Gordon House offers rare glimpse into Frank Lloyd Wright’s Oregon legacy

SILVERTON, Ore. (KPTV) - The only home in Oregon designed by famed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright is open to the public at the Oregon Garden in Silverton.

The Gordon House represents a rare opportunity for visitors to experience the groundbreaking vision of Wright, whose architectural legacy continues to influence design today.

The home’s story begins in 1957, when Oregonians Conrad and Evelyn Gordon traveled to New York and managed to secure an audience with Frank Lloyd Wright. They convinced the architect to design a home for them.

Wright was 89 years old at the time, and Oregon was one of only a few states left where he hadn’t built a home. He agreed to the project, drawing the plans for the house, which was eventually built in what is now Wilsonville.

Three decades later, the Gordon family heirs no longer wanted the home. The Frank Lloyd Wright Conservancy acquired it and moved the house 26 miles to its new location at the Oregon Garden in Silverton.

“The entire second floor was actually cut off from this level,” said historian and tour guide David Pierce. “It was moved three to four miles an hour over three days, and brought to this site. It was put up on wood stilts if you will, and then this part was rebuilt underneath it.”

Pierce said the home stands as a prime example of Wright’s “Usonian” approach to living.

“Wright’s philosophy was he wanted his homes, or any of his buildings for that matter, to fit into the landscape and the environment where they were being built,” Pierce said.

In the Gordon Home, visitors can see that philosophy through the large windows and a design that blurs the indoors and outdoors, plus one of the original “open floor plans.”

“Wright didn’t particularly like doors and little separate rooms. He liked openness. He, I guess you could say, was the inventor of the great room,” Pierce said.

At the time the home was designed, no one was doing that type of open concept design.

The kitchen also represents a state-of-the-art approach for its time, featuring new concepts like under cabinet lighting and cabinet depth appliances.

The Gordon House is open for public tours. More details can be found here.