Topline
A cozy three-bedroom house designed by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright in the mountains of Tennessee has been listed for sale for the first time ever by the family of its original owners, who commissioned the residence as newlyweds more than 75 years ago.
The Shavin House in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Bruce McCamish Photography
Key Facts
The house in Chattanooga is the only Frank Lloyd Wright residence in the state of Tennessee and has been owned by the descendants of its original owners, Seamour and Gerte Shavin, since it was completed in 1952.
The family has put the 1,784-square-foot house on the market for the first time at $1.6 million.
The home, which features floor-to-ceiling windows on multiple walls to capture views of the Tennessee River and Lookout Mountain, is constructed primarily of wood from native Tennessee and Louisiana trees and is in Wright’s signature style, blending the wood, stone and glass into a cohesive building.
The one-story ranch-style home, known locally as the Shavin House, is anchored by a stone fireplace and includes custom furnishings Wright designed for the property.
The living room of the Shavin House in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Bruce McCamish Photography
BIG NUMBER
$360,000. That’s the six-month median sales price for Chattanooga, less than one-fourth of the listing price for the Shavin House.
Key background
Then-newlyweds Seamour and Gerte Shavin commissioned the house in 1949 and Seamour Shavin, a building materials salesman, helped to build the home. It’s located on Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, a famous Civil War battle site, and features architectural details that are quintessentially Wright—including a hidden entrance. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
TANGENT
The resale value of Frank Lloyd Wright homes has lessened since a pandemic-era frenzy and it’s not uncommon to see his houses sit on the market for months or for sellers to reduce asking prices. The most architecturally significant homes in desirable locations continue attracting competitive offers—like the Chicago-area Hills-De Caro House in Oak Park which sold this year for $2.3 million—but others have struggled. The Robert D. Winn House in Kalamazoo, Michigan, sold last year after almost a year on the market and a $1 million cut in price, and Westhope, a Tulsa, Oklahoma, home that is one of Wright’s largest residential commissions, sold in November for almost half of its original $7.99 million asking price.
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