Seamour and Gerte Shavin Residence, Chattanooga, Tennessee (1950) (S.339)
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MEMORIES OF A FAMOUS ARCHITECT
By Fred B. Adelson
Published: October 14, 2001
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9506E3DE143FF937A25753C1A9679C8B63THE Bachman-Wilson house, in Millstone, was originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Abraham Wilson and his first wife, Gloria Bachman. Dr. Wilson, a 78-year-old former research chemist, said in a recent interview that ''building the house in Millstone was one of the great experiences of my life.''
Dr. Wilson, who earned a law degree when he was 52 and is now a patent lawyer, belongs to what is a small group of original owners of Wright homes. He and Ms. Bachman, who died in 1990, lived together in the house from 1956 to 1963, when they separated. She lived there with their daughter until 1968.
The couple were familiar with Wright's work, largely because Ms. Bachman's brother, Marvin, had studied with Wright at Taliesin West, his home and studio in Scottsdale, Ariz. But in 1951, Mr. Bachman, who was working as Wright's apprentice on the Seamour Shavin House, in Chattanooga, Tenn., was killed in an automobile accident. During the summer of 1952, Dr. Wilson and Ms. Bachman visited Mr. Shavin and his wife and helped them move into their new home. On the drive back to New Jersey, the couple decided to commission Wright to design their first house.
Dr. Wilson purchased a wooded lot, 125 by 650 feet, along a tributary of the Raritan River in Millstone. He wrote Wright, describing himself and his wife, and the land. ''We used the name Bachman-Wilson to draw his attention,'' he said. There was no response so the couple went to New York to meet the architect, who was working there.
''We had a hard time getting his attention,'' Dr. Wilson recalled, ''He was very busy. I do not think we made much of an impression.''
On a second trip, though, they got Wright's attention, and he later sent drawings to them. The couple financed the house with a $25,000 loan from Ms. Bachman's father. Wright assigned Morton Delson to be the on-site apprentice, but after three months, Dr. Wilson fired him. He said the reason was that Mr. Delson was visiting other clients when a bulldozer arrived to do work.
The Wilsons later visited Wright again in New York and asked him to assign another apprentice to the house. But, Dr. Wilson said, Wright refused, saying that Mr. Delson was his ''best apprentice.'' The house was completed without the help of another apprentice; Dr. Wilson said he essentially was the general contractor.
Dr. Wilson said he often worried what would become of the former residence, which ''fit me like a glove.'' But on a recent visit to his old home, he said, he was filled with joy because he felt that the present owners, Lawrence and Sharon Tarantino, deeply appreciated what will always be known as the Bachman-Wilson house.
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