In 1939, C. Leigh Stevens reached out to Frank Lloyd Wright to commission what would become one of the designer’s most unique residential projects (and his only southern plantation) which is known as the "Auldbrass Plantation.” The compound took on a much different meaning than the traditional plantation house, however, and Wright’s novel design certainly reflects this. Stevens intended to use the house in Yemassee, South Carolina as a weekend hunting retreat, as was the fashion among wealthy northerners at the time. Rather than the site of large-scale planting and production, the home was intended to serve as a peaceful getaway and reflected the natural world around it.
Wright’s architecture corresponded to the contemporary purpose of the site. Abandoning the typical neoclassical columns and rigid symmetry of the classic plantation house, aspects that were deliberately meant to evoke the authority of the owner, the "Auldbrass Plantation" comprises eighteen interconnected geometric buildings, triangular and circular in form with sloping walls likely inspired by the angularity of the trees on the property. Inside, a combination of built-in and freestanding wooden furniture, such as the present pair of chairs, complement the geometry of the structure.
Edward J. Wormley, a designer for the Dunbar Furniture Company, worked with Wright and Stevens to create furniture to suit the space. Known for his decorative sofas, Wormley designed two twelve-foot lounge sofas for the home’s living room. After Wright’s death in 1959, and Stevens' subsequent passing three years later, Auldbrass was left unfinished, and eventually fell into disrepair. The property was finally purchased by American film producer Joel Silver in 1986, who according to Wright’s original architectural plans for the house, brought it to its intended state.
Provenance
C. Leigh Stevens, Yemassee, South Carolina Sotheby's, New York, "American Arts and Crafts," November 19, 1981, lot 275 Acquired from the above by the present owner
Literature
Janet Kardon, ed., Craft in the Machine Age: The History of Twentieth-Century American Craft, exh. cat., American Craft Museum, New York, 1995, p. 212
Property from the Estate of William Murphy, Architect