What a fun day. Not only was the sun shining, but it was a gloriously warm day (around 70 degrees) when we got into Chicago. The drive into Chicago is about 60 miles and took a little over an hour. We wanted to go by the Doubletree Hotel, in downtown, and see where we would be meeting for our “See It All! Chicago” tour tomorrow. While heading into Chicago, we saw the Navy Pier and drove around it. Looks like a really fun place but so much construction is going on. We also saw (of course) the old Sears tower. It’s called Willis Tower now. So much to see, so little time. I felt, at times, like we were back in Europe and then I felt it was like old and new Europe. So many columns, mostly ionic capitals, some Doric and a few Corinthian.
The skyline.Apparently a space ship landed in the old arena, they gutted it out and called the remodel done.Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears.Field Museum, we hope to go.Shedd Aquarium.Lakeshore Drive and a small part of the skyline.Navy Pier, mostly commercial so we didn’t go in search of things to buy.Statue to a character for being a character.Fun sights.Huge home dwarfed by skyscrapers.Familiar signs.Interesting buildings abound.Driving and not sure, but neat looking.Public art abounds.Edie was so excited to see and hear the “L”, short for elevated.A library.
We left the downtown area of Chicago and headed to our tour in Oak Park (we had purchased yesterday on Groupon for $17.00 for two) to the Frank Lloyd Wright home and studio. Before we got to the Frank Lloyd Wright home, we stopped for lunch in Oak Park as we were both hungry and both needed to go to the bathroom. We happened upon a little place called Mikey’s that had really fun pictures of old time Chicago on the walls. I asked a customer (who ate there often) what was good and he told me everything was good. Michael and I both opted for a gyro salad. Way too much food but it was really good.
Started getting into neighborhoods.Looking for the place we thought “this must be it.” We were wrong, but not by much.
We left and went just a few blocks to a beautiful home that Frank Lloyd Wright built, changed and enlarged over the twenty years he lived there. He bought the home when he was 21, right before he married (she was 18). They lived there for twenty years (4 children from his wife and two from his mistress) and you can see the evolution of his architecture during this time. We had a great tour guide, named Daniella, originally from Argentina. She was a fount of information and a font of knowledge, also so kind. Loved her tour! So glad we bumped into Groupon and I’m sure we’ll be using it more and more.
The GPS brought us here.We saw the sign and knew we were in the right place.Off to get our tickets and take the tour.Curved brick planters with round plant holders on top.I thought the house next door was beautiful in its own way.Walking up the drive to get tickets, I liked the reflection off the glass. Learned later it was designed so you could not easily see in from the outside. It’s working.Reproductions of his designs are available in the gift shop.Of course he designed a chess board.A miniature of Nike for sale.A Frank Lloyd Wright umbrella!?Daniella did an excellent job. Grumpy stayed close so he could hear.Built and opened in 1889 and looks contemporary to me today. Large triangle, rectangles of windows and stone chimney and curved brown brick planters changed everything about home building. He removed the welcoming front walk and hid the entrance. You must go on a journey of discovery with eyes wide open.Pretty woman in front of the house and studio.Across the street, Victorians were the dominate house of the day – no others were being built.There was no available electricity in 1889, but Mr Wright knew it was coming and completely wired the house in anticipation of service.Ordered from a catalog. Installed in the entry hallway.He liked reliefs.Wright loved motto’s. His wife, not so much. One of the rare areas of compromise in their early marriage.Expensive living room ceiling at the time.Windows, in diamond pattern, designed to see out and not be seen through from the outside.Mirror above creates illusion of a pass through above the fireplace.Entry living room with furniture he designed.Small black and white photo shows original tree.Children’s dining area.Love of nature. Original house let the tree alone and built around it, making sure not to heat this space in winter so the tree could go dormant. It died and they replanted another to recreate the effect.Compression hallway.Dining room floor.Dining room outside wall.Dining room light source.In the evening the only light source was directly above. When you sat in the chair, the solid wood piece of the back of the chair framed your face. Wright was controlling where you would look and he wanted everyone looking at each other without distraction.High chair, well..both could be called that. When the house next door was built Wright changed the bottom windows to solid panels for privacy.The only thing we were allowed to touch, the handrail.Daniella pointed out the bead work under the lip of the stair step, candy for the eye.Built in cabinets in all the rooms. Upstairs bedroom.Ventilation and the partial wall that seperated the two rooms. One of the kids returned to this house years later and told of how they had pillow fights, throwing them over the wall and the most fun was when someone threw the cat over the wall.Original art, found under 8 layers of wall paper.Other gable, also long ago buried and uncovered and restored.Original bed, no wonder they had so many kids. Poor thing, she had no place to run.The window is thought to be a representation of a Japanese kimono hanging for display. Mr Wright loved Japanese styles.His design for a chest of drawers.Off the master bedroom, unheard of second bathroom, pretty extravagant for 1889. They just barely stopped using outhouses.The window was directly over the sink and an expansion forced him to either give it up or move it. He turned it 90 degrees and moved it, creating a mystery view. Looking at it, I think I would opt for a mirror on a 45 degree angle.Didn’t think to ask if he designed the little desk that accompanied the phone.A study, family, nursery area.Compressing you down before you enter the play room.Explaining the compression that takes place in the entry hallway that is released when you enter the space of the room.A picture of how Wright kept the doorway, forcing adults to have to bend down to enter, forcing the child’s perspective on the adult.The doorway as it is today. The property was restored to 1909, the last year Wright lived and worked there.Daniella crouching down, demonstrating an adult walking in to get the child’s perspective below the line formed at the bottom of the entry arch.Daniella had us all get on one knee to get the perspective of a child. We then saw a line that went around the entire room that was just above head high, where the two pictures are posted on the wall, representing a kind of ceiling.The second floor playroom with the windows gives a sense of a tree house in the spring and summer.The wood work is excellent.Egyptian motif above the mantel.Beautiful fireplace in the children’s play room.The tucked away piano. There is an elaborate set of panels that are opened to allow the sound to fill the room.Wright’s copy of Nike.No plain skylights for Mr. Wright.Back of the piano intruding into the staircase.Kitchen.I think I see Japanese influence.Daniella explaining to a fellow from Madrid. Pretty woman photo-documentingDaniella explaining the meanings of the support columns.These columns are such a relief from the greco-roman styles. They represent the tree of life, which is all nature. The book of knowledge, which comes from the tree of life, nature, is displayed. The storks represent fertility of life and work. Loving nature, learning from nature, we come together and produce worthy works.His marquee at the entrance to his offices.Twin statues depicting the struggle to free the soul.
Ah, man’s struggles.Drafters downstairs, artist upstairs.How much we still live in ancient Athens still surprises us.I always marvel at how much he demanded from the craftsmen that actually brought his visions to reality.An ancient chain method is used to keep the walls from falling down. The downward weight of the ceiling pushes out on the side walls. The chains stop the walls from falling outward and counter-balances the weight of the top. He was the first to leave the chains exposed and not hide them inside walls.Clean, bold graphic design in the stained glass he used.You feel as if you are in a forest, looking out into a meadow.In the entryway, we leave the work area and go to the client meeting area. We are again compressed down so you could feel the release when you walk into another high ceiling area.He designed everything. This is part of the entry compression ceiling.Octagonal shaped, with every other iteration staggered. High ceiling providing release.The lighting matched the table and four chairs in the center of the ceiling.The table normally sat in the middle of the room with four chairs for client conferences and presentations.The walls are covered with these cork board covered swinging panels, for displaying drawings and blueprints.End of the tour. The tree is the last living original landscape from the original construction date.His mom, Anna, lived in this house right behind theirs.We bought a map of other Wright homes and went driving around. Location, location……a neighborhood that has held its value since 1889.What a great high end neighborhood. We soon discovered that his homes stood out.Very different.They all have names and brass plates.
Just a jaw dropping beautiful place. Fair to say, unique.
Front door.The details are most interesting.Edie want’s me to buy this one.Some, he redid the interior with a few touches to the existing exterior.They became too easy to spot. The walkway to the front tells us it is a remodel for Wright.They all stand out.
We got home and then headed back out to the activity center. We HATE not having internet in our room but we’ll deal with it (and only complain a little). We decided we were both too tired to cook tonight and just got a little something from the cafe near the activity center. Michael got a chicken salad and I got a BLT.
