How Sydney Discovered Frank Lloyd Wright

Alfred Hitchcock was in town to promote his latest thriller, North by Northwest (1959) and John Reid was about to commence building his Bruce Rickard-designed house at Castle Hill, north-west of the city. It called for the kind of rustic random coursed masonry which featured in the set in the tense closing scenes of Hitchcock’s movie, jutting out at the top of the mountain. Reid rang Hitchcock and inquired about the house, which had been specially constructed for the film and was not an actual Frank Lloyd Wright house. Hitchcock was helpful and suggested to Reid he contact the studio and have MGM send him stills from the movie.

The Reid house is on Old North Road as it approaches the ridge on the steep slope looking south over Castle Hill. Reid showed the stills to the stonemasons, who at first reacted with disdain, but when Reid insisted, they agreed. The resulting rustic effect of the irregular finished masonry so impressed them they used it in later work.

Years later, Peter…