#118/The (Next to) Last Frank Lloyd Wright Client: Roland Reisley

Frank Lloyd Wright, now 60 years after his death, remains the most well-known architect in America, perhaps the world.  Notorious for his ego, which was matched only by his genius and talent, Wright would be delighted to be so this famous for so long.  Wright would say, and he did, that he was the greatest architect ever, and for many, he was and still is. 

Roland Reisley was only 26 when he became Wright’s client for a small house.  Now Reisley is one of Wright's last living clients, still in the same lovely house in upstate New York, a small colony of Wright houses known as Usonia. The Usonian houses were the prototype for small affordable houses across America in a post-war time when affordable housing was needed.  Unfortunately, the Usonians were not particularly economical nor small, but they remain beautiful designs that people rarely want to leave.  Our George Smart was on the road in New York and sat down with Reisley this past summer.