Twin Ports Couple Saves Historic Frank Lloyd Wright Home By Relocating It Piece By Piece [VIDEO]
Peter and Julene McKinney owned a home 20 miles West of Duluth that was designed bu famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The home was built for Peter's grandparents back in the 1950's. This home like most of his designs had big windows and a low profile. They named the home Mäntylä, which is Finnish for "of the pines." A perfect name for a home in Northern Minnesota.
The McKinneys enjoyed many years in the magnificent and unique home, but the strip mall was closing in and they tried for many years to try and sell all with no luck. Here is where there story takes a twist. All the way across the country in Pennsylvania a gentleman by the name of Tom Papinchak and his wife, Heather had bought a massive property in 2003 where two homes built by Frank Lloyd Wrights apprentices, Peter Berndtson.
Tom a license contractor said to CBS News what sparked his interest in these homes to which he replied "For myself, it's childhood memory." Tom worked night and day to restore the two old houses and when they were finished they started offering tours and then people started staying the night. When the McKineys house no longer fit the area they they approached Tom to see if he was interested in purchasing their home, taking it apart and moving it to Pennsylvania and he said yes!
So, the house was carefully deconstructed from every bolt and shingle cataloged and shipped then put back together at it's final destination. This seems absolutely unbelievable to me that Papinchak and his crew were able to put this entire house back together exactly how it was originally built. What a fantastic ending to a rather sad story and preserving a piece of history for all to enjoy for years to come.