Tour
Information
The Massaro family, owners of Petra Island and
PetraIsland Tours in Mahopac, New York, is excited to announce they will be opening
their home and begin hosting tours of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Chahroudi House and
Massaro House on June 6, 2023. The 90-minute, semi-private tours will be held during
three different time slots on Tuesdays and Wednesdays through October 3, 2023.
Tours include the
Chahroudi House, the Massaro House and a short walk of the grounds. “This is a
very exclusive, limited tour for 10 people at a time to see one of Frank Lloyd
Wright’s masterpieces,” shares Joseph Massaro, who built the home. “Wright was
commissioned by the Chahroudi family and asked to build his masterpiece, with
no financial restraint. The Massaro House is his only design that was built
after his death, on the exact location it was intended for.”
Tour visitors
will enjoy a quick boat ride to the private, pristine 11-acre Petra Island
situated in the middle of Lake Mahopac. Onsite tours are then guided by a
Massaro family member, Joseph, Barbara, Jennifer or Donna who is owner and chef
at The Freight House Café, also in Mahopac—a delicious place nearby for a
healthy bite before or after a tour.
Behind the
Masterpiece
Joseph Massaro, who fell in love with Lake Mahopac when he
was 16 years old, shares that originally, he
never intended to buy Petra Island. However, after visiting the island a few times
and discovering the owner was in financial trouble, he came up with a plan to
purchase the island and build the famed Wright home. “I started thinking about building
the house after I sold my company, I
was getting bored and needed something to
do. I really never thought that the town would let me build it because of the 100-foot setback from the lake required,” he explains.
“The challenges were many. It took two years to get the permits
and four years to build the house. What kept me motivated was I had an
opportunity to build a masterpiece. And my goal was to produce the house
exactly as Wright envisioned it.”
Along this journey, Massaro wrote the book The Impossible Road,
which details his climb to success and includes stories of the hurdles he
encountered while building the house.
A Visitor’s Perspective
Natural Awakenings Westchester/Putnam/Dutchess Publisher Dana
Boulanger was invited to tour the island last month. “This island is not only
home to Joe Massaro, but also his pride and joy,” she shares. “Frank Lloyd
Wright designed it in 1949 and Joe built it in 2008. Now he’s ready to share
this wonder with the world.”
Boulanger attests that the home and island feel like sacred space. “This tour offers a unique inside look at a renowned architectural
design, pared with a man’s motivation
to achieve the unachievable, which led to an inspirational masterpiece. It’s
not only inspiring due to the
architecture, but even more so by Joe’s personal story on how someone who is
inspired, determined and mindful can create such a magnificent example of
architecture in harmony with nature. It is truly divine. I didn’t want to
leave.”
Cost: $150 per person. Ages 12 and older welcome. For more information,
email [email protected] or visit WrightOverWater.com. The
Impossible Road: From the First Seat in the Dumb Row to My Own Private Island
can be found at The Freight House Café, located at 609 Rte. 6,
Mahopac, NY, or on Amazon.com.
Photos in this spread were supplied by Petra Island Tours and supplemented
with additional shots taken by Natural Awakenings Westchester/Putnam/Dutchess
during Boulanger's tour.
