This was our last full day together in Chicago. Fortunately we awoke to blue skies as today we had arranged to visit Frank Lloyd Wright's studio and home. We picked up the Green Line to Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago where there are more of Lloyd Wright's prairie style home buildings than anywhere else in the world. This was our first venture into the suburbs of Chicago and we wished we had seen a little more.
There were numerous places to eat and we decided we would visit a Greek restaurant once we had completed our tour.
It was a really interesting tour. Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) was an architect well ahead of his time.
Everything was designed by him, including these plant holders.
We walked round to the front entrance of his home where the tour began.
More than a third of his work was produced here at Oak Park. He moved here in 1889. We had an informative tour guide taking us round but as usual I can't remember much of what he told us!
I do recall that the master bedroom had an en suite bathroom though.
He made the most of windows bringing as much light as possible into the room. Furniture was comfortable and there was a lot of storage space so rooms were not cluttered in any way.
The Dining room
A photo of one of his wives and their children. He was married three times and had a total of eight children.
This was the children's' playroom
Window in the ceiling of the playroom.
This is where his students worked.
A gallery above the work spaces with windows below the ceiling.
His office where he met the clients.
After the tour we walked through the neighbourhood looking at some of the houses he designed.
In 1905 the Unity Church of Oak Park was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. The congregation commissioned Lloyd Wright to design a new building for them. He built an all concrete building cast at the site.
The building has been in continuous use since 1908 and is now a World Heritage Unesco site. It has been used, as he intended, as a church, for community events and concerts because of its superb acoustics.
We spent most of the day in Oak Park but returned to downtown Chicago to go for a final meal in the Dearborn restaurant which had been recommended. I had the catch of the day which was hake with asparagus and morel mushrooms. This was followed by salted caramel ice cream with brownies. A very large cocktail completed our last night in Chicago.
His office where he met the clients.
What a wonderful day to finish off this incredible journey! Thank you for all your commentary and pictures. I've enjoyed it all immensely. Wright was certainly one of a kind, wasn't he?
ReplyDeleteWright's work is amazing. Thank you for the tour, especially of his own home.
ReplyDeleteOak Park is a pleasure to explore, and yes, FLWright was an architect well ahead of his time. Only the all concrete church looked out of place.
ReplyDeleteThere is a book, Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan, which you might enjoy reading, if you haven't already read it. My book club read it several years ago, and a really great in depth discussion followed.
ReplyDeleteThat all sounds very interesting and enjoyable. Can't help thinking of the Simon and Garfunkle number - 'So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright.'
ReplyDeletegreat trip
ReplyDeleteI see Ana above recommended the book I was thinking of but couldn't recall the title. It is a good read. The only FLWright homes I've see are Falling Waters and Kentuck Knob both SW PA I believe or eastern West Virginia. Both fascinating structures. When we built a house in 2005 our architect took some inspiration from Wright. I think all the built ins for the bedrooms and studies were a Wright touch. Sounds like you had a trip to Chicago filled with architecture. Our big trip in Sept is to Andulicia in Spain.
ReplyDeleteGood to see those happy smiles. I watched a documentary about him recently, his designs really are a glimpse into the past.
ReplyDeleteWright left behind a huge legacy.
ReplyDeleteJust love the last photograph of the two of you ...
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan