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All FLW Sites in Illinois
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"Horizontal lines...scattered vases filled with leaves and
wild flowers, massive fireplaces seemed to be everywhere. Here and
there a Yourdes [rug] of rare beauty covered the floor. A Persian
lantern, samovars, windows which met and turned corners, lights filtering
through fret-sawn ceiling grilles, sunshine and shadows...these made the
house that was our home." John Lloyd Wright
A hulking, massive and odd structure that seems almost
cobbled together from mismatched pieces, the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and
Studio really represents what might be considered a testing ground for
Wright's inventive and imaginative genius that was developed over a period
of some twenty years in his early career. This was the "birthplace" of
the Prairie Style that so delighted Wright's clients and many others as
well.
In 1889, Louis Sullivan, of Sullivan and Adler -- his
employers at the time -- loaned Wright the money to buy a lot and build a
home in Oak Park for himself and his bride to be, Catherine Tobin.
Wright's architectural practice opened here somewhere between 1893 and 1898,
and the rest, as they say, is history.
Geometry was always one of the strongest principals in
Wright's architectural career and in his Home and Studio, applications and
examples of it are abundant, more so than can be adequately described here.
The integration of intricate design details, centrally-located fireplaces,
geometry, roofs of long overhang, along with landscape that complimented the
design of the structure -- and vice versa -- which began here in Oak Park,
became hallmarks of Wright designs; in this home and studio he designed
approximately 125 buildings in only eleven years.
Location
- 951 Chicago Ave.
Oak Park, IL
Map
Construction & Unique Features
- Original home built in 1889; playroom addition in 1895;
studio addition in 1898 and garage addition in 1911
- Master bedroom and playroom murals painted by Orlando
Giannini
- Sculptures (The Boulder and stork columns) by Richard Bock
Tours
- Tours are available daily except Thanksgiving,
Christmas, New Year's, and
the last week in January for Preservation in Action. All tours support
the restoration, preservation and education programs of the Frank Lloyd
Wright Preservation Trust.
- $12 adult, $10 youth (11-18) and senior (65+), $5
child (4-10), free tickets for children 3 and under.
- Day-of tickets may be purchased at the museum shop
starting at 10 am daily. Advance tickets for select tour times are also
available online up to midnight prior to the day of tour.
See online ticket offerings and/or buy your tickets.
- Groups of 10 or more must make advance
reservations by calling 708.848.1978.
- Note: No interior photos.
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