Brunch on Petra Island
Hosted by USModernist
In celebrating Frank Lloyd Wright’s 159th birthday, USModernist will hold its annual gala in the famed house the American archtiect designed on Petra Island, 50 miles north of Manhattan.
Its story began in 1949, when an engineer named Ahmed Chahroudi bought an entire heart-shaped island on Lake Mahopac, 50 miles north of Manhattan, and commissioned wright to design a house. The owner could not afford the 5,000-square-foot house, and the architect reduced the project to a small cottage which was built. The unrealized design of the futuristic, bold house remained in the form of sketches, elevations, and a floor plan, which was declared by Wright as ‘surpass Fallingwater.’ It took sixty years and one man, Joe Massaro, who had to fight to place the building alongside the forbidden waterline, as was envisioed by Wright to realize the building, and in 2007 it was completed.
On Sunday, June 7, You can visit the house for a brunch inside the Massaro House, where you would meet Thomas Heinz, the architect and Wright expert who redrew the original plans to meet 21st-century building codes. You’ll tour the original Cottage, designed by Wright for the original clients. You’ll meet the owner, Joe Massaro, and his family. You’ll meet Fred Wilmont, who built all the cabinetry to Wright standards, and of course, the host George Smart, Founder and CEO of USModernist in celebrating 159th birthday (June 8) of the greatest architect of the 20th century.
