The Seamour and Gerte Shavin House is a

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 ...

designed

Usonian Usonia () is a word that was used by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright to refer to the United States in general (in preference to ''America''), and more specifically to his vision for the landscape of the country, including the planning of ...

home in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

. The house was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1993.

History

The house was commissioned by newlyweds Seamour and Gerte Shavin in 1949 and the home at 334 North Crest Road on

Missionary Ridge Missionary Ridge is a geographic feature in Chattanooga, Tennessee, site of the Battle of Missionary Ridge, a battle in the American Civil War, fought on November 25, 1863. Union forces under Maj. Gens. Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, a ...

in Chattanooga was completed in 1952. Seamour was a building materials salesman. It is the only building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Tennessee. Both the exterior and interior of the house use primarily

crab orchard stone Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

and treated Louisiana cypress wood. The stonework is reminiscent of

Fallingwater Fallingwater is a house designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 in the Laurel Highlands of southwest Pennsylvania, about southeast of Pittsburgh in the United States. It is built partly over a waterfall on Bear Run in the Mill R ...

: laid horizontally, stones are allowed to protrude (or "stick out") at points from the line of the wall, resembling stone ledges. The house is sited on top of a hill to take advantage of the view of the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...

and

Lookout Mountain Lookout Mountain is a mountain ridge located at the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Georgia, the northeast corner of Alabama, and along the southeastern Tennessee state line in Chattanooga. Lookout Mountain was the scene of the 18th-centu ...

. The home features a kitchen, den and bathroom at the top of the hill, and sleeping areas down some stairs on the lower, or eastern, side of the hill. The den/living room is the focal point of the home, featuring a large stone fireplace. Mitered glass in one corner and wood framed corner glass doors that open outward allow the eyes to wander both outside the home and around the interior. There are many classic Wright details, such as a stunning example of a 12'×16'×16' cantilevered roof over the carport that is similar to the

Goetsch–Winckler House The Goetsch–Winckler House (also known as Goetsch–''Winkler'' House) is a building that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, built in 1940. It is located at 2410 Hulett Road, Okemos, Michigan. The house is an example of Wright's later Usonian a ...

. There are double

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

windows with cut-wood light screens. The home has a hidden entrance. The Shavins' house contains built-ins and furniture designed by Wright, resulting in a unified design scheme. Wright, who died in 1959, never visited the site of the Shavins' house during or after its construction. Marvin Bachman, an apprentice of Wright, supervised the construction. In 1951, Bachman was killed in an automobile accident. During the summer of 1952, Bachman's sister, Gloria, and her husband, Dr. Abraham Wilson visited Seamour and Gerte Shavin and helped them move into their new home. On the drive back to New Jersey, the couple decided to commission Wright to design the Bachman–Wilson House.

References

* Storrer, William Allin. ''The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion''. University of Chicago Press, 2006, (S.339)

External links

Wright Studies - Seamour and Gerte Shavin Residence, Chattanooga, Tennessee (1950) (S.339)

17 December 2002 - Frank Lloyd Wright House On Ridge Turns 50 - Real Estate
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The Chattanoogan ''The Chattanoogan'' and its website Chattanoogan.com is an online media outlet that concentrates on news from Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is published by John Wilson, previously a staff writer for the ''Chattanooga Free Press The ''Chattanooga ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Shavin, Seamour and Gerte, House Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee Frank Lloyd Wright buildings Houses in Hamilton County, Tennessee Buildings and structures in Chattanooga, Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Chattanooga, Tennessee