Frank Lloyd Wright's last home was just built near Cleveland
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RiverRock in Willoughby Hills. Photos courtesy of RiverRock LLC/Sarah Dykstra
A new Frank Lloyd Wright house has completed construction in Willoughby Hills, a wooded suburb 20 miles east of Cleveland.
Why it matters: Uhh, there's a new Frank Lloyd Wright house? In 2025? And it's open for overnight rentals?
- Wright, who designed more than 1,000 structures over a 70-year career, is regarded by many as the greatest and most influential American architect.
State of play: The home dubbed RiverRock was Wright's final Usonian blueprint. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom house was built on site as originally intended.
- As of 2023, it was the only unbuilt Wright design that still had its original site available.
Flashback: Wright was commissioned in the 1950s to design a home overlooking the Chagrin River for painter Louis Penfield and his family.
- When plans for an interstate highway jeopardized its footprint, Penfield commissioned a second design nearby.
- Wright died in 1959, and the family assumed the second design died with him.
Yes but: "To their astonishment, the week of Wright's funeral, a mailing tube with drawings arrived" from Wright's studio, the RiverRock website explains.
- They had been on the drawing board when Wright died … [it] was, quite literally, Frank Lloyd Wright's last residential commission."
The intrigue: Owner Sarah Dykstra acquired the Louis Penfield house in 2018, which came with the Wright plans — Project #5909 in Wright's Taliesin Archives.
- Construction began in 2023.
What they're saying: "When we set out to build this home, we gave a mandate to the professional team involved: If you must change something due to current building regulations, code, products, etc., do so under the 'skin' so the house will look exactly the same," Dykstra told the News-Herald.
- "We are thrilled our team of construction professionals delivered on this promise and are proud to present a beautiful 2025 build from Wright's 1959 plans."
Stop by: Rental rates start at $800.
