Millard House, also known as La Miniatura, is a textile block house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1923 in Pasadena, California. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Recognized by Wright as his earliest “Usonian” house, La Miniatura was the first of Frank Lloyd Wright’s four “textile block” houses — all built in Los Angeles County in 1923 and 1924. And now, this Pasadena house which was originally built for book dealer Alice Millard, (perhaps why it also called ‘Millard House’) is on the market, priced at $4.49 million.
Wrongly named, the house is anything but small. With its 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, 2 kitchens, living room, formal dining room, and semi-attached garages, it is one of the world’s most important works of residential architecture. That classic Frank Lloyd Wright move — the low ceiling — leads from the entry to the airy living room. A blending of traditions can be seen in the way the concrete blocks are juxtaposed with the finely detailed redwood ceiling, doors and windows. Wright arranged the perforations in the blocks to create a concrete shell that feels lighter than it actually is.
Eric Lloyd Wright, the architect’s grandson and a longtime Southern California architect explained the leading reason for critics’ enthusiasm: “The way he set the house in that glen,” he said. Frank Lloyd Wright called for the house to rise above a ravine between two eucalyptus trees, which are still there, forming a cathedral more than 100 feet high over a lily pond.
Wright’s other three textile block homes in the region are Ennis, Freeman and Storer, but some architectural historians regard Millard as the finest.
La Miniatura is up for sale by the listing agent, Crosby Doe.