The only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed oceanfront dwelling ever built has sold off-market for $22 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The single-story, 1,400-square-foot home resembles the bow of a ship cutting through the waves. One of the home’s many eye-catching features is its hexagonal living room. The room features striking reverse-stepped glass windows and offers panoramic views of the sandy coast and crashing waves.
Wright designed the home for Della Walker, the widow of a Minneapolis lumber executive. Walker wrote to ask for Wright’s assistance according to historical reports provided to the Wall Street Journal. She wrote:
“I am a woman living alone — I wish protection from the wind and privacy from the road and a house as enduring as the rocks but as transparent and charming as the waves and delicate as the seashore. You are the only man who can do this — will you help me?”
Wright agreed, and the house was eventually built in 1952 at a cost of $125,000, according to SFist.
The property was purchased by Monaco businessman Patrice Pastor, who owns several other properties in the Carmel area, according to the Carmel Pine Cone.
“I have admired this wonderful ‘Cabin on the Rocks’ for many years, now, and have always dreamed of one day owning it,” Pastor told The Pine Cone Wednesday. “It is truly a fantastic piece of land and an amazing house by one of the world’s most renowned architects,” Pastor told the Pine Cone.
Public tours of the historic property have been available in the past which you can watch a house tour here. No word as to how Pastor plans to utilize the property.
The house was designed using Wright’s Usonian style, which often utilized native materials, flat roofs, and large cantilevered overhangs for natural cooling and passive solar heating. The home also utilizes built-in furniture and other custom details that Wright is famous for. Walker’s descendants have meticulously maintained and preserved the home, to the delight of all who visit.