Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house and heart-shaped private island ask $15M upstate

Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house and heart-shaped private island ask $15M upstate

July 31, 2017

This private island upstate in Putnam County has an incredible backstory and stunning home (it’s also located just 15 minutes by plane from Manhattan, via the houses’s rooftop helipad), and it’s up for grabs at an ask of $14.92 million. Mansion Global shared the tale of how a Frank Lloyd Wright home, designed by the architect to rival his iconic Fallingwater, ended up on the grounds of this 11-acre, heart-shaped property known as Petra Island. Not only does it employ Wright’s signature cantilevering and series of outdoor terraces, but inside, there are giant stone boulders jutting into spaces from the living room to the shower stalls.

petra island, frank Lloyd wright, Joe Massaro, chilton and chadwick

petra island, frank Lloyd wright, Joe Massaro, chilton and chadwick

petra island, frank Lloyd wright, Joe Massaro, chilton and chadwick

Back in 1995, sheet metal mogul Joe Massaro purchased the island for $750,000 when it only held a triangular-shaped three-bedroom cottage with redwood ceilings. The island’s previous owner had commissioned the modest property from Frank Lloyd Wright in 1950. That inspired Massaro to build, with the help of architect Thomas Heinz, the main residence Wright had drawn up plans for but never built–a home designed to rival his iconic Fallingwater property in Pennsylvania.

Though local zoning laws prohibited the cantilevered house from jutting directly out over the water, the town eventually decided to approve the project as Wright designed it. In the middle of the winter, a team transported all the building materials over the frozen lake.

petra island, frank Lloyd wright, Joe Massaro, chilton and chadwick

The main residence is triangular in shape, like the original cottage. The cottage was fully restored in the construction process, as well, and it’s now kept by the owner as a kind of museum. It even holds a retro 1950s kitchen.

petra island, frank Lloyd wright, Joe Massaro, chilton and chadwick

petra island, frank Lloyd wright, Joe Massaro, chilton and chadwick

Wright fanatics will swoon over details that the architect is known for, particularly integrating the landscape into the design. There’s a massive geometric skylight over the center of the house, and the interior incorporates “desert masonry,” a technique Wright devised that incorporates chunks of exposed rock in concrete walls. One large boulder “bursts into the kitchen and central living space,” according to Mansion Global.

petra island, frank Lloyd wright, Joe Massaro, chilton and chadwick

petra island, frank Lloyd wright, Joe Massaro, chilton and chadwick

Large windows line the cantilevered portion of the home, which makes the property feel like it hangs over the water like a ship.

petra island, frank Lloyd wright, Joe Massaro, chilton and chadwick

petra island, frank Lloyd wright, Joe Massaro, chilton and chadwick

The main residence, completed in 2007, has four bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms with sculptural rock and rich wood details throughout.

petra island, frank Lloyd wright, Joe Massaro, chilton and chadwick

Even the bathroom brings the island’s rocky outcroppings inside.

petra island, frank Lloyd wright, Joe Massaro, chilton and chadwick

petra island, frank Lloyd wright, Joe Massaro, chilton and chadwick

petra island, frank Lloyd wright, Joe Massaro, chilton and chadwick

The home has plentiful outdoor space, with wrap-around terraces and spacious patios. Architecture that showcases such stunning views of nature is another classic element of Wright’s designs, particularly Fallingwater. The previous owner of this property asked Wright to create “his masterpiece” for the main residence but claimed he ran out of money to build it after the architect drew up the plans.

petra island, frank Lloyd wright, Joe Massaro, chilton and chadwick

A helipad on the roof facilitates that 15-minute flight into Manhattan.

petra island, frank Lloyd wright, Joe Massaro, chilton and chadwick

And in case you were wondering if the island is truly heart shaped, here’s proof. Besides the two Wright properties, this incredible retreat holds an additional guest house, tea house, and dock. If you’re like us and can’t get enough of the property, there are additional images in the gallery to drool over.

[Via Mansion Global]

[Listing: Petra Island by Chilton & Chadwick]

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Photos courtesy of Chilton & Chadwick

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