Pope-Leighey House

About this property

The Pope–Leighey House, formerly known as the Loren Pope Residence, is a suburban home in Virginia designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. 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. Commissioned in 1939 by journalist Loren Pope and his wife Charlotte Pope, the Pope–Leighey House was one of the first Usonian houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was completed in 1941, located at 1005 Locust Street, Falls Church, Virginia. Loren Pope had become interested in Wright after seeing him on the cover of a 1938 Time Magazine issue, which included an article depicting his work on Fallingwater. In the article, Wright expressed a desire to design homes for middle-class Americans, in keeping with his interest in using architecture as a tool for progressive social reform. Pope, as a middle-class American in the market for a new house, recognized this as a potential opportunity to get a Wright-designed home himself. At an architects' conference in 1938, Pope approached Wright after his presentation to inquire about the likelihood that Wright would design a house for someone like him. Wright responded that he only built houses for "people who deserved them" like middle-class families, noting that he would never design for those in the real estate business. Encouraged, Pope read Wright's autobiography, which made him so enamored with Wright that he became determined to contact the architect for a commission. Pope wrote to Wright, telling him that "There are certain things a man wants during life, and, of life. Material things and things of the spirit. The writer has one fervent wish that includes both. It is a house created by you." Wright agreed to design a home for the Popes. Pope traveled to Wisconsin to visit Wright at his Taliesin estate to discuss the plans for the new house. Pope was making $50 per week as a copy editor for the Washington Evening Star, and in his letter to Wright, Pope indicated that he was able to spend $5,000 on the house, which was significantly less than the typical cost of a design by Wright. Borrowing money for the house proved difficult, with one lender warning Pope that the home could be a "white elephant"—in other words, a property which would require a lot of money and attention without providing much profit in return. However, Pope was determined, so he turned to his employer for a loan. The Washington Evening Star lent him $5,700 for the project, to be taken out of his weekly salary. Mindful of the Popes' financial limitations, Wright scaled down the plan from 1,800 square feet to 1,200 square feet. The house ultimately cost $7,000, which was a remarkably low price for Wright design, but was in keeping with Wright's desire to provide middle-class Americans with accessible housing.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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