Casa Massaro

Massaro House, located on Petra Island in Lake Mahopac, New York

Massaro House este o casă construită după design-ul unui proiect niciodată realizat de către arhitectul american Frank Lloyd Wright. Casa a fost construită pe insula proprietate privată, Petra Island, (câteodată ortografiată Petre Island) în apele lacului Lake Mahopac, New York, and is named for its owner, Joseph Massaro.

Planurile originale

In 1949, Wright received a commission from an engineer named A. K. Chahroudi to build a house on the 10-acre Petra Island, which Chahroudi owned. Charoudi would later state that during a lunch meeting he had with Wright and Edgar Kaufmann, the owner of Wright’s celebrated Fallingwater, the architect told Kaufmann: "When I finish the house on the island, it will surpass your Fallingwater".

Wright worked on designing a one-story, 5,000-square-foot house for three months, but the project was cancelled when Chahroudi realized he was not able to afford the $50,000 budget that Wright envisioned for the project. Instead, Wright designed a 1,200-square-foot cottage for Chahroudi for the island.

Construction

In 1991, Petra Island was purchased by Joseph Massaro, a sheet metal contractor. He initially intended to restore the island’s cottage, but later discovered the designs for the original project still existed. Massaro received the renderings of the original plans as part of the purchase of the island.

The surviving designs included a floor that included ideas for built-in and stand-alone furniture, plus three elevation plans and a building section. Massaro hired Thomas A. Heinz, an architect and Wright historian, to complete the unfinished design.

Heinz’s design provided updated heating and cooling solutions that were not part of the original Wright concept, such as air conditioning and radiant heating. It was also determined to add chimney caps for the home’s six fireplaces; Wright traditionally did not incorporate chimney caps into his designs.

The house’s design incorporates the island’s topography. A 12-foot-high, 60-foot-long rock forms the exterior to the entry and an interior wall, while a smaller rock doubles as a kitchen and bathroom wall. The house also features a cantilevered deck that stretches 25 feet over Lake Mahopac, and its 18-foot-high living area is illuminated with 26 triangular skylights.

Massaro sold his sheet metal business in 2000 to focus on the creation of the house. Construction took place between 2003 and 2007.

Controversy

Throughout the construction, Massaro was in conflict with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, which was established by the architect in 1940 to conserve his intellectual property. Massaro told interviewers that the foundation requested $450,000 to supervise the construction of the house. After Massaro hired Heinz, the foundation filed a lawsuit, which ended in a settlement that limited Massaro to referring to the structure as being "inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright".

To date, the foundation refuses to recognize Massaro House as an official Frank Lloyd Wright creation. Philip Allsopp, the foundation’s chief executive office, has stated: “It’s not a Frank Lloyd Wright house, because it hasn’t been certified by the foundation.”

Yet in the Los Angeles Times, Massaro defended the Wright connection. “You hear these purists that talk about how no unbuilt Frank Lloyd Wright house should ever be built because Frank Lloyd Wright isn’t here anymore,” he said. “And then you take a look at this masterpiece of his – I’m sure Frank would rather have it built than not built at all."

Current status

The Massaro House is currently maintained as a private residence and is not open for the general public. However, Massaro has stated he would make the house available as a fundraising location for nonprofit charitable groups.