FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT HOME AND STUDIO

The 'Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio' at 951 Chicago Avenue in Oak Park, Illinois, has been restored by the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust to its appearance in 1909, the last year Frank Lloyd Wright lived there with his family. The Oak Park Home and Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright, , Ann, Abernathy, The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust, (1988), ISBN 0-945635-00-1 Frank Lloyd Wright purchased the property and built the home in 1889 with a $5,000 loan from his employer Louis Sullivan. He was 22 at the time, and newly wed to Catherine Tobin. The Wrights raised six children in the home. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and declared a National Historic Landmark four years later.Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio, NHL Database, National Historic Landmarks Program. Retrieved 20 February 2007.

Contents

History

Sculptures

References

External links

History

Children's playroom ''HABS ILL,16-OAKPA,5- ''

The original 1889 structure was quite small. The home was extensively remodeled in 1895, when among other changes the kitchen was enlarged and converted to a dining room, the upstairs nursery was expanded and converted for use as Catherine's dayroom, and the Children's Playroom and a new kitchen were added to the back of the house. A second major addition was made in 1898, when the Studio and Connecting Corridor were built. In the Studio, Frank Lloyd Wright and associated architects like Walter Burley Griffin and sculptor Richard Bock advanced the Prairie School of Architecture and designed many notable structures, including the Robie House, Unity Temple, the Laura Gale home, and the Larkin building.^[2] After 1909, the Studio was converted into a residence for his wife and the younger children. Later on, the Home and Studio became an apartment building. In 1974, the structure was acquired by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the 13-year restoration began.
The Home and Studio was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976, and has received the American Institute of Architects' National Honor Award. 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 Oak Park, Illinois. It is specifically found in the Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District, which includes 25 Wright-designed structures as well as other historical and architecturally significant buildings.
The Gingko Tree Bookshop is currently located in the East end of the building, named after a large gingko tree just outside.

Sculptures

Wright asked his sculptor friend Richard Bock to do the sculptures on display, including the figures by the main entrance called "the boulders" and the stork capitals in the loggia.^[3]
The stork capitals were designed by the architect Marion Mahony Griffin, who worked in Wright's studio. The capital signifies the tree of life, the book of knowledge, an architectural scroll, and two storks full of wisdom and fertility. The boulders show human rising up from the earth. Bock also created a statue of Wright's son John, which used to be in the drafting studio.

References

1. NRIS Database, National Register of Historic Places, retrieved January 25, 2007.
2. Robert C. Twombly, ''Frank Lloyd Wright: His Life and His Architecture''. Consulted on August 14, 2007.
3. Carla Lind, ''Frank Lloyd Wright's Furnishings''. Consulted on August 14, 2007.

External links

★ The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust

★ Archive photographs