Wharton vs Wright: The Woman Who Wrote Houses vs The Man Who Built Them

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EDITH WHARTON vs WRIGHT go head to head — and every jab is rooted in real history.

EDITH WHARTON

Before my first novel I wrote 'The Decoration of Houses' - proportion, privacy, doors that close; a room should shelter the soul, not exhibit it.

WRIGHT

Doors that close? I abolished the box, Mrs. Wharton - I let space flow so a family could actually live instead of hiding in velvet compartments.

EDITH WHARTON

Your open plans are marvelous in a magazine and miserable in January; I've seen your Fallingwater leak on the very clients who worshipped you.

WRIGHT

It leaked because they lived long enough to complain - a house should be a verb, not a mausoleum full of your inherited chairs.

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