Seamour and Gerte Shavin House

This 1952 Usonian residence uses locally sourced crab orchard stone and Louisiana cypress wood as its primary materials. Large windows extending from floor to ceiling frame views toward Lookout Mountain and establish a direct relationship with the surrounding landscape.

The owners met Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin in 1949 to discuss their home project, and this building became the only Wright structure in Tennessee. Its completion represented Wright's later vision for practical living in the Southeast.

The home displays mid-century design thinking through its L-shaped layout and the way it connects interior spaces with outdoor areas. The open room arrangements and built-in furnishings encourage you to move freely through the living spaces.

A visit reveals practical details like heating elements in the red concrete floors and a carport instead of a traditional garage. Built-in storage solutions are distributed throughout the home and reflect Wright's understanding of everyday living needs.

The den features a large stone fireplace with corner windows made entirely of glass that swing outward and create flowing views between inside and outside. These corner details were characteristic of Wright's thinking about dissolving boundaries between spaces.