Petra Island is a heart-shaped atoll in Lake Mahopac, a state of New York50 miles north of Manhattan. At its tip the Massaro House It stands majestically, suspended over the water at the edge of the rocks.
Its history is as extraordinary as its appearance: built following the original drawings Of Frank Lloyd Wrightthe story covers a very long time span that intertwines desires and ambitions with unexpected events, twists and objective constraints. It all begins in 1949 when Ahmed Chahroudiowner of the island, approached Frank Lloyd Wright with the idea of erecting a daring residence on the shore.
The patriarch of theAmerican architectureseduced by the chance to build at 83 years old a last masterpiece on the same level as Fallingwater, accepts the offer by presenting in three months an extraordinary layout: a house of over 400 square meterswith a projection above the water never seen before, almost double that of the Fallingwater House.
But dreams often clash with reality: construction costs they prove to be far superior to the client’s possibilities who decides, to Wright’s deep disappointment, to fall back on a more modest 110 square meter cottagecompleted by the architect in 1951. The story seems to end like this, melancholically: in the following years the property changes hands and Wright’s concept remains a dead letter.
It is 1996 when fate presents the house with a second chance in the form of Joe Massaro, a headstrong entrepreneur who stumbles upon the island almost by chance, deciding to buy it with the cottage and the five autographed drawings by Wright.
«One day I bought the island and the next I decided to build the original design of Frank Lloyd Wright’s house. I started pursuing this idea with all my determination, to see how far I could get,” Massaro says.
The road, however, turns out to be more arduous than expected. The lack of executive drawings, logistics (the island is not connected to the mainland) and costs are just some of the difficulties encountered along the way: it is above all the landscape regulations that hinder the realization of the project.
Massaro needs almost 7 years and the consultancy of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to obtain the necessary authorizations. At the best moment, however, a series of disagreements lead to the break with the Foundation and the decision to entrust Thomas A. Heinzhistorian and Wright scholar, the realization of the project.
Thanks to a 3D modelling software Heinz manages to create a three-dimensional model from the original sketches, completing the house between 2003 and 2007. Following the native drawings, the residence incorporates two large rocks, visible in the living room, in the kitchen and inside the shower of the guest room.
The floors are made in Wright’s typical red concretewhile the African Mahogany furnishes the living room, the dining room and the seven bedrooms. The scenic lounge, long and spacious, is bordered on the sides by a sequence of ribbon windows and its sleek shape extends towards the lake for 8 and a half metres, generating the astonishing terrace suspended over the waves.
In reality, Heinz and Massaro had to adapt the project to the new regulations, by installing heating systems and opting for questionable aesthetic solutions, such as stone walls that did not comply with Wright’s desert masonry requirements, or the use of dome skylights instead of dishes.
These choices have opened a diatriba con la Wright Foundationwhich opposes the recognition of the house as Wright’s work, downgrading it to ‘inspired’ project by the master. Yet, looking out from the cantilever over the water and admiring the panorama of the surrounding lake, it is difficult not to agree with Massaro when he says that Frank Lloyd Wright would have preferred to see his work realized, rather than let it yellow on paper.
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Source: living.corriere.it
