‘Delicate as the seashore’: rare Frank Lloyd Wright home sells for $22m

‘You are the only man who can do this – will you help me?’ wrote Della Walker in her letter to Frank Lloyd Wright. The artist complied and designed her house. Photograph: Matthew Millman/Courtesy of Sotheby’s International Realty

The only oceanfront home designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright has sold for $22m in California’s Carmel-by-the-Sea, the dreamy coastal enclave where Clint Eastwood once served as mayor.

Known as the Mrs Clinton Walker house and the Cabin on the Rocks, the residence was built for the artist Della Walker in 1952, according to the Wall Street Journal, and had remained in the hands of descendants until this month when it was sold.

The property comes with a fascinating origin story. The famed architect agreed to design the home after Walker, the widow of a lumber executive, wrote him a letter in 1945.

“I am a woman living alone – I wish protection from the wind and privacy from the road and a house as enduring as the rocks but as transparent and charming as the waves and delicate as the seashore,” she wrote, according to the Journal, which first reported on the sale. “You are the only man who can do this – will you help me?”

The house features a hexagonal living room. Photograph: Matthew Millman/Courtesy of Sotheby’s International Realty

Wright designed a stunning 1,400 sq ft home with cedar wood, Carmel stone and glass on a triangular spit of land that features a hexagonal living room with sweeping views of the sea. The home was acclaimed even before it was completed with columnist Herb Caen describing it as an “eye-popper” resembling a bird “with outstretched wings, landing in the pounding surf”.

Under Wright’s direction, the lot was lowered 4ft so that the home would blend into its surroundings. The residence looks like “a ship, thrusting outward from the rocky shoreline, yet almost one with it”, according to Frank Lloyd Wright Sites. It also features a studio and expanded primary bedroom designed by Wright and added later.

The residence looks like ‘a ship’. Photograph: Matthew Millman/Courtesy of Sotheby’s International Realty

The house was built in 1952. Photograph: Matthew Millman/Courtesy of Sotheby’s International Realty

It took five years to build the home, Walker’s great-grandson said in an interview with the online magazine the Architect’s Take, and the artist argued with Wright about the design of the kitchen.

“She wanted an exit to take out the trash, and Wright insisted that it would destroy the integrity of the grid. Wright was willing to sacrifice practicality for an architectural idea,” said Brooks Walker, an architect. “She had to fight to get a door. The kitchen is cramped and tiny, but for site context, the house is brilliant – a perfect fit for the tide pools all around.”

Della Walker argued with Wright over the design of the kitchen, according to her great-grandson. Photograph: Matthew Millman/Courtesy of Sotheby’s International Realty

The home has long captured attention in Carmel. The 1959 film A Summer Place featured scenes filmed at the residence.

The property includes a small beach, the sellers’ agent told the journal.

The real-estate investment and development firm Esperanza Carmel LLC purchased the home.

The property has a small beach. Photograph: Matthew Millman/Courtesy of Sotheby’s International Realty