Saturday, October 31, 2015

Oak Park, IL (10/31/2015)

Saturday, October 31, 2015
Arrgh! Rained all day!
After a motel breakfast, we drove into Oak Park, IL. Since we had time, we scouted out some of the outlying houses designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
George W Smith House (1898) at 404 Home Avenue,
designed in Shingle Queen Anne style,
for a salesman of Marshall Field and Company
The Smith house was one of a series of low-cost homes designed by Wright in 1895 for Charles E Roberts.
Rollin Furbeck House (1897) at 515 Fair Oaks Avenue,
in a transitional design experimenting with vertical elements,
Wright's first cruciform-pinwheel layout,
as a wedding gift for a stockbroker
William G Fricke House (1901-1902) at 540 Fair Oaks Avenue,
one of the first of Wright's Prairie style,
for a partner in a school supply firm
Fricke House decorated for Halloween
Edwin H Cheney House (1903) at 520 N East Avenue,
a one-story home with raised basement,
for an electrical engineer
It was when designing the Cheney house that Wright became involved with the wife, Mamah Borthwick Cheney, and in 1909 they ran away to Europe together.
Inventor Harry C Goodrich House (1896) at 534 N East Avenue,
also one of the low-cost homes designed for Charles Roberts,
unique because of the narrow clapboards
William E Martin House (1903) at 636 N East Avenue,
built vertically due to a small lot,
for the owner of the Martin Stove Polish Company
William Martin's brother, Darwin, saw this house and immediately commissioned Wright to design an office building and homes for him in Buffalo, NY.
Harry S Adams House (1913) at 710 Augusta Boulevard,
designed in Prairie style and the last of Wright's Oak Park houses
We drove to the Frank Lloyd Wright House and Studio for a 10:00 tour.
Wright Studio (1898) at 951 Chicago Avenue
Studio entrance columns, designed by Richard Bock,
with the tree of life, the book of knowledge,
an architectural scroll, and two storks
full of wisdom and fertility
Frank Lloyd Wright House (1889, 1895 addition),
in Shingle style adopted from Wright's earlier employer,
architect Joseph Lyman Silsbee,
influenced by East Coast beach cottages
Contemplative Sprite (original 1913)
by Alfonso Ianelli, which was part of
Midway Gardens, since demolished in 1929
Wright designed Midway Gardens in the Hyde Park section of Chicago, as a European-style concert garden. It was demolished in 1929, along with most of the Sprites.
Ginkgo tree that predates
Wright's ownership of the property
Finally out of the rain and into the house.

The foyer's Pergamom Altar frieze was
typical of Victorian architecture of the time
Inglenook/Chimney corner,
makes the hearth the heart of the home
Living room with Wright-designed chairs
In his early working years, Wright supplemented his income
by buying and selling Japanese prints, and designed this display table
Apparently Wright placed the light in the hallway
to create these designs on the floor
Dining room (1895) where the high-backed chairs
create a room within a room;
Wright also created the recessed lighting
In 1898, Wright's 2nd floor studio was divided and
made into the girls' and boys' bedrooms
Master bedroom
Bathroom with wood panels that
show a Japanese influence
The bathroom has a right angle window for privacy
Wright-designed armchair rocker
Children's Playroom (1895)
with mural by by Orlando Giannini,
a scene from Arabian Nights
Playroom window panel 
Playroom skylight
The playroom lights were added after Wright's 1905 trip to Japan
Most of the downspout is covered
The drafting area of the studio and balcony
use two systems of chains
to avoid needing supporting columns
Amazing art glass skylight in the studio reception area
Wright's studio library where the octagonal
pattern is rotated several times
(note the straight line above the center "corner")
Boulder (1898) by Richard Bock
Wright could only afford two casts of a single sculpture of Boulder, rather than two sculptures, so he rotated one 90 degrees to make it look like a different sculpture.
Frank Lloyd Wright Studio in front of his house (KSS)
The next three houses are considered "bootleg" houses because they were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, but not officially because he had promised to work exclusively for Adler & Sullivan when he borrowed $5,000 from them to build his own home.
Attorney Robert P Parker House (1892) at 1019 Chicago Avenue,
in adapted Queen Anne style for Thomas Gale (KSS)
Realtor Thomas H Gale House (1892)
at 1027 Chicago Avenue,
essentially the same as the previous house (KSS)
Druggist Walter Gale House (1893)
at 1031 Chicago Avenue (KSS)
Attorney Francis J Woolley House (1893) at 1030 Superior Street,
a modified Four Square (KSS)
William H Copeland House (1873, Wright designed the garage in 1908,
and remodeled the house in 1909) at 400 Forest Avenue (KSS)
Banker Arthur B Heurtley House (1902) at 318 Forest Avenue,
shows Wright's emphasis on the horizontal line (KSS)
Attorney Nathan G Moore House (1895, reconstructed by Wright
in 1923 after a fire) at 333 Forest Avenue,
designed in Tudor style according to the wishes of the owner,
with Sullivan-esque details
Attorney Edward R Hills House (1874,
remodeled by Wright in 1906) at 313 Forest Avenue
Mrs Thomas H Gale House (1909)
at 6 Elizabeth Court; Wright considered this
the progenitor of his Fallingwater design
Banker Peter A Beachey House (Gothic house remodeled
by Wright in 1906) at 238 Forest Avenue
Frank W Thomas House (1901) at 210 Forest Avenue,
considered to be Wright's first true Prairie style design
Bust of Frank Lloyd Wright (1981) by Egon Weiner
at entrance to Austin Gardens on Forest Avenue
After lunch, we went to Unity Temple, designed by Wright in 1905, but the building was completely wrapped in plastic-covered scaffolding.
Harrison P Young (purchasing agent) House (1870s,
remodeled by Wright in 1895)
at 335 N Kenilworth Avenue, said to be in "Medieval Revival" style
Oscar B Balch (interior decorator) House (1911)
at 611 N Kenilworth Avenue, one of Wright's first commissions
after returning from Europe
Charles E Roberts Stable House
(1896, later remodeled into a residence by Charles E White, Jr)
at 317 N Euclid Avenue
Charles E Roberts Main House (1879 designed by Burnham & Root,
with an interior remodel by Wright in 1896) at 321 N Euclid Avenue
George W Furbeck House (1897, porch enclosed in 1920)
at 223 N Euclid Avenue, designed during the period of
experimentation and use of octagonals
End of the Frank Lloyd Wright houses.
Sharpe House/Elizabeth E Cheney Mansion (1913,
designed by Charles E White, Jr, a student of Wright,
in Tudor Revival style) at 220 N Euclid Avenue
Ernest Hemingway Birthplace (1890,
designed by Wesley A Arnold
in Queen Anne style) at 339 N Oak Park Avenue
In the evening we attended the surprise birthday party for Cheryl T.
Cheryl's sons-in-law Max and Drew,
with grandsons Miles and Elio
Cheryl, Sonja holding Elio, Cecelia, Michael holding Miles, and Stuart
A Family Feud game was played, using answers to
questions sent to all the invitees (KSS)
Massive quantities leftovers
One of five birthday cakes!
Happy Speed Limit Birthday, Cheryl!