I was 25 when my husband and I bought into the American dream. The open floor plan of the 3-bedroom ranch centered round a great room flanked by modest kitchen and equally modest dining room imbued our little starter home with the grandiosity befitting our growing family and dreams.
At 25, this east coast momma knew very little of America’s greatest architect (wait for it!), or of the prairie covering America’s heartland that proved such an inspiration for the organically inspired Frank Lloyd Wright (tah-dah!).
Then again, what do any of us really know at 25?
Well, actually, at 22, Frank Lloyd Wright knew considerably more than most, particularly this flunky. Well, okay, I graduated college by the time I was 22, which is more than I can say for the master (FLW took a few courses in civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin in 1886, but never received a degree; it’s questionable the self-made man even graduated high school). I delivered my first child just weeks shy of my 23rd birthday. Then again, so did FLW. Well, actually Wright's wife Catherine did the delivering; but I digress.
My point is (yes, there is one buried beneath all the reminiscing), . . .
At 25, this east coast momma knew very little of America’s greatest architect (wait for it!), or of the prairie covering America’s heartland that proved such an inspiration for the organically inspired Frank Lloyd Wright (tah-dah!).
Then again, what do any of us really know at 25?
Well, actually, at 22, Frank Lloyd Wright knew considerably more than most, particularly this flunky. Well, okay, I graduated college by the time I was 22, which is more than I can say for the master (FLW took a few courses in civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin in 1886, but never received a degree; it’s questionable the self-made man even graduated high school). I delivered my first child just weeks shy of my 23rd birthday. Then again, so did FLW. Well, actually Wright's wife Catherine did the delivering; but I digress.
My point is (yes, there is one buried beneath all the reminiscing), . . .
. . . regardless his credentials, if not for the genius of FLW (he is often credited with the invention of the American single-family home), my family and I might still be living in the crowded confines of the big city, yearning for something more, something simple, something modern to enhance the natural beauty of my surroundings.
You gotta admit, Wright's unique Shingle style Oak Park home has curb appeal.
Okay, maybe ‘enhance the natural beauty of my surroundings’ is a stretch; those were the words of FLW. And in 1889 at the ripe old age of 22, true to his word, FLW envisioned something more for the American family, for his family. He built his first home just outside the city of Chicago, in what was then an entirely new concept, the suburb.
The bold design of Wright's modest, three-bedroom Shingle Style home with conventional gabled façade opened out in four directions from a massive central fireplace ‘to take advantage of light, air, and prospect, the enjoyable things one goes to the suburbs to secure;’ so said Wright when promoting his dream of a uniquely American style of architecture. Even the placement of his home, at the back of the lot rather than geometrically centered on the acre of land, encouraged an integration of house and land via a carefully choreographed entrance and melding of the natural surroundings.
Indeed, FLW and I share the same American dream. I just want a unique space where form can follow function; a space where site and structure, interior and exterior, furniture, ornament and architecture are all connected. Wright just knew what I wanted before I even knew what I wanted.
“To thus make a dwelling place a complete work of art . . . this is the modern American opportunity.”
This is where ‘the modern American opportunity’ began. Before there was Wisconsin’s Taliesin, Japan’s Imperial Hotel, Pennsylvania’s Fallingwater and New York’s Guggenheim Museum, there was Frank Lloyd Wright’s Oak Park Home and Studio.
You should see the library! I didn’t even know I wanted a library. Now I do!
The bold design of Wright's modest, three-bedroom Shingle Style home with conventional gabled façade opened out in four directions from a massive central fireplace ‘to take advantage of light, air, and prospect, the enjoyable things one goes to the suburbs to secure;’ so said Wright when promoting his dream of a uniquely American style of architecture. Even the placement of his home, at the back of the lot rather than geometrically centered on the acre of land, encouraged an integration of house and land via a carefully choreographed entrance and melding of the natural surroundings.
Indeed, FLW and I share the same American dream. I just want a unique space where form can follow function; a space where site and structure, interior and exterior, furniture, ornament and architecture are all connected. Wright just knew what I wanted before I even knew what I wanted.
“To thus make a dwelling place a complete work of art . . . this is the modern American opportunity.”
This is where ‘the modern American opportunity’ began. Before there was Wisconsin’s Taliesin, Japan’s Imperial Hotel, Pennsylvania’s Fallingwater and New York’s Guggenheim Museum, there was Frank Lloyd Wright’s Oak Park Home and Studio.
You should see the library! I didn’t even know I wanted a library. Now I do!
The integration of art and architecture nurtured and intellectually sustained FLW; and certainly helped market Wright’s artistic identity.
No wonder FLW was such a genius! His architectural ideas undoubtedly expanded and grew as they bounced off the octagonal walls of his studio library before crystallizing on his desk in the middle of the room. This former geometry teacher was dizzy with delight given the preponderance of polygons and their power to please. There is NO TEST to follow this post, so relax and enjoy the aesthetics of all the mathematics utilized by the premier architect of the twentieth century.
The dynamic design (each new octagon incorporated within the space – walls, ceiling trim, skylight – was slightly rotated) created a spiraling movement upward, toward the light. How clever to place the clerestory windows high enough to eliminate any distractions for prospective clients; I was not so fortunate during all those years of teaching. Even the table legs were octagonal. This organic touch, this tendency to crystallize, was as beautiful as it was natural. The man was truly a genius. It wasn’t long before Wright’s neighbors wanted what he had. Some things never change.
The dynamic design (each new octagon incorporated within the space – walls, ceiling trim, skylight – was slightly rotated) created a spiraling movement upward, toward the light. How clever to place the clerestory windows high enough to eliminate any distractions for prospective clients; I was not so fortunate during all those years of teaching. Even the table legs were octagonal. This organic touch, this tendency to crystallize, was as beautiful as it was natural. The man was truly a genius. It wasn’t long before Wright’s neighbors wanted what he had. Some things never change.
 The Moore-Dugal residence was the first independent commission in Oak Park (completed in 1895) after FLW left the offices of Adler and Sullivan. |  This full Prairie Style FLW design (1902) was the home of Arthur B. Heurtley. Unlike its contem-poraries, the public spaces, living and dining rooms, are on the top floor, the private spaces, bed-rooms, on the first floor. |  The Prairie Style Laura Gale House was designed by FLW and built in 1906 and is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. |
In short order, the suburb of Oak Park became a monument to FLW’s genius, and prompted Wright to strike out on his own in 1893 when his employer for the last five years, the renowned architect Louis Sullivan, learned of Wright’s moonlighting, an obvious breach of contract. Genius obviously knows no bounds.
More than a third of Wright’s life’s work was produced between 1898 and 1909 following the addition of Wright’s Studio to his Oak Park home.
I promise I’ll get to Wright’s home, the impetus for today’s post, but I may as well finish our tour of his Studio first.
More than a third of Wright’s life’s work was produced between 1898 and 1909 following the addition of Wright’s Studio to his Oak Park home.
I promise I’ll get to Wright’s home, the impetus for today’s post, but I may as well finish our tour of his Studio first.
100+ years later, the original tree growing within the passageway is no longer alive.
Completed in 1897, Wright’s studio was impressive. Ever the naturalist, the passageway connecting Wright's home to his studio included a tree.
 Wright's limestone plaque bears the logo of a cross within a circle within a square. The circle represents the infinite, the square, integrity and tangibility. |  One of my personal favorites was the whimsical designs of the loggia columns. Those are storks (perhaps a nod to FLW’s 6 children) just below the tree of life from which a scroll of architectural plans uunrolls. |
We (me, Jimmy, travel buddies Joan and Jerry and a handful of other FLW fans who were part of our tour group) entered the Studio the same way clients did over a hundred years ago, through a low loggia off Chicago Avenue.
Although facing a busy street, the Reception Room was an oasis of calm.
The warmth of the Reception Hall, courtesy of all the natural wood, hinted at the organic nature inherent in Wright’s vision. The filtered light from three art glass skylights added to the profound calm of the space. Drafting tables gave substance to the dreams to be realized within this space.
Duck and cover.
To the right, just steps away, the Library. Access was achieved via a hallway with the classic low ceiling, a signature Wright technique designed to add drama and impact as one walked toward the light of each new space that opened up to reveal the majesty of his designs.
Not a stretch to understand how so many might come to worship Wright's vision.
More drama awaited in the Drafting Room to the left, the first of Wright’s top-lit open-plan workrooms.
The space was a font of inspiration courtesy of an abundance of planes and angles and natural light, topped with a magnificent dome; octagonal, of course.
How can you go wrong with Wright!
To eliminate the columns typically used to support a second floor mezzanine, a system of horizontal chains were suspended from the beams of the dome and joined to form a tension ring that do the job of the columns. How clever is that!
 Not too shabby for an office cubicle! |  Wow! I think I may have missed my calling. |
All the furnishings for the room were designed by FLW, from the drafting tables to the free-standing cabinets to the hanging Holophane spheres that provided illumination.
Wright employed as many as six apprentice architects as demand for his Prairie style homes grew, including notable designers such as Lucy Mahony, Francis Barry Byrne and William Eugene Drummond, all of whom went on to establish their own measure of architectural success.
Wright employed as many as six apprentice architects as demand for his Prairie style homes grew, including notable designers such as Lucy Mahony, Francis Barry Byrne and William Eugene Drummond, all of whom went on to establish their own measure of architectural success.
Not too sure about that FLW chair. Even Wright admitted he was black & blue from sitting in his own chairs.
Tucked around the corner and separated from the drafting room was Wright’s own office, where more of the same design elements (art glass in the three-panel window and in the large skylight, clean horizontal lines, and simple, minimalistic furnishings) artfully created another space infused with warmth and beauty.
“Every idea that is a true idea has a form, and is capable of many forms. The variety of forms of which it is capable determines the value of the idea. So by way of ideas, and your mastery of them in relation to what you are doing, will come your value as an architect to your society and future. That's where you go to school. You can't get it in a university, you can't get it here, you can't get it anywhere except as you love it, love the feeling of it, desire and pursue it. And it doesn't come when you are very young, I think. I believe it comes faster with each experience, and the next is very simple, or more simple, until it becomes quite natural to you to become master of the idea you would express."
~ Frank Lloyd Wright, "Idea and Essence" September 7, 1958
Next installment - Frank Lloyd Wright's Oak Park home, the catalyst for a lifetime of achievement.
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“Every idea that is a true idea has a form, and is capable of many forms. The variety of forms of which it is capable determines the value of the idea. So by way of ideas, and your mastery of them in relation to what you are doing, will come your value as an architect to your society and future. That's where you go to school. You can't get it in a university, you can't get it here, you can't get it anywhere except as you love it, love the feeling of it, desire and pursue it. And it doesn't come when you are very young, I think. I believe it comes faster with each experience, and the next is very simple, or more simple, until it becomes quite natural to you to become master of the idea you would express."
~ Frank Lloyd Wright, "Idea and Essence" September 7, 1958
Next installment - Frank Lloyd Wright's Oak Park home, the catalyst for a lifetime of achievement.
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