#139 Frank Lloyd Wright Tour: Home and Studio

No run of the mill suburb, Oak Park contains two dozen private homes and buildings designed or renovated by Frank Lloyd Wright between 1889 - 1913.

Due to Hamilton ticket availability and an dumb oversight on my part, we missed the mid-May FLW extravaganza (when they open many of the private homes to the public) by a week.  This year was the 150th anniversary of his birth and the planned celebration was huge.

We signed up for the Wright Around Oak Park tour, which included an extended tour of the Home and Studio, plus a bunch of homes around the neighborhood. 

Home:
FLW, 23 and newly married in 1889 built his own house in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park.  In the following years, his studio and the surrounding neighborhood became a design laboratory, testing ground, work in progress, and the home for his family.


One of the hallmarks of a FLW design was a semi-hidden front entrance, a private outdoor space, and planters or pillars flanking the entry.

Most of his porches had high walls, so the home owner could sit outside and enjoy the fresh air, but without passersby being able to see them.  



He also used a lot of leaded glass (that might not be the right term), but basically the residents could see out, but it was highly reflective so people couldn't see in.  Look at the front door from the outside, and inside.



As you walk into the entry there is a cozy little hearth room.  Benches flank the fireplace, and you can draw the curtains to have a little island of privacy in a giant room.  Above the quote, (and I didn't get a good shot of this) is a set back mirror that makes it appear as though you are looking into another room.  FLW loved to trick the idea and play with a sense of openness, and interconnected spaces.




Looking back into the nook


The living room itself is very open and welcoming to visitors.









In the dining room, FLW has created a box within a box, again providing an intimate private space just for those eating together.


The room is box, the table is another, smaller box, the ceiling adornment reinforces the box. I thought this was particularly interesting, especially in his later years FLW was very interested in "exploding the box" as seen in Fallingwater.



Look at how tall these chair back are, though.




Oh who designed your baby's highchair?

I dunno some guy called Frank Wright.



The kids' bedroom originally was just one big space, but eventually they put a wall up in the middle and divided into boys and girls.





I'm also pointing out the recurring half moon design features, over the doors, and in the window.

FLW was a master at "compress and release" architecture, which means he forces you through a dark small space (or at least it feels small) so the jolt you get stepping into a giant, light-filled room is amplified. In Fallingwater, he also used it as a way to discourage guests from entering family-only spaces.  This way is dark and scary, but this way is light and inviting.

The best example of this (in this house) is the hallway to the children's play room.




FLW really wanted to keep the floor an open space, but they also had a grand piano.  How does an architect solve this problem?


Obviously, you cut a hole in the wall, so the piano is flush against it, and then dangle the back end over the lower part of a staircase.



The playroom also had a balcony, so the kids could put on shows.




Studio:










The workroom


These is this whole system of balls and chains that support the studio roof.


Also, all around the balcony there are these tiny doors, I assume the provide roof/attic access, but all I could think was that they're fairy doors.




Looking down into the studio

Every night the work was cleaned up and locked in these wooden cabinets. The cabinets were on caster and rolled into a fireproof safe.  Someone learned some lessons after the Great Chicago Fire.

 

This passageway between home and office has a tree growing through the walls.


The original tree long since died, but they keep a replica just as it appeared in FLWs time. This definitely reminded me of Fallingwater, where I learned the FLW believed it was better to design with nature, than try and design around it. At least a couple of places in Fallingwater have rocks half in/half out of rooms.

This room was used for client consultation. It was basically soundproofed, which is kind of astounding when you consider when it was built. It also included all of these pivoting cork/bulletin boards that were basically used like PowerPoint presentations for clients.

#138 Roatan

Let’s talk about Honduras, more specifically – Roatan, the largest and most popular of the three principal Bay Islands archipelago, and my #138 on The List.

The Institute for marine Sciences (RIMS) is a research and educational facility working with dolphins.  RIMS offers guests of Anthony’s Key Resort, located on its periphery, the opportunity to swim, snorkel, or dive with bottlenose dolphins.  The truly spectacular note for this is the dolphin interactions take place either in open ocean or inside the protected lagoon.  This is not SeaWorld, people.  This is you, wading into the open water to interact with these spectacular animals in their own environment.  It is absolutely mind-blowing, actually, and I did not expect that at all.

When planning this excursion, this item was on The List, and by gosh I was going to cross it off, but I wasn’t particularly excited by the opportunity.  I have watched Blackfish, and have serious concern about how humanely, or not, animals are treated in captivity, and I didn’t really want to sit on a concrete swimming pool edge, while the dolphins were forced to perform a couple of tricks and then be forced back into a tiny pen – at least until the next busload of tourists arrived.

The reality of RIMS/Anthony’s was completely beyond my imagination.  This is truly open water.  The only thing man made is the dock; otherwise you walk on a real beach, and wade into the real ocean.  The lagoon is enormous, and in the section where we met our dolphin, Gracie,  there were 4 or 5 groups of about 15 – 20 people each, and still so much open water surrounded us.  Way off in the distance there was another dock with several employees seemingly loitering about.

We waded out until the water was “waist-high” (chest high for us short folks), and stood side by side in a straight line with our groups.  “Dolphins don’t like to feel crowded or trapped,” our expert told us. “They won’t swim with you if you are in a semicircle or crowding them.  They hate it.” 





She also explained some basic rules of dolphin safety.  Amounting basically to, “don’t touch them where you don’t want to be touched.  Stay away from genitals, eyes, ears, mouth and blowhole.  Do you like strangers to poke you in the eye?  Yeah, neither do they.”  Common sense, really.


Our trainer, pointing out Gracie's ear. 

During our “encounter” I personally observed how much the dolphins love playing.  Genuinely, enthusiastically, like puppies or little kids.  They love to have you, flat handed - of course, to rub their sides and bellies.  They do this with each other, with their fins.  And when they flip on their back for a belly rub they fall into kind of a relaxed trance.  Without the trainer there to guide them along the line, they will drift away. 

They are mischievous and love to be part of the action. There were several dolphins in the lagoon that weren’t part of the official interaction.  They were, like the employees I mentioned earlier, loitering around the lagoon, just hanging out with the guests and sneaking in a little belly rubbing where they could.  At one point, I remember feeling something bumping against my leg.  I looked down and there was a rogue dolphin trying to nudge its way between me and the woman next to me.  I swear I could almost hear it saying, “Excuse me, can I get through?  And if you happen to give me a little rub….”  Our trainer told us not to give in to the little trouble maker.  “She’s just trying to get attention; she’s supposed to be over there,” he said pointed at the far end of the lagoon with the lollygagging trainers.

They are social animals and thrive in groups.  Trainers become part of their family.  Gracie was a grandma, with children and grandchildren in our lagoon.  Without their family – including the human members – they are despondent; they miss them. 

Cort got some great photos of her with Gracie.  I did not.  I look so – well, mad.  Like, “get off my lawn” mad, but I had the best time. 






 

I look at those photos and wish my face showed just how much fun I had, what a great adventure it was.  Here I was, with a cazy-terrible sunburn, a giant hole in my foot, in so much pain I could barely stand (or walk – I literally had to use a cane to get around that day), in (probably) mild shock and still this is definitely in the top 5 best days of my life.  Top 5. 

Also, it was so beautiful there.  

Go, go to Roatan, go to RIMS, go to Anthony’s Key Resort, go as fast as you can because you absolutely will not regret it.  Go. Now. Go.