Taliesin Woof: Frank Lloyd Wright doghouse rebuilt and on tour | MNN – Mother Nature Network

In 1956, 12-year-old Jim Berger decided that it was high time that his loyal black Lab, Eddie, got a proper backyard doghouse. So, Berger took it upon himself to pen a letter to the same architect that designed his family’s home in Saint Anselmo, Calif. In his letter, Berger asked the architect if he would be so kind as to design the doghouse himself as so the two structures would not clash. He offered to pay for the design with money earned on his paper route.

Wrote Berger in his letter, dated June 19, 1956: “I would appreciate it if you would design me a doghouse, which would be easy to build, but would go with our house … (My dog) is two and a half feet high and three feet long. The reasons I would like this doghouse is for the winters mainly.” Berger also made sure to inform the architect of Eddie‘s age: Four (human years), 28 (dog years).

The architect responded to Berger’s query, explaining to him that he was too busy at the moment to take on such an «opportunity» but would consider it later in the year when his schedule was less hectic. «I may have something then,» he wrote. In November of that year, Berger followed up with a second letter and, lo and behold, the architect then sent him a set of drawings outlining the design of Eddie’s doghouse. The architect took on his young client’s project gratis.

Oh, and did I mention that the architect that Berger solicited to design Eddie’s backyard digs was some totally obscure guy in Wisconsin named Frank Lloyd Wright?

In 1956, 88-year-old Wright probably had a few important things on his mind (i.e. the construction of what’s arguably his most iconic creation, the Guggenheim Museum in New York) other than indulging the child of a former client in Marin Country, Calif. And Wright wasn’t exactly known for being a warm and fuzzy kind of guy prone to striking up correspondences with juvenile dog owners — Wright’s legacy of arrogance, recklessness, and personal turmoil is just as famous as the hundreds upon hundreds of buildings that he brought to life. Yet somehow, Berger got through to one of the 20th century’s greatest — and most difficult — geniuses.