TLS signed “Frank,” one page, 7.25 x 8.5, Taliesin stationery, dated by recipient in the upper left, December 16, 1953. Letter to Lewis Mumford. In full: “I love you just the same. Ill? Don’t get me wrong. I shall take my chastisement with my glory and few drops of blood on my forehead shall not mar the integrity of my love for the boy who wrote Sticks and Stones. He is one with me at the center of things. What a misfortune that you should have lived in one of the several houses where the house outran the client by too far. I was engrossed with the idea that the hexagon is more suited to human habitation (owing to easier circulation) than the habitual rectangle that accommodated the carpenter, and Paul’s intellectuality fooled both Paul and me. There are so many houses well conceived as proper homes for those who own them—let’s say 90%. The Lloyd Lewis for a perfect example. Etc., Etc. Yes. Etc. But the way of advance in a home as a true (innate) work of Art is not smooth, as a matter of course, and regret, as you must see. I am committed to it, however, and so are you whether you know it or not and so is Sophie and so will Allison be. Our love to you all from where you should come see. N.B. But even the Hanna House was merciful compared to The Farnsworth?” Wright hand-corrected a few words, and added a large portion of the punctuation in blue ink. A central vertical fold, spot of soiling to the left border, and original ink and pencil notations, otherwise fine condition.
On his quest to design the new face of American architecture, Wright began to experiment with an unconventional shape: the hexagon. Begun in 1937, the Hanna House in Stanford, California was the first and arguably the best example of his innovative ‘honeycomb’ design, which eliminated right angles from the floor plan and allowed him to expand his open spatial vision into a more circular flow. While the house was regarded as an architectural masterpiece, the sixty 120 degree angles left the structure with very little shear wall support, sparking criticism that it was an unsafe and impractical design for a building on the San Andreas fault. (In 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake severely damaged the house, beginning a massive renovation and resurfacing claims of its failure as a practical design.) Reminding Mumford of his myriad ‘successful’ homes—including the Lloyd Lewis House, built for the Chicago Daily News’s editor years prior—Wright remains unapologetic for the bumpy road this project took, “the way of advance in a home as a true (innate) work of Art is not smooth.” Ending with a quick comparison to Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth, another conceptually successful but practically unviable design, Wright adds another element of architectural interest to this already fascinating letter. An incredible piece addressing one of the crowning achievements in the pioneering architect’s career. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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