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TLS, one page, 11 x 8.5, red 'Taliesen' box letterhead, July 15, 1946. Letter of recommendation from Frank Lloyd Wright: “Peter Berndtson has worked with me as apprentice for about nine years. During that time his experience has varied from the elements of design to the detailing and superintendence of the erection of actual buildings. He is not only competent as an architect having devoted himself faithfully to his training with me at Taliesin but has a large measure of capacity as a designer and a builder of good buildings. I am happy to recommend him to anyone desiring the services of an architect.” In fine condition. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope.
Peter Berndtson (1909-1972) was an American architect and former apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright whose work helped extend Wrightian design principles throughout western Pennsylvania after World War II. Born in Massachusetts, Berndtson studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before leaving school following the death of his father. In 1938, he joined Wright’s Taliesin Fellowship, where he trained directly under Frank Lloyd Wright and participated in projects associated with the master architect’s studio, including work connected to the Guggenheim Museum.
While at Taliesin, Berndtson met fellow apprentice Cornelia Brierly, whom he later married. The couple settled in western Pennsylvania and became closely associated with the regional continuation of Wright-inspired organic architecture. Wright himself held Berndtson in especially high regard, as reflected in this 1946 recommendation letter written shortly before Berndtson became a registered Pennsylvania architect.
Over the course of his career, Berndtson designed more than eighty houses, approximately thirty of which were ultimately constructed. His best-known surviving work is now associated with Polymath Park in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania, located near Wright’s Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob. The site preserves two important Berndtson-designed homes and has become a notable center for the study and appreciation of mid-century organic architecture.
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