In New York City, your $1 million will get you a lovely 1-bedroom apartment on the UES, a boxy 2-bedroom in Park Slope, or an entire home on Staten Island. In New Jersey, that same chunk of change can get you an "iconic masterpiece" created by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Sure, New York City is a cultural epicenter, but who needs the Guggenheim when you can live inside a home created by the guy who made that museum?
Located about 19 miles (a 40-minute drive or train ride) from Midtown Manhattan, the Stuart Richardson House in Glen Ridge, NJ is now on the market for $1.2 million. And it's a mid-century stunnah that's probably worth leaving NYC for. How often do you really see your friends anymore, anyway?
The home features 3-bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a pool, 1,800-square feet, absolutely no right angles, gorgeous woodwork, 14 French doors in one room, no upstairs neighbors, heated red-concrete floors, a cantilevered entryway, a spacious screened-in porch, an atrium, a bookshelf-lined study, built-in desks, a wood-burning fireplace, and peace and goddamn quiet for once. Here's some more, including historical notes from the listing:
Built in 1951, the Stuart Richardson House has appeared in numerous articles and books; Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian Houses praised its “beautiful millwork”—as seen in its handsome cypress-plank walls— and The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion singled it out as perhaps the earliest example of the architect’s experiments with hexagonal floor patterns... The hexagonal rooms are warmly illuminated by the distinctive triangular recessed lights that the architect also used in the Guggenheim Museum.
The Stuart Richardson House was first designed in 1941; letters show that the original owners, an actuary and his wife, personally consulted Wright on their dream house while he was in New York City to work on the Guggenheim. The home was nicknamed “Scherzo” to reflect Mr. Richardson’s interest in music, and a skylit alcove off of the living room features cabinets perfect for record storage. As the home’s signature, Wright designed a motif reminiscent of musical notation; the recurring pattern is artfully carved into the perforated boards that run atop the living room and master bedroom.
You can get more info right here, but do not click on it if you want to remain enthusiastic about the tiny New York City box you call home. Too late? Then click here for the latest news out of New Jersey.
There is a Frank Lloyd Wright property in New York proper on the market, too—remember this one on a heart-shaped island upstate? It's for sale again.
Here in NYC, we have a Frank Lloyd Wright private home called The Crimson Beech (also known as the Cass House) out on Staten Island. For more on the architect's enduring, demolished, and unrealized contributions to NYC, click here.
