© Mark Hertzberg (2024)

The Wright World – particularly the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy – celebrates Roland Reisley’s 100th birthday Monday May 20. Reisley still lives in the house that Wright designed for Roland and his late wife, Ronny, in 1951 in “Usonia,” in Pleasantville, New York. He is the only original Wright client still living in his Wright home.

Roland and Ronny working with Wright on the design of their Wright home

Roland was honored as a founding member of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy by Janet Halstead and Richard Longstreth at the 2014 conference in Phoenix.

The Reisley House was the topic of a discussion at the 2014 conference. Susan Jacobs Lockhart moderated.

Roland and Neil Levine chat at the conference.

Roland and Ginny Kazor at the Phoenix conference.

Roland greets conference attendees in his living room during the 2017 conference.

I happened to walk to the 2018 conference meetings at Monona Terrace in Madison from the hotel with Roland one morning. The hallways in Monona Terrace are lined with photographs by Pedro Guerrero, including this one of David Henken, Rolland, and Wright. He pointed the photo out to me and graciously posed for me next to it:

Thank you, Roland, for your friendship, your grace, and your contributions to the Building Conservancy. You have often told people that Wright was not the ogre some people describe him as. You explain that he was very accommodating to you and to Ronny when he was designing your home. My family and I had the privilege of dinner at the house with you and Barbara Coates, thanks to your auctioning such an evening at the Building Conservancy’s annual silent auction.

Barbara and Roland, 2011

Happy birthday, my friend…our friend!

On-line celebration with the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy:

https://savewright.org/happy-100th-birthday-roland-reisley/

Please scroll down for previous posts on the website including, most recently, photos of the newly restored Hillside Theater.