federally Registered Historic District.

Gerald B. and Beverley Tonkens House United States historic place

The Gerald B. and Beverley Tonkens House, also known as the Tonkens House, is a single story private residence, designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1954. The house was commissioned by Gerald B. Tonkens and his first wife Rosalie. It is located in Amberley Village, a village in Hamilton County, Ohio.

Gordon House (Silverton, Oregon) United States historic place

The Gordon House is a residence designed by influential architect Frank Lloyd Wright, now located within the Oregon Garden, in Silverton, Oregon. It is an example of Wright's Usonian vision for America. It is one of the last of the Usonian series that Wright designed as affordable housing for American working class consumers, which—in 1939—were considered to have an annual income of $5,000–6,000. The house is based on a design for a modern home commissioned by Life magazine in 1938.

Zimmerman House (Manchester, New Hampshire) United States historic place

The Zimmerman House is a historic house located at 223 Heather Street in Manchester, New Hampshire. Built in 1951, it is the first of two houses in New Hampshire designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and one of a modest number of Wright designs in the northeastern United States. The house was built for Dr. Isadore Zimmerman and his wife Lucille. The house is now owned by the Currier Museum of Art because of the Zimmermans' decision to donate the home to the public after their death. The museum provides tours of the building, which is the only legal access to the grounds. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Frank J. Baker House United States historic place

The Frank J. Baker House is a 4,800-square-foot Prairie School style house located at 507 Lake Avenue in Wilmette, Illinois. The house, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, was built in 1909, and features five bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, and three fireplaces. At this point in his career, Wright was experimenting two story construction and the T-shaped floor plan. This building was part of a series of T-Shaped floor planned buildings designed by Wright, similar in design to Wright's Isabel Roberts House. This home also perfectly embodies Wright's use of the Prairie Style through the use of strong horizontal orientation, a low hanging roof, and deeply expressed overhangs. The house's two-story living room features a brick fireplace, a sloped ceiling, and stained glass windows along the north wall; it is one of the few remaining two-story interiors with the T-Shaped floor plan designed by Wright.

Bachman–Wilson House

The Bachman-Wilson House, built in and originally located in Millstone, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States, was originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1954 for Abraham Wilson and his first wife, Gloria Bachman. Ms. Bachman's brother, Marvin, had studied with Wright at Taliesin West, his home and studio in Scottsdale, Arizona. In 2014 the house was acquired by the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas and has been relocated in its entirety to the museum's campus.

J.A. Sweeton Residence building in New Jersey, United States

The J.A. Sweeton Residence was built in 1950 in Cherry Hill, in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. At 1,500 square feet (140 m2), it is the smallest of the four Frank Lloyd Wright houses in New Jersey.This Usonian scheme house was constructed of concrete blocks and redwood plywood.

Maynard Buehler House United States historic place

The Maynard Buehler House in Orinda, California is a 4,000 square feet (370 m2) Usonian home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1948 for Katherine Z. "Katie" and Maynard P. Buehler.

Melvyn Maxwell and Sara Stein Smith House United States historic place

The Melvyn Maxwell Smith and Sara Stein Smith House, also known as MyHaven, is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed Usonian home that was constructed in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 1949 and 1950. The owners were two public school teachers living on a tight budget. The 1957 landscape design is by Thomas Dolliver Church. The home is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

A. P. Johnson House United States historic place

The A. P. Johnson House, also known as Campbell Residence, is a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Prairie School home that was constructed in Delavan, Wisconsin, USA, in 1905. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Mary W. Adams House United States historic place

The 1905 Mary W. Adams House, is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed Prairie School home that was constructed in Highland Park, Illinois. The Adams House is a stucco-surfaced wood-frame house, built for Wright's oldest client.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "National Register of Historical Places - TENNESSEE (TN), Hamilton County". National Register of Historical Places - TENNESSEE (TN), Hamilton County. National Park Service. January 28, 2009.