A new Magnolia Network series will follow a mother-daughter duo as they build a home based on the last known plans created by Wisconsin-born architect Frank Lloyd Wright before his death.
“The Last Wright: Building the Final Home Design of America’s Greatest Architect” will premiere Sept. 3 on the Magnolia Network, with episodes available the next day for streaming on HBO Max.
In 2023, Debbie Dykstra and Sarah Dykstra began building RiverRock outside Cleveland. Wright designed plans for this home on this specific site in 1959 shortly before he died.
“Wright oriented the design around a specific poplar tree. That tree was marked at the time and still stands today,” the RiverRock owners wrote on the home’s website.
According to an article about RiverRock at DesignBoom.com, Wright specified the use of locally quarried stone.
The Magnolia Network limited series of four episodes promises to document how the Dykstras meshed Wright’s design with contemporary building codes, materials and sensibilities.
Sarah Dykstra purchased the Ohio property in 2018. It was already home to a 1953 Usonian home designed by Wright for the property’s former owner Louis Penfield, according to Architectural Digest. When construction of I-90 threatened to disrupt that home, Penfield asked Wright to design another home for him. While the aging Wright had given up new design work by then, he made an exception for Penfield. After Wright’s death, the plans for Project #5909 were mailed to the Penfield family.
RiverRock, which can accommodate up to six guests, is available for rentals.
“The Last Wright” series is executive produced by Chip and Joanna Gaines.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New TV series documents building a home based on Frank Lloyd Wright’s final plans
Reporting by Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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