Frank Lloyd Wright enthusiasts were treated to the last expanded tour this season of the historic Pope-Leighey House at Woodlawn Plantation on Sunday.

The special behind-the-scenes experience featured all kinds of information not typically revealed while touring the home. For example, guide Peter Christensen explained why Frank Lloyd Wright was way ahead of his time when it came to heating and cooling.

"Wright was using some really interesting technology," said Christensen.  "He had a concrete slab floor and he ran water pipes underneath the floor and gave us a radiant floor heating system rather than the hot air system that so many of us are used to."

The Pope-Leighey House differs from many of Wright's designs because it wasn't intended for the wealthy.

"This building was designed to be an affordable house for regular middle class folks," Christensen said.  "Coming out of the Great Depression in the 1930s, Wright was trying to prove he could design an affordable house for middle class folks that was modern."

The house is light-filled and warm with walls of windows and intricate "clear stories," designed to let light filter in through patterns of wood on glass.  Wright wanted homeowners to get back to nature and experience the land they lived on.

"Wright creates wonderful space for you to live in that's connected to the natural world, not isolated from it," Christensen explained. "The house is a little series of surprises."

These expanded tours usually happen the first Sunday of every month. However, Sunday's event marked the last tour of the season. Tours will resume in May 2011. 

"We get good crowds and we get wonderful responses," said Christensen.

Visitors are still welcome to explore the house during the off-season, but Phillip Milliken and his family were glad they caught the last expanded tour.

"I was lucky to get in on this one, this is definitely worth coming out to," Milliken said.  "You get to ask a lot more questions, see things that you normally don't get to see on the tours."

It was Milliken's first time to the house and he couldn't get over how much Frank Lloyd did with the 1,200 square foot home.

"You can actually live in a much smaller space than you think you can.  Frank Lloyd Wright was very good at architecting a lifestyle," Milliken said.