The Frank L. Smith Bank, now known as the Dwight Banking Center of Peoples National Bank of Kewanee, is a bank building in

Dwight, Illinois Dwight is a village located mainly in Livingston County, Illinois, with a small portion in Grundy County. The population was 4,032 at the 2020 census. Dwight contains an original stretch of U.S. Route 66, and from 1892 until 2016 continuously us ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

that was designed by American architect

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

. Wright's earliest designs for the building date to 1904, but it was constructed in 1905 and opened in 1906. The design of the bank building deliberately rejects the classical influences common at the time, and is meant to evoke an air of simple dignity.

History

's early designs for the Smith Bank date to 1904. The building, located in downtown

, was constructed in 1905 to a Wright design. Wright designed the

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

building to house the

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

office and bank of

Frank L. Smith Frank Leslie Smith (November 24, 1867 – August 30, 1950) was an Illinois politician. Biography Smith was born in Dwight, Illinois, in Livingston County He served as a United States Congressman from 1919 to 1921. Career Smith first ran f ...

, a prominent local citizen who would later be elected to Congress. Smith had decided that his real estate clients needed a simple and convenient way to obtain financing, so he founded the bank and hired Wright as the architect.Heinz, ''The Vision of Frank Lloyd Wright'', p. 293. The bank opened for business in 1906."First National Bank of Dwight: Frank Lloyd Wright Architect," ( Brochure), ''First National Bank of Dwight''. Wright was closely involved during design and construction, even down to the smallest details. Letters, exchanged between Wright and Smith, show that Wright was directly involved with the design of the interior and furnishings. The letters show that Wright's final decision was implemented in most cases, though some of his changes caused delays.Hanks, David A. ''The Decorative Designs of Frank Lloyd Wright''
Google Books
, Courier Dover Publications: 1999, p. 23, (). Retrieved 29 September 2007.

Renovations

The building has undergone at least three renovations. During the 1950s the building was modernized: the biggest change was the lowering of the original skylight to allow installation of

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

, but the work also involved covering much of the interior limestone and removing the oak trim. During the 1960s the First National Bank of Dwight, the owners at the time, remodeled the building once again. This remodeling removed Wright's originally designed partition which divided the building into bank and real estate offices. The later renovation also recreated the original

skylight A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History Open ...

, uncovered the interior stone, and utilized the original plans to reincorporate the

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

trim. Around 1990 the building was expanded to the left and also added the drive-up canopy. The building addition blends well with Wright's original design.

Architecture

Wright's earliest 1904 plans for the Dwight bank showed a vertical

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

block with a

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

flanking each side of the recessed central doorway. The early drawings also show a large ornamental frieze on the upper portion of the building's facade. It is unknown why Wright abandoned these plans and opted for the design that was used. The building, as designed and constructed by Wright, has a 60-foot, storefront facade. The design specifically rejects typical bank building designs and their classical influences. The cut stone facade gives an air of simple dignity and solidity. The bank's design and location parallels Wright's belief that a bank should convey its own, unique character rather than "put on the airs of a temple of worship."Sanderson, Arlene and Quinan, Jack. ''Wright Sites: A Guide to Frank Lloyd Wright Public Places'',
Google Books
, Princeton Architectural Press: 2001, (), p. 44. Retrieved 29 September 2007. Margaret Randall, in her 1996 work ''The Price You Pay: The Hidden Cost of Women's Relationship to Money'', stated Wright's Smith Bank, along with his City National Bank in Mason City, Iowa, was "designed to evoke our culture's worship of money."Randall, Margaret. ''The Price You Pay: The Hidden Cost of Women's Relationship to Money'',
Google Books
, Routledge: 1996, p. 206, (). Retrieved 29 September 2007. The building's most distinctive architectural feature is the

fireplace A fireplace or hearth is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending on the design. ...

, uncommon in office buildings, and the structure's only feature to incorporate Roman brick. The present-day structure consists of one open, interior space, while Wright's original design divided the building into two sections. One section was used as Smith's real estate office, the other as the bank. Wright also designed a full set of

furniture Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Fu ...

for both offices, although much of it has been sold over the years. One of the pieces of Wright-designed furniture in the building was a round-backed

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

. The chair was at least the second attempt at a round-backed chair by Wright; an earlier, more successful attempt was completed in the Darwin D. Martin House. The chair has a bent-wood back, and rounded seat and stretchers. The total integration of the design is less successful than that used in the Martin House.Heinz, ''The Vision of Frank Lloyd Wright'', p. 394. Other interior features include a now electrically lit skylight, oak trim, and exposed stonework.

Notes

References

*Heinz, Thomas A. ''The Vision of Frank Lloyd Wright''. Chartwell Books, Inc., Edison, New Jersey: 2006, (). * Storrer, William Allin. ''The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion''. University Of Chicago Press, 2006, (S.111).

External links

Build your own Frank L. Smith Bank
from the

Illinois Historic Preservation Agency The Illinois Historic Preservation Division, formerly Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Illinois, and is a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. It is tasked with the duty of m ...

archived copy August 2013 {{Frank Lloyd Wright Commercial buildings completed in 1905 Frank Lloyd Wright buildings Dwight, Illinois Buildings and structures in Livingston County, Illinois Bank buildings in Illinois 1905 establishments in Illinois