Offered at $850,000 the 1955 Toufic H. Kalil House in Manchester is one of only seven Usonian Automatics ever constructed.
Take a drive along Heather Street in Manchester, New Hampshire, and you will find not one, but two Frank Lloyd Wright-designed homes: the 1950 Zimmerman House in his Prairie School style, and the 1955 Toufic H. Kalil House, a rare Usonian Automatic design. The latter home, held in the family for almost 65 years, will soon be sold for the first time ever.
An exterior view of the Kalil House at 117 Heather Street. Molded masonry blocks are the main building material, informing the design of the entire structure, as well as exterior retaining walls and a carport.
Photo courtesy of Paula Martin Group at Keller Williams
The location of two Wright-designed homes on the same block is hardly a coincidence. Dr. Toufic Kalil and his wife Mildred were so inspired by the home of their friends, Dr. Isadore Zimmerman and his wife Lucille, that they commissioned Wright to design a home for them as well. The Kalils desired a simple and functional house; Wright's answer was one built using his self-designed Usonian Automatic Building System (UABS), a method of construction using prefabricated masonry blocks.
A hallway inside the main entry divides the home's L-shaped floor plan—a spatial arrangement common in Wright's Usonian homes. Throughout the home, Philippine mahogany paneling contrasts with concrete block walls and stained concrete floors.
Photo courtesy of Paula Martin Group at Keller Williams
The UABS method is modular by design, completed by stacking molded concrete blocks without traditional mortaring techniques. Instead, the structure is reinforced with rebar placed in semicircular grooves running around each block; later, cement is pumped into the remaining cavities. The name Automatic comes from Wright's original hope that homeowners could save money by building with the UABS method themselves. However, that proved a difficult task with each block weighing a reported 220 pounds, requiring contractors to build most of the Usonian Automatic homes.
To the right of the main entry, the large living room features a striking rear wall composed of 350 individual embedded-glass window blocks, allowing light to pour into the space. A dramatic sunken hearth surrounds the original wood-burning fireplace.
Photo courtesy of Paula Martin Group at Keller Williams
See the full story on Dwell.com: This Rare Frank Lloyd Wright House in New Hampshire Is Available For the First Time Ever
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