Pope-Leighey House

Woodlawn, an early 19^th century mansion shares its property with one built in the 20^th, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Pope-Leighey house, named for the two families that owned it. By the early 1900’s Wright had expressed his interest in designing low-cost housing for ordinary Americans. This idea led him to design what he called “Usonian” homes; some sixty were built between 1936 and 1959 including the Pope-Leighey.

In the late 1930’s, Lauren Pope was a $50-a-week copy editor at the Washington Star. He wrote a letter to Wright asking if he would design a house for property that Pope had purchased in Falls Church. Wright, then in his early seventies, agreed and the house was built for just over $7000 (the original target was $5k) in 1940-41. The Pope’s lived in the house for six years, had several children and needing more room, sold it to Robert and Marjorie Leighey in 1947. Some 17 years later, the expansion of Highway 66 was going to go right through the Leighey’s property, so in an effort to preserve the house, Marjorie Leighey gave it to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The house was relocated to the the Woodlawn property in 1965 and Mrs. Leighey continued to live in the home until she died in 1983. Due to a problem with the soil, the house was moved again in 1995 about thirty feet to its present site.

Pope-Leighey House, Alexandria, Virginia

It’s a small house, some 1200 square feet and looks kind of rustic from the outside due to the weathering of the Tidewater red cypress that Wright used along with brick and glass for the construction. Wright liked the cypress because it was durable and resistant to insects (no termites), but on the outside the wood is completely unfinished. The house is flat-roofed and one section of the roof juts out over the front door which is the carport, there’s another large overhang from the roof over the back bedroom. One of the most interesting design features are the small windows with geometric abstract designs that run just below the roof line around much of the house and in one vertical panel in the living room.

Inside the cypress is rubbed with wax and it gives the interior a rich, warm feeling. Wright wanted those living in the house to appreciate the wood paneling, there are no pictures hanging anywhere. Visitors on the tour can sit in the living room, (the couches are reproductions) which feels spacious due to the 11 ½ foot ceiling; the ceilings in the rest of the house are lower. There’s a large built-in bookcase on the back wall and the dining area nearby has full-length glass windows that open up on to the back yard. Wright used plywood, a new material in the 40s, for the furniture and the kitchen cabinets, which he also designed. The hallway with the two bedrooms feels cramped (not unusual for a Wright house), and there’s a small den in the front of the house.

The well-informed tour guide takes visitors through the house in half an hour. The official website is here and there are a couple of good articles here and here about the house and some good photos here. Wright designed two other houses in the DC area, one in Bethesda and one in McLean, both of which are currently residences. And of course his masterpiece, Fallingwater, is a mere four hour drive for those who need more, or have it on their architectural bucket list.

Links: Official website of Woodlawn & Frank Lloyd Wright's Pope-Leighey House
          Virginia Living article
          Interview with Loren Pope at the National Building Museum website
          Peter Beers photos of the Pope-Leighey House
          Official website of Fallingwater