A Frank Lloyd Wright-Inspired Home in Brookline

The body of the house is intentionally asymmetrical, but the lawn is precisely delineated by a low granite curb. Shallow steps lead from the patio to the grass and enhance the home’s presence and height.

Pavers guide guests across the driveway to the covered main entrance; even the homeowners prefer to enter this way and enjoy the dramatic views beyond the front door rather than utilizing the side-garage entry.

Perez and the owners collaborated on the interior design. The living room showcases walls of both smooth and cleft Jerusalem limestone, with exterior views of the back lawn and intentionally placed landscaping elements.

Rather than seeing this desired fireplace as an obstacle, Perez emphasized the utilitarian need for a hearth and wood storage by enlarging both to allow for see-through views of the living room and yard.

The body of the house is intentionally asymmetrical, but the lawn is precisely delineated by a low granite curb. Shallow steps lead from the patio to the grass and enhance the home’s presence and height.

Partially filmed windows enhance privacy in the primary bath where concrete-tile floors are enlivened by crushed-glass edging.

Horizontal fireplaces in the living room and primary bedroom allow TVs to be set at a more natural eye level than a typical hearth.

A showstopping sunken waterfall adds color, beauty, sound, and movement to what might otherwise have been a rather cloistered basement apartment and deck.

The primary bath and covered open-air dining room overlook what Ryan refers to as a multilevel at-home resort that includes a second waterfall crossed by floating pavers.

A Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired home in Brookline, Massachusetts, didn’t take quite as long to build as Jerusalem, but the seven-year project was ultimately a triumphant collaboration among the triumvirate of designer, landscape architect, and owner, incorporating elements from the Holy City as well as honoring Wright’s famous design edict, “I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.”

Even at the sketch stage, architect Adolfo Perez’s contemporary design envisioned a deep connection with the surrounding landscape. The owner, who grew up in Israel, requested the buff-colored Jerusalem limestone used extensively in the flat-roofed, multitiered home; Perez’s inspiration was to put a cleft finish on the stone to give it an organic look.

The setting appears secluded, but that’s largely the work of Tom Ryan of Ryan Associates Landscape Architecture, not the Creator. The acre lot, while sufficient to accommodate the home, pool, garage, patios, and cabana, was within neighbors’ eyesight, challenging Perez’s vision of a home that sits at the lot’s highest point. It’s hardly obvious, but Ryan strategically sited nearly every tree, bush, and planting to obscure abutters’ sight lines or provide visual interest from inside the home, where an abundance of glass includes both floor-to-ceiling windows and more narrow openings that break up blank walls.

Wright’s Fallingwater is famous for the stream and waterfall that seemingly flow through the house; the Brookline home’s corollary is a stepped waterfall enlivening the courtyard of a below-grade in-law apartment. Glimpses of the cascade can be had from other rooms in the house, too. Virtually every interior room is paired with some form of exterior space. “My idea was to put grass on that slope, but that’s why you have landscape architects,” says Perez with a laugh.

The communion among the trinity that conceived the home is best expressed in the backyard, where Perez’s covered outdoor dining room—capped with a private deck for the primary bedroom—flows easily into Ryan’s tiered patios surrounding an infinity-edge pool.

Ryan describes the pool area, with its fireplace pit, outdoor bar, and spa, as an in-home resort that helps create a sense of drama and elevation for the home. Viewed from above, it acts as a visual attraction in the summer but takes a backseat to the wooded landscape in the winter. “All of the spaces in this home are intentional and have a reason for being,” says Ryan.

Project Team
Architecture: Adolfo Perez Architect
Landscape design: Ryan Associates Landscape Architecture