The 2,133-square-foot "Usonian" House, Oregon's only Frank Lloyd Wright house, was designed by Wright in 1957 for Conrad and Evelyn Gordon, built in 1963 for $56,000 and completed in 1964 on a beautiful 22-acre site along the Willamette River in Wilsonville, Oregon, just a few years after Wright's death in 1959. His longtime apprentice, Burton Goodrich, oversaw the final construction.The "Usonian" three-bedroom house, made of concrete block and wood (mostly cedar) with floor-to-ceiling French doors, opened to the surrounding landscape and had a balcony oriented to a view of the Willamette River and Mount Hood.
After his parents' death, Edward Gordon put the house and the surrounding 22-acre tract on the market. David A. and Carey L. Smith purchased the property in September 2000 for $1.1 million. The Smiths planned to remove the house from the Clackamas County's historic resources list and demolish it. They had designed a new $1.5 million house to replace the Wright house.
The following March 2001, the endangered Gordon House was saved, just four days before the deadline. It was moved in three massive chunks 25 miles to its new location in a thick grove of native oaks just inside the new Oregon Garden entrance. The dismantled house was reassembled and restored on the new site. However, the view from the balcony of the Willamette River and Mount Hood could never be restored.
One Wright design flaw, his notoriously leaky flat roofs, is still intact. The roof has three different leaks, for a variety of reasons.
On Saturday, March 2, 2002, I attended the Grand Opening, Ribbon Cutting and Dedication Ceremonies of the Gordon House by Frank Lloyd Wright at the Oregon Garden near Silverton, Oregon. That afternoon I attended "Restoring it WRIGHT" panel presentation by Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy (FLWBC) members.
The Gordon House is the only Wright-designed house in the Northwest open to the public.
The Oregon Garden is located at 879 West Main Street (Cascade Highway) in Silverton, Oregon. It is open for visitors seven days a week. Summer Hours: 9 - 6; Winter Hours 9 - 3. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.
To log a waymark: A photograph is required that shows you (or your GPS receiver, if you're waymarking solo) and the Gordon House.