Up for auction in May, the Winton Guest House was the project a young Frank Gehry used to further develop his deconstructionism.
From above, the whimsical structure looks like the final submission from a team of grade-school architects, toy blocks and Seussical structural analysis at play. A sculpture and architectural experiment with shapes clad in stone, Finnish plywood, and lead-coated copper, the 1987 Winton Guest House was the playful creation of a then on-the-rise architect named Frank Gehry. Designed for Mike and Penny Winton, Minneapolis residents who needed more space than their Philip Johnson-designed brick home could provide, the commission proved a pivotal one for the future Pritzker winner; you can start to see the curves that would would soon ribbon into his signature style. After a series of moves over the last few years-the Wintons sold the property in 2002, and then the new owner donated the guest home to the University of St. Thomas, which moved it 110 miles to Owatonna-it's now being sold by Wright Auctions on May 19, 2015. Dwell spoke with Richard Wright and a few architectural experts to understand what makes the Winton Guest House such an important creation.
