Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio - Oak Park, Il
A Genius Ahead of His Time!
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Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio
An enjoyable afternoon! We went to Oak Park, IL, to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio. The architect lived here before his name became internationally recognized – he is the “Guggenheim Museum and Falling Water” designer. I bought tickets for the guided tour inside the building and the self-guided tour through the area.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio is Wright’s former home, where he started his family with his first wife and career. He built his home at age 22 in 1889 after borrowing $5000 from his employer, the Sullivan & Adler firm. He always added to and improved his home while exploring new architectural ideas. It is easy to recognize his developing, changing style in his home and studio. He lived and worked here for 20 years. Since 1976 the building has been recognized as a National Historic Landmark.
The Self-Guided tour
In the same period, he also designed dozens of houses for the Chicago residents in the area. Which made the walking tour in the nearby streets a must-do. Families still live in this “open-air museum,” so we had to shake off that weird feeling of being an intruder staring at and admiring their homes. However, we tried to stay warm on this chilly, windy Spring day – with snow on the streets – so we didn’t stay too long at each home. Both the guided and self-guided tours were informative, and we learned a little about his style, use of colors, simplicity, and ingenuity of his buildings. More than 100 years later, his style doesn’t feel dated, quite the contrary, actually!
