James Caulfield (1)

In August 2020, I visited Oak Park in Chicago’s West Side. The neighborhood is known for its Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.

Wright, a native of Spring Green, Wis., and a Chicago architect, designed more than 400 homes and public buildings throughout the United States during the first half of the twentieth century.

Wright is known for his residential structures, which feature low roofs, open floor plans, and furnishings to match the home designs. His public building designs echo the natural landscapes surrounding them.

To prepare for the trip, I purchased a book on Amazon called Hometown Architect by Patrick F. Cannon. I learned from Cannon’s book that Wright designed twenty-three residences and three civic structures in Oak Park. He designed five residences and two civic structures in nearby River Forest.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio was built in 1889 in the Shingle Style. The museum was giving tours during COVID-19. I was able to obtain a museum map from the studio’s gift shop to take on a walking tour after exploring the museum.

Wright had a studio in the home and worked from there until 1895. He converted it into bedrooms in 1895 to accommodate his six children by Catherine Tobin Wright.

Wright built a new studio in 1898, located down the hall from his living quarters. He paid for the studio with money made from designing glass for the American Luxfor Prism Company.

Wright chose an octagonal shape for his studio. The wing featured a drafting room, office, and library. The studio had a waiting area with a desk. Clients could view Wright’s plans in the waiting area without entering the drafting room and disturbing the workers.

According to Briar Owens, museum manager, Wright sold his studio and did not return to it after the sale. The books he published in later years were written from Taliesin, a home he designed in Spring Green.

Wright moved to Taliesin in 1911. He converted his studio, again, into living quarters. The dwelling was further divided into apartment units during World War II.

During his studio days, he wrote his articles, “A Home in a Prairie Town” and “A Fireproof House for $5,000” and published them in Ladies Home Journal.

On a walking tour of the neighborhood, I took pictures of several Wright houses.

Included on the tour is the Prairie Style home of Willam H. Copeland House. Copeland’s son-in-law, Walter Pratt Beachy, was a business partner with John Wright, Frank’s son, in the company that made Lincoln Logs.

Notable is the brick archway over the front entrance of the Arthur B. Heurtley House. Frank Lloyd Wright’s sister, Jane Porter, bought the home from Wright’s clients and lived there from 1920 to 1946.

I returned with a driver in an SUV another day. I asked him to drive me through the neighborhood to look at more of the homes.

At 520 N. East Ave., in a dark walled compound, an author named Mamah Cheney lived with her husband Edwin, a Chicago engineer, and their two children. Wright and Cheney had an affair toward the end of his marriage to Catherine. So the story goes, they used to ride around Oak Park in Wright’s yellow sports car.

Cheney lived with Wright at Taliesin until a tragedy happened on August 15, 1914. Julian Carlton, a disgruntled worker, murdered Mamah Cheney, her two children, and four of Wright’s workers, with a hatchet and burned them.

Wright and Edwin Cheney were in Chicago at the time. While there was an aura of suspicion around them, Carlton was blamed for the crime. He was arrested and died in jail. To get an idea of the public apathy at the time for Carlton, his corpse was dismembered and incinerated after his death.

Wright escaped to Japan before World War II and spent extended periods of time in Russia as well. These sojourns seemed to prevent him from gaining further public scrutiny regarding the murder case.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio was renovated in 1974. It is open to the public for tours. Hours are daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tours are $20 to view the home inside and $30 to tour the inside and outside of the home. Book online at flwright.org/tour.

Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio
951 W. Chicago Ave.
Oak Park, IL 60302
(312) 994-4000
info@flwright.org
flwright.org

Buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Hometown-Architect-Complete-Buildings-Illinois/dp/0764937...… (más)