Frank Lloyd Wright Jr.’s Landmark 1926 Derby House Seeks $3.3M in Glendale, CA
Property Details:
Location: 2535 E. Chevy Chase Drive, Glendale, California
Price: $3,295,000
Year Built: 1926
Footprint: 3,281 square feet (five bedrooms, three baths)
Lot size: 1.53 acres
From the agent: "Presenting one of Lloyd Wright's strongest achievements, the Derby House. Built in 1926, this well-preserved residence show cases his genius of integrating nature and building; the garage gates, fireplace grates, French door grills, and closets are abstract renderings of the yucca plants growing on the surrounding hills and the pre-cast concrete ornamentation adorning this home is of Mayan inspiration. The Derby House is on the National Register of Historic Places."
Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s eldest son, Frank Lloyd Wright, Jr. (known as Lloyd Wright) designed the 1926 Derby House in Glendale’s scenic Chevy Chase Canyon. The 3,281-square-foot home was commissioned by businessman James Derby for his family, but he and his wife separated before the home was completed, so only she and their children ever lived there.
Lloyd Wright built the Derby House using wood, glass, and ornamental concrete textile blocks stenciled with intricate, Mayan-influenced patterns.
The double-height living room features a towering fireplace with eight-foot-tall grates made from wrought iron. Wood-framed, cathedral-style windows continue throughout the spaces, emphasizing the tall ceilings and bringing natural light inside.
In the primary suite, three full-height window panels connect the bedroom to the garden deck. The five-bedroom, three-bath residence includes multiple terraces and outdoor spaces surrounded by mature oak and eucalyptus trees on the 1.53-acre lot.
The hexagonal dining room is anchored by a floor-to-ceiling fireplace clad in precast concrete textile blocks. The fireplace grates, as well as the French door grills, closets, and gates to the one-car garage, "are abstract renderings of the yucca plants growing on the surrounding hills," says the listing agent.
In 1978, Lloyd Wright’s Derby House was declared a landmark on the National Register for Historic Places, which means it can’t be modified from its original design or torn down without special permission.
The architectural scion followed in the footsteps of his father, who used molded concrete blocks to construct some of his most recognizable buildings, including the Ennis House, which Lloyd Wright worked on as construction manager.
2535 E. Chevy Chase Drive in Glendale, California, is currently listed for $3,295,000 by Aaron Leider, Elham Shaoulian, Drew Carlson, and Brandon Soufer of The Agency.
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