WHAT'S ON THE MARKET: Tonkens House by Frank Lloyd Wright, Cincinnati

Tonkens House by Frank Lloyd Wright is available for purchase for the first time in its history. Set in four private acres of parkland, the house is located next to French Park in Amberley Village in the city of Cincinnati and has been continuously lived in by the Tonkens family since its construction. The house comprises of three bedrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen, study and two bathrooms, and the sale includes the all the original Frank Lloyd Wright-designed furniture specified for the residence. Tonkens House was completed in 1955 and is a fine example of the Usonian Automatic home. Its particular architectural interest is its modular construction from customised concrete blocks of which there are 11 different pattens. These make up the entire facade of the building, and even internal walls. These blocks can be solid wall bricks, corner bricks or even infilled with glazing to form windows of varying sizes and positions. These blocks aimed to simplify construction and increase the ‘honesty’ of materials. They are also somewhat of a precursor for the architecture of the 1960s and 1970s that followed. The house is for sale for $1,788,000 (£1.1 million).

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