Just before the Guggenheim Museum opened in New York in 1959, Frank Lloyd Wright completed a residential design for Norman and Aimee Lykes in Phoenix.
It would be his last. The famed architect died the same year.
Now, after languishing on the market since 2016 with an asking price of $3.6 million (later reduced to $2.9 million), the house will be auctioned off, without reserve, on Oct. 16 by Heritage Auctions.
Although the Norman Lykes house, sometimes referred to as the “Circular Sun House,” was designed in the late ’50s and typifies Wright’s late period, the 3,095-square-foot abode was not actually built until 1967.
Like all of Wright’s work, the three-bedroom house weaves into the natural landscape with a circular form inspired by the local mountains. It’s even constructed out of concrete blocks that match the color of the boulders in the desert plateau where it sits.
Inside, the lucky winner will get curved walls, circular windows, Philippine mahogany and a master suite. And if you’re asking yourself, “How might one go about furnishing a circular house? What will I do with Grandma’s credenza?” Never fear, the house comes with custom built-ins and original Wright-designed furniture.
The interiors were also updated in the 1990s to make the space less claustrophobic — originally some rooms were hardly larger than standard closets.
But the best part is definitely the semicircle pool, which is lined with mother-of-pearl.
