The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Seamour and Gerte Shavin House on Chattanooga’s Missionary Ridge is for sale for the first time in the property’s more-than-75-year history.
At 334 N. Crest Road, the home was commissioned by newlyweds Seamour and Gerte Shavin in 1949 and completed in 1952. Owned by the Shavin family since then, it is now listed at $1.6 million.
“As the only residence in Tennessee designed by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright, this home holds extraordinary architectural and historical significance,” listing agent Sandy Poe, with Alliance Sotheby’s International Realty, said in an email. “Its rarity gives it undeniable prestige and makes it a true collector’s property.”
The Shavin House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993 and became the only property in Chattanooga to be designated a local historical landmark in 1995.
“The architecture is simply unparalleled,” Poe said. “Wright’s seamless integration of architecture, nature and timeless design creates a true masterpiece.”
(READ MORE: Tennessee’s only Frank Lloyd Wright house sits on Missionary Ridge)
The home has many of the signature features of the Usonian style promoted by Wright, including the use of native materials such as Tennessee crab orchard stone, which is laid horizontally with edges protruding from the line of the wall to resemble ledges.
It also features clerestory windows with custom wood screens and mitered corner windows to let in the natural light and blend the indoors with the outdoors – all common elements of the Usonian style, as is the cantilevered carport roof and hidden entrance.
“The harmony of natural wood, stone and glass, anchored by the home’s impressive stone foundation, creates a space that is both breathtaking and deeply connected to its surroundings,” Poe said.
The home is 1,784 square feet with three bedrooms, two full and two half bathrooms and sits on a 0.89-acre lot with views of the Tennessee River and Lookout Mountain.
“The original family has lovingly cared for this home for generations,” Poe said. “Now, this remarkable property is ready for its next steward, someone who will cherish its architectural significance and continue preserving its extraordinary legacy.”
Seamour Shavin grew up in Chattanooga at the foot of Missionary Ridge, and he purchased the property on the ridge where the home sits before his marriage to Gerte Shavin, their daughter Karen Shavin said by phone.
Karen Shavin’s aunt lived in a house in New York that was designed by one of Wright’s apprentices, and in 1948, Seamour and Gerte Shavin wrote to Wright to ask if he could recommend someone to design a house for them, she said.
“Mr. Wright wrote back, ‘The best one I know is myself,’ and they did not anticipate that answer,” said Karen Shavin, who was born in 1949. “They were just ordinary people who wanted to build a beautiful house to raise a family in.”
Wright was then at the height of his career, and it took years of prodding from her parents before they finally got the plans in 1951. They paid $33,000 for the house, the architect’s fee and all of the furnishings, she said.
Her father served as the general contractor of the house, and he lived there until he died in 2005.
“He used to tell me that the house was like a child to him, and I often would joke and say, ‘Which did you love better, me or the house?'” she said. “He never answered.”
Gerte Shavin lived there part-time until she died in 2020. Her daughter said she would like to keep the house, but she was unable to afford to buy out her brothers’ shares.
She describes the house as full of light, a place that brings a sense of peace and the feeling that one is sitting among the clouds.
“My mother used to always say that you really can’t appreciate this house unless you spent time there,” Karen Shavin said. “Every time I’m there, I find something new that is beautiful.”
Contact business reporter Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6508.
Emily Crisman became a staff writer for the Chattanooga Times Free Press in 2009. She also writes for Chatter Magazine. Emily graduated with a degree in humanities from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2006.