Frank Lloyd Wright's 'first and only' doghouse

At the request of a 12-year-old, the architect designed a one-of-a-kind home for a pooch

Frank Lloyd Wright may be esteemed for his design of New York City's Guggenheim Museum, but a smaller, decades-old creation for man's best friend is drawing new attention.
(Image credit: CORBIS)

Renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed wonderous structures such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City and the Fallingwater home in southwestern Pennsylvania. But, as California resident Jim Berger tells the Associated Press, Wright also once designed a doghouse — the "first and only" time he was known to have done so. Here, a brief guide:

Why did Wright design a doghouse?

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

How did Wright respond?

Wright said he was too busy at the time, but told Berger to write back in November of that year. The young boy did — on the first of the month — and Wright sent him designs for a doghouse in a sharp triangular shape, with a sloped, shingled roof — free of charge.

Was the doghouse built?

The design wasn't used until 10 years after Wright delivered it. By that time, Eddie the dog had died, so the blueprint was used to build a house for another family dog. When the family no longer had a use for the doghouse, it was discarded. But last year, Berger rebuilt the doghouse using the original plans when documentary filmmaker Michael Miner featured it in his film Romanza. Berger tells the Associated Press that despite his asking Wright for something "easy to build," putting the doghouse together "was a nightmare." (Click here for a look at Berger and his Frank Lloyd Wright doghouse.)

Sources: Associated Press, Daily Mail, The Washington Post