The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio is a historic house and design studio in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated ...

, which was designed and owned by 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 ...

. First built in 1889 and added to over the years, the home and studio is furnished with original Wright-designed furniture and textiles. It has been restored by the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust to its appearance in 1909, the last year Wright lived there with his family. Here, Wright worked on his career and aesthetic to become one of the most influential architects of the 20th century. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

four years later,Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio
, NHL Database, National Historic Landmarks Program. Retrieved 20 February 2007 and contributes to the

Frank Lloyd Wright–Prairie School of Architecture Historic District The Frank Lloyd Wright/Prairie School of Architecture Historic District is a residential neighborhood in the Cook County, Illinois village of Oak Park, United States. The Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District is both a federally designated histo ...

containing a number of his projects and related work.

History

Located in

, Frank Lloyd Wright was 22 years old when he purchased the property and built the home in 1889 with a $5,000 loan from his employer

Louis Sullivan Louis Henry Sullivan (September 3, 1856 – April 14, 1924) was an American architect, and has been called a "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He was an influential architect of the Chicago School, a mentor to Frank Lloy ...

. Wright had just married 18 year old Catherine Tobin. The Wrights raised six children in the home. The original 1889 structure was quite small. In 1895, the home was extensively remodeled, when among other changes the kitchen was enlarged and converted to a dining room, the upstairs nursery was expanded and converted for use as Wrights wife Catherine Lee "Kitty" Tobin's dayroom, and the Children's Playroom and a new kitchen were added to the back of the house. From 1890 to 1895 Wright and his wife had 4 of their altogether 6 children: Frank Lloyd Wright Jr.(1890),

John Lloyd Wright John Lloyd Wright (December 12, 1892 – December 20, 1972) was an American architect and toy inventor. Born in Oak Park, Illinois, Wright was the second-oldest son of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. John Lloyd Wright became estranged from hi ...

(1892), Catherine Wright (1894), David Samuel Wright (1895) followed by Frances Wright Caroe (1898) and Robert Llwellyn Wright (1903). In 1898, a second major addition was made, when the Studio and Connecting Corridor were built. In the Studio, Frank Lloyd Wright and associated architects like

Walter Burley Griffin Walter Burley Griffin (November 24, 1876February 11, 1937) was an American architect and landscape architect. He is known for designing Canberra, Australia's capital city and the New South Wales towns of Griffith and Leeton. He has been cr ...

and sculptor

Richard Bock Richard W. Bock (July 16, 1865 – 1949) was an American sculptor and associate of Frank Lloyd Wright. He was particularly known for his sculptural decorations for architecture and military memorials,Lorado Taft''The History of American Sculptur ...

advanced the Prairie School of Architecture and designed many notable structures, including the

Robie House The Frederick C. Robie House is a U.S. National Historic Landmark now on the campus of the University of Chicago in the South Side neighborhood of Hyde Park in Chicago, Illinois. Built between 1909 and 1910, the building was designed as a sing ...

Unity Temple Unity Temple is a Unitarian Universalist church in Oak Park, Illinois, and the home of the Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation. It was designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and built between 1905 and 1908. Unity ...

, the Laura Gale home, and the Larkin building. After 1909, Wright converted the Studio into a residence for his wife and the younger children. Later on, the Home and Studio became an apartment building. In the 1960s it fell into disrepair as the owners began to neglect the property due to financial problems. During this time they also made some parts of the property available for public tours. The longtime roofing company entrusted by Frank Lloyd Wright, Oak Park-based Tuscher Roofing, took control of the property. In 1974, the structure was handed over to the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the 13-year restoration began. In 1976, the Home and Studio was declared a

. It is owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and has been restored, maintained, and operated as a museum by The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust. Every May, the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust hosts a housewalk of the home and studio and various private homes. Frank Lloyd Wright's Home and Studio is located in one of three historic districts of

. It is specifically found in the

Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Cur ...

, which includes 27 Wright-designed structures as well as other historical and architecturally significant buildings.

Architectural principles

In his first house Wright realized his ideal of an open living space: there is no door between hallway and living room. The family was supposed to live together, though in practice he rather withdrew to his drawing room. Technically the house was cutting edge with electricity and telephone. The playroom was the most beautiful room; this has been interpreted that the architect gave his children what he was unable to give as a father or "at heart he was the 7th child of the family".

Sculptures

Most of the sculptures on the exterior of the Home and studio were designed by Wright's friend and collaborator,

. These include the two boulder figures flanking the entrance of the studio, which features a man crouching and breaking free from the ground beneath him. Bock also designed the stork capitals on the exterior loggia of the studio. The capitals signifies the tree of life, the book of knowledge, an architectural scroll, and two storks full of wisdom and fertility. Wright's home included many sculptures on the interior which added to and contrasted with the anti-Victorian decor. These objects include a frieze from the

Pergamon Altar The Pergamon Altar () was a monumental construction built during the reign of the Ancient Greek King Eumenes II in the first half of the 2nd century BC on one of the terraces of the acropolis of Pergamon in Asia Minor. The structure was 35.64 ...

and several sizes of

Winged Victory of Samothrace The ''Winged Victory of Samothrace'', or the ''Nike of Samothrace'', is a votive monument originally found on the island of Samothrace, north of the Aegean Sea. It is a masterpiece of Greek sculpture from the Hellenistic era, dating from the be ...

as well as a bust of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

Gallery

References

* Storrer, William Allin. ''The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion''. University Of Chicago Press, 2006, (S.002)

External links

The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation TrustShopWright.org
* *High-resolution 360° Panoramas and Images o
Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio , Art Atlas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Frank Lloyd Home And Studio Architecture museums in the United States

Art museums and galleries in Illinois Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria an ...