Back on the open market this winter is the Norman Lykes House, the last single-family residence Frank Lloyd Wright designed and one of the more remarkable homes in Phoenix. The house, which sits in a suitably dramatic desert corner of the Phoenix Mountains Preserve, is priced at $8.95 million.
A remarkably graceful — and, of course, very stylized — architectural expression, the Lykes house features an exterior dominated by circular forms and decorated with half-moon windows. A fairly high retaining wall, itself regularly inset with perfectly round portholes, converts the outdoor living area into a courtyard; a crescent-like pool is the centerpiece, although the effect overall is of a strikingly beautiful tableau suggesting a literate brand of leisure.
Inside, familiar Wright design tropes pop into view — earth tones, tile, masonry, and hardwood including mahogany, which Wright used often but respectfully — while the circular motif repeats itself everywhere. Highlights include the living room, which boasts a singular fireplace and a long, arcing window bench crowned by a like-minded ceiling extension, as well as the wood-heavy office, and the kitchen.
Inside and out, of course, the home fits its landscape beautifully, appearing to be both enhancement for it and integrated with it.