This photo provided by Jim Berger shows a copy of a June 19, 1956 letter Berger wrote to Frank Lloyd Wright. (AP/AP)
When Jim Berger, now 68, was 12 years old, he wrote to Wright and asked him for a design for his black Labrador, Eddie, offering to pay for the work with money from his paper route, according to the Associated Press.
“I would appreciate it if you would design me a doghouse, which would be easy to build, but would go with our house...,” read the letter dated June 19, 1956. “(My dog) is two and a half feet high and three feet long. The reasons I would like this doghouse is for the winters mainly.”
After another exchange of letters six months later, Berger received the plans, free of charge. The original doghouse was destroyed, but a reconstructed version of it will be touring the country for screenings of “Romanza,” a documentary about the architect, directed by Michael Miner.
Though Berger has beagles who could use it, he hopes that he can donate the doghouse to a museum, instead. See photos of the doghouse, and a trailer for “Romanza,” below.
Jim Berger poses next to a dog house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, in Glendale, Calif. (Alisse Gratehouse/AP)
Jim Berger displays the plans for a doghouse that architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed for him, in his Orangevale, Calif. home. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP)
