Residing just north of New York City, Roland Reisley is the only person living in a house designed for him by the celebrated architectTap story—Roland Reisley, in his hexagonal living room, absorbing what it means to be the last original occupant of a Frank Lloyd Wright house
Fifty-eight years later, in 2017, five of those houses were still home to their original owners: Mary and Robert Walton of Modesto, Calif., Gerte Shavin of Chattanooga, Tenn., Helen and Paul Olfelt of Minneapolis, Minn., Bette Pappas of St. Louis, Mo., and Reisley. All but Reisley have died since, making him the last Wright client standing.
He also became a source. Barry Bergdoll, the Columbia University architectural historian and former Museum of Modern Art curator, said in 2017 that “because Wright’s work always arose from conversations with clients, their memories are almost as important as drawings to understanding the origins of his designs.”
The five houses that were still occupied in 2017 all contained furniture designed by Wright. In some cases the furniture might be easier to sell than the houses, in part because it’s portable. In the last few years the market for Wright furniture “has had a reawakening, with a greater focus on his late work,” says Michael Jefferson, a Wright expert at Christie’s.