Usonia, New York: Building a Community with Frank Lloyd Wright (Hardcover)

by Roland Reisley (Author), John Timpane (Contributor) "IN THE 1930S AMERICANS ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY DREAMED OF A BETTER LIFE..." (more)
Key Phrases: organic architecture, cooperative ownership, cooperative community, Frank Lloyd Wright, New York, David Henken (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
This is the latest of several books written about the "organic" housing development laid out by Frank Lloyd Wright in New York's Westchester County. In 1945, a rural tract was purchased by a cooperative of young couples from New York City, who were able to enlist Wright to build his Broadacre City concept. Wright designed three homes himself and approved the other 44. Reisley, a co-op member who commissioned one of the houses by Wright, outlines the organizational and social life span of Usonia, from the pioneering days of construction work parties through financial crises to the current well-established community. He concludes with a chapter about his own positive experience as a client of Wright. Contemporary photographs help tell the story, and a visual index identifies the houses. Buy for regional collections, Wright collections, and where interest in the American cooperative movement warrants David R. Conn, Surrey P.L., B.C.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Usonia, New York is the story of a group of idealistic men and women who, following WWII, enlisted Frank Lloyd Wright to design and help them build a cooperative utopian community near Pleasantville, NY. Through both historic memorabilia and contemporary color photos, this book reveals the still-thriving community based on concepts Wright advocated in his Broadacre City proposals.

Over the years, thousands of architects, scholars, planners, and students have visited the community, but no book has yet appeared on this remarkable site. Reisley, one of the original members of Usonia (and still a resident), has written the first full account to illuminate the events, problems, and passions of a democratic group of people developing a designed environment an hour from New York City and the ups and downs of working with America's most famous -and most famously volatile-architect.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568982453
• ISBN-13: 978-1568982458
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 9.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #705,959 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars An Extraordinary Community, September 20, 2007

By	K. Bolinsky (Mississippi) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent book: Well-written and thoroughly illustrated, it literally answered all my questions about this astonishing community in suburban NYC. Although I've walked through the community I now feel the need to return as a more informed observer!