See the house in this up-scale neighbourhood in west Chicago where Frank Lloyd Wright developed many of his ideas.
Frank Lloyd Wright's home in Chicago's Oak Park isn't just where America's foremost architect lived and worked. It's work of art in itself. The man who laid out the blueprint for the 'Prairie School' of architecture – which swept Chicago and the mid-West in the early 20th century – poured his creative energy out here. This makes it an obvious place of pilgrimage for building buffs. But not only for them. Architecture became the new art form for Chicagoans, with the great rebuilding following the city's destruction in the Great Fire of 1871. And it still is. So if you want to get a proper feel for Chicago, a visit to the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio should be added to your 'to-do' list.
The man himself didn't come from Chicago – he only moved here in 1887 – but the Windy City is where he made his home, and where he practised his craft. At least 25 houses in the suburb of Oak Park were designed and built by Lloyd Wright. Most show the signature of the Prairie School – long, low buildings, open to the light, with uncluttered lines. The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, however, doesn't quite fit that pattern. Lloyd Wright started this house before the 'Prairie' idea of fitting houses into their landscape had been fully fleshed out. It was revised, rebuilt, and extended over 20 years.
It's still a dramatic-looking home from outside – but even more so from the inside. Now that it's a museum dedicated to Lloyd Wright, you too can appreciate the balancing of interior décor with the light, open spaces that his radical style created. The Playroom was his original studio, and has a striking arched glass-lined ceiling, flooding the room with daylight. His new studio went one step further, an octagonally-roofed extension vaulting high above where Lloyd Wright worked, and illuminated by eight skylights.
Throughout the house, architectural features are complemented by simple, striking sculptures and decorations. And of course, Frank Lloyd Wright's home is only a start. Once you've got the Frank Lloyd bug, it serves as a great base for exploring Oak Park, and the twenty other homes he designed. The Museum will rent you an audio guide to do the talking Lloyd Wright provides the viewing you just have to do the walking.
