The Crimson Beech (also known as the Cass House) is a house designed by

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

located in the Lighthouse Hill neighborhood of the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

borough of

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

. Its original owners, Catherine and William Cass, had it manufactured by

Marshall Erdman Marshall Erdman (September 29, 1922 – September 17, 1995) was a Lithuanian-American builder and colleague of Frank Lloyd Wright. Life Early life Erdman was born Mausas Erdmanas on September 29, 1922, in Tverai, Lithuania. He emigrated to the Un ...

in kit form in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

and shipped to Staten Island where it was erected in 1959. It is the only residence designed by Wright in New York City and one of eleven

Marshall Erdman Prefab Houses Throughout his career, Frank Lloyd Wright was interested in mass production of housing. In 1954, he discovered that Marshall Erdman, who contracted the First Unitarian Society of Madison, was selling modest prefabricated homes. Wright offered to ...

that were built. The particular model is known as the Prefab #1. The house features a combined kitchen and family room, a sunken living room with a cathedral ceiling, and a gallery that leads to four bedrooms. All interior walls are paneled in

Philippine mahogany Philippine mahogany is a common name for several different species of trees and their wood. * Botanically, the name refers to '' Toona calantas'' in the mahogany family, Meliaceae. It is endemic to the Philippines. * In the US timber trade, it is o ...

, with raised horizontal bands set about a foot apart. The house is a long and low L shape, with wide

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

s. The exterior, red brick and largely clad in cream-colored Masonite, is similarly striped with redwood battens that emphasize the low-slung lines. The front of the house has one story, while the rear, because of the sloping site, has two. The roof is made of

terne Terne plate is a form of tinplate: a thin steel sheet coated with an alloy of lead and tin. The terne alloy was in the ratio of 10-20% tin and the remainder lead. The low tin content made it cheaper than other tinplates. Terne plate was used for ...

. At the time of construction, the components of the house cost $20,000 and assembly cost a further $35,000. The house was declared a landmark in August 1990 and the original owners resided there until 1999 when it was sold. It remains in private hands.

References

External links

External Views of the House

* ttp://www.allsands.com/travel/places/franklloydwr_auj_gn.htm A Frank Lloyd Wright House In New York City
Landmarks Preservation Commission application

Photo of Crimson Beech

Another photo of Crimson Beech

Interview with Cretellas (owners since 2004) and both exterior and interior photographs
Frank Lloyd Wright buildings Modernist architecture in New York City New York City Designated Landmarks in Staten Island Houses in Staten Island Houses completed in 1959 {{StatenIsland-struct-stub

See also

References

External links