Table Of Content
- CURRENT PROJECTS: POPE-LEIGHEY HOUSE’S NEW ROOF
- All's Wright that Ends Well: The Pope-Leighey House of Northern Virginia
- An Inside Look at Woodlawn's Captivating Story
- This twice-relocated "Usonian" home is among the smallest built by master architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
- Check out What’s Going on at Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House
Reservations are recommended and tickets can be purchased online at woodlawnpopeleighey.org. This photo on the left illustrates the dramatic height difference between the now-oxidized gravel stop and flashing installed in the 1995 project and the bright new drip edge copper flashing installed this summer. The drip edge flashing ensures a waterproof seal above the perimeters' wood edging and directs any water away from the flashing. This new copper work provides a much slimmer profile along the roof’s edges, returning the home to a much better representation of its original construction and Frank Lloyd Wright’s design intent. In 1995, the home was moved a second time due to the instability of the soil beneath the foundation.
CURRENT PROJECTS: POPE-LEIGHEY HOUSE’S NEW ROOF
The home was moved to Woodlawn, and being granted a lifetime tenancy, she occupied the house until her death in 1983. With its cypress siding looking as good as new, Pope-Leighey House stands ready for the upcoming Frank Lloyd Wright sesquicentennial celebrations. Amanda Phillips and her team, including volunteer docents such as Peter Christensen, are gearing up for new in-depth architectural tours of the house, as well as Twilight Wine and Cheese tours starting in May.
“Craft as Comfort” in Woodlawn's 60th Needlework Show - The Zebra
“Craft as Comfort” in Woodlawn's 60th Needlework Show.
Posted: Mon, 06 Mar 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
All's Wright that Ends Well: The Pope-Leighey House of Northern Virginia
Shortly thereafter, it was taken apart piece by piece, stacked onto a flatbed truck, and transported 13 miles to Woodlawn, where it was reassembled. Architect Ashley Wilson, former intern Rie Yamakawa, docent John Marshall, and former Silman engineering fellow Tenzin Nyandak in the main living space. For on-site director Amanda Phillips, the birthday sesquicentennial is a chance to bring new people to the house, which has a tendency to fly under the radar—even among Wright fans.
An Inside Look at Woodlawn's Captivating Story
The original plans had included a workshop, but it had to be removed when Wright downsized the design for affordability.[4] The roof is held up by three brick pillars. The main mansion is a formal building of brick masonry, sandstone trim and regal window openings – eighty-six windows to be exact – and many of those window openings are larger than 4 feet wide by eight feet tall, creating quite an imposing façade. While the main block windows date to 1805, most of the hyphen and wing windows date to the early twentieth-century restoration.
Not only is the Pope-Leighey House known for its revolutionary design, but by the owner’s efforts to protect it. After Loren and Charlotte Pope sold the property to Robert and Marjorie Leighey, the construction of a Falls Church, VA section of Interstate 66 threatened the demolition of the house. Marjorie Leighey took immediate action to raise awareness about the threat to the house, including personally corresponding with the Secretary of the Interior. The National Trust for Historic Preservation noticed the struggle and relocated the home, piece by piece, to Alexandria, VA, in 1965. The house was moved again in 1995, but this time only 30 feet due to foundation and structural issues.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Pope-Leighey House
Holding the distinction of being relocated twice, the house represents a continuing commitment by the National Trust to make this magnificent example of early Usonian design accessible to the public to enjoy. The women of Woodlawn understood the need to mend, but also appreciated the value of needle arts as a way of bringing beauty into their homes and their lives. Nelly Custis Lewis, granddaughter of George and Martha Washington, cross-stitched bookmarks in remembrance of her beloved grandparents. Women enslaved at Woodlawn, like Dolcey, her daughters Nelly and Sukey, and her niece Lucinda, passed down needlework traditions and techniques despite the demands made of them through bondage. Later, women of the Woodlawn Quaker Meeting stitched quilts as a way of maintaining community and family ties across generations. It is the mission of Woodlawn and Pope-Leighey House to engage with our community to preserve history and care for nature at this former site of enslavement.
Futaba Cake Building
Commissioned in 1939 by Loren Pope, a journalist in Falls Church, the residence was sold to Robert and Marjorie Leighey in 1946. The house was in the path of an expansion of Highway 66, so in an effort to preserve the building, Mrs. Leighey gave the property to the National Trust, which relocated it to nearby Woodlawn and granted her lifetime tenancy. Wright's innovative use of four natural materials created a sense of a large, more spacious abode, in only 1,200 square feet.
Check out What’s Going on at Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House
Due to the small interiors at Pope-Leighey and the popularity of the tour, tours are limited to no more than 16 visitors per group and therefore, there tends to be a longer waiting time on weekends. A National Trust Historic Site, this Usonian house was developed by Frank Lloyd Wright as a means of providing affordable housing for people of moderate means. Many innovative concepts, including spacious interiors, corner windows, and a cantilevered roof, began here and were quickly adapted across America. Today, the house can be viewed as an origin of ideas that have influenced modern American homes. Situated on 126 acres in Alexandria, Virginia are three pieces of very important and historic real estate.
The home was built at its original location in 1941 in Falls Church, Virginia. The Pope family lived in the home from 1941 until 1946 when they moved to a large farm in Loudoun County. Wright's attention to function and form simultaneously meant his designs were rational while remaining artistic and decorative. Operated as a historic house museum since 1949, Woodlawn came to the National Trust for Historic Preservation shortly afterward. The home, which still sits on 126 of its original 2,000 acres, provides a base for innovative public programming based on its full history and the lives and contributions of all of its owners and inhabitants.
The house, which belongs to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has been relocated twice and sits on the grounds of Woodlawn Plantation, Alexandria, Virginia. Along with the Andrew B. Cooke House and the Luis Marden House, it is one of the three homes in Virginia designed by Wright. We believe all Americans deserve to see their history in the places that surround us. Yet just a small fraction of the sites on the National Register of Historic Places represent women and people of color.
That belief falls at the very heart of Pope-Leighey House and the other Usonian houses Wright designed. He achieved their lower cost by using locally sourced materials when possible, and by reducing the footprint without sacrificing comfort. To make the houses feel bigger, he used high ceilings, open floorplans, compressed corridors, and efficient storage space.
So Wilson called upon National Trust staff and interns, plus students from the University of Mary Washington’s Center for Historic Preservation. By then, word had traveled about the Falls Church property, and the newspaper ad led to a flood of inquiries to the couple’s real estate agent. Most people who called were just trying to sneak a glimpse of the fabled house. So when Robert and Marjorie Leighey called to inquire about it, they had to prove they were serious buyers. They viewed the property that evening, and three months later, in February of 1947, they moved in. Exhausted by the grind of the newspaper business, Loren Pope sought a career change, and both he and Charlotte were seduced by the idea of living on a farm.
Some of the buildup from years of organic materials can be seen here, as well as the juxtaposition of the previous and newly installed flashing. Graham Gund Architect Mark Stoner and representatives of the contractor, Standard Restoration & Waterproofing review the planned work while scaffolding is erected. Scaffolding begins to be erected around the house, careful to avoid any close contact with the large windows. In 1939, a journalist by the name of Loren Pope commissioned Wright to design a home for him and his wife, Charlotte. They were struggling financially to bounce back from the Great Depression, which was the case for most people around the country, and had a modest budget for Wright to work with. Like many, the Popes needed to think about how everyday needs changed during financial crisis.
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