Aaron Resnick House (Usonia Historic District)

The architect and structural engineer Aaron Resnick (1914-1986) designed twelve houses in the Usonia Historic District, including the custom home for he and his wife Mildred on Bayberry Drive. The Resnicks moved into their Usonia homein 1949, the first home in the cooperative to be occupied. The south side of the Resnick House was positioned to “greet the sunshine” with large walls of windows and expansive spaces allocated for dining, reading, and entertaining. The northern side is built into a steeply sloping hill and contains primarily storage and sleeping space. The Resnick House is included in the Usonia Historic District, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.

A native New Yorker and graduate of Brooklyn Technical High School, Aaron Resnick studied architecture at New York University and engineering at the City University of New York. He taught both architecture and engineering at the New York Institute of Technology from 1965 to 1985.

The Usonia home where Resnick and his wife Mildred lived was Site 52 on the original Usonia master plan. It is a one-story polygonal residence and contains a flat roof with overhanging eaves and is set into a steeply sloping hill. The home was constructed of concrete slab, beige-painted horizontal cypress siding, clerestory windows, red brick, and a red concrete floor. The rear elevation is marked by a wide brick chimney. There is a carport at the driveway level that is connected to a trellised path to the house entrance. 

In addition to the Usonia homes in Pleasantville, NY, Aaron Resnick also designed a Usonia home in Lagrangeville, NY. 

1. Carponen, Claire. “Usonian style home by Aaron Resnick hits the market in New York.” The Spaces. https://thespaces.com/usonian-style-home-by-aaron-resnick-hits-the-market-in-new-york. Accessed Oct 23, 2021. 
2. Reisley, Roland. Usonia, New York: Building a Community with Frank Lloyd Wright. Princeton Architectural Press. 2003.
3. Riklin, Scott. “Usonia Community Remembers Its Past.” New York Times. Aug 30, 1981.
4. “Usonia Historic District #12000600.” National Register of Historic Places. United States Department of the Interior/National Park Service. Sept 5, 2012. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75323279