Frank Lloyd Wright’s Tirranna House Just Sold for $6 Million
One of the biggest private homes in Frank Lloyd Wright’s portfolio just traded hands for $6 million. The lush 14-acre spread was initially listed back in May 2023 for $8 million.
Tirranna House, located in woodsy New Canaan, Connecticut, has sold to a new owner and cemented its status as not only one of the starchitect’s highest-priced properties but also one of the most expensive sales to go down in the affluent New Canaan area in the last year. “It was a rare honor to represent Tirranna, a true gem of mid-century architectural history that will continue to provide a Zen-like experience blending nature and comfort to its latest inhabitants,” agents Albert Safdie and Marsha Charles of Coldwell Banker Global Luxury said in a press statement. Chau Ngo of the Jennifer Leahy Team at Douglas Elliman repped the buyer.
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According to the release, Wright worked and lived at Tirranna while designing the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. The coolest part is that the residence’s greenhouse was built using the same scalloped glass he had left over from the project.
The Usonian abode was built in 1955 for Joyce and John Rayward, who were close friends of the architect at the time. Tirranna, which gets its name from the Australian Aboriginal word for “running waters,” is positioned along the Norton River and overlooks a large pond and waterfall. The wooded grounds were elaborately designed by landscape architects Frank Okamura and Charles Middeler; they include a tennis court, a guest studio, a swimming pool, and a barn.
Before the recent transaction, the iconic home had changed hands several times in the last few decades. It was acquired in 1990 by Ted and Veda Stanley, who sold it in 2018 for $4.8 million.
The stone-clad house is laid out in a semi-circle, a shape that frequently appears throughout Wright’s work. Altogether, the 7,000-square-foot property features seven bedrooms and eight and a half bathrooms. The house has the architect’s name written all over it, with concrete block walls, Philippine mahogany paneling, red concrete flooring, and soaring ceilings. The digs also sport a wine cellar that once was a former bomb shelter and a rooftop observatory. Interestingly, there’s only one other Wright house in Connecticut, the Frank S. Sander Residence, located roughly eight miles away in Stamford. The Sander house, also known as Springbough, was built a few years prior, in 1952.
Click here to see all the photos of Tirranna House.
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