Avery Drawings & Archives recently acquired the papers of David T. Henken, an architect and engineer who was the founder of Usonia, a cooperative community in Westchester County, New York, founded on principles espoused by Frank Lloyd Wright in his designs for “Broadacre City.”
Henken first encountered Wright’s ideas for Broadacre and Usonian architecture during the 1940 MoMA exhibition, “Frank Lloyd Wright, American Architect.” Shortly afterwards, Henken and his wife, Priscilla, decided to join the Taliesin Fellowship to work more closely with Wright. They spent two years apprenticing within the Fellowship. While at Taliesin, Henken approached Wright about collaborating on the design of a cooperative community in New York. Wright agreed to create the site plan and community facilities and served as the consulting architect for the entire project.
Upon returning to New York in 1943, the Henkens diligently began planning the creation of a cooperative housing community of Usonian-inspired homes. The Henkens hosted meetings in their apartment for interested individuals with the goal of enlisting fifty families in the cooperative. By the end of 1944, a committed group of thirteen families had agreed to join the initiative. After a challenging search for suitable land and an even more complex process to secure a shared mortgage for the co-op, Usonia Homes, Inc. broke ground in 1948.
Frank Lloyd Wright designed the master plan for Usonia, creating circular plots for each resident. A design panel, led by Henken and Aaron Resnick, was established to oversee the approval of house designs proposed by various architects commissioned by the homeowners. Henken acted as the facilitator between the community and Wright. Initially, Wright was tasked with approving the design of every home to be built within the community. However, tensions began to mount on both sides of the relationship, often leaving David Henken caught in the middle. The community felt that Wright dismissed their preferred designs and architects and that his suggestions frequently pushed them over budget. Conversely, Wright grew frustrated with the process and expressed discontent over not receiving full payment for his services. Amid these pressures, the Design Panel, overseen by Henken, was eventually dissolved, and Wright severed his association with the cooperative.
Disputes continued, and by 1955, the cooperative ownership structure was dismantled, transitioning to a model more akin to a homeowners association. Deeply disappointed and disillusioned by these fundamental changes, Henken withdrew from Usonian Homes, Inc. Although he retained his home in the community, he no longer was a member in the cooperative.
David’s career continued as he worked as a builder and architect, undertaking notable commissions, including the construction and oversight of a Usonian house for the “Sixty Years of Living Architecture” exhibition at the site of the future Guggenheim Museum.
The Henken Papers expand upon materials already held by Drawings & Archives in the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation archive and offer an interesting vantage point on the evolving political, social, and financial landscape of post-war America. The collection notably documents the rising cost of residential construction and provides insights into how middle-class families adapted their concept of home to reflect their new circumstances.
Most significantly, the collection documents both the achievements and shortcomings of implementing Frank Lloyd Wright’s utopian principles for Broadacre City. A central tension in Wright’s vision is the challenge of balancing individual expression and freedom with the need for equality and collective action within a democratic community. This conflict is vividly illustrated in the development and outcomes of the Usonian community in Westchester, New York. The collections also sheds light on the complexities involved in building a Usonian house. Designed as affordable homes for middle-class Americans, these houses often turned out to be prohibitively expensive, significantly exceeding initial cost estimates. The site-specific nature and uniquely Wrightian features of the design complicated construction, driving up prices and challenging contractors who were unfamiliar with Wright’s vision.
Archivists will begin to process the Henken Papers during the summer of 20206. Please contact avery-drawings@columbia.edu with any inquiries about these materials.