FLW Tour Around Chicago – Part 1

I’ve been a fan of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright for as long as I can remember. It must have been Mum (and her building family’s) influence. Today I was able to continue this interest.

On a trip to traveling through Chicago many years ago I was able to spend an afternoon wandering around Oak Park (photos). In 2007 I spent some time in Poughkeepsie (NY) and was able on the weekends to see; the Zimmerman House in New Hampshire, the Darwin-Martin House in Buffalo (NY) and Fallingwater in Pennsylvania (photos).

I was always hoping I’d be able to get back to the Chicago area and hopefully get up to Taliesin. It looks as if the planets have lined up as I’m on a weeks training there.

Today I drove the 200-odd miles from Chicago to Springfield to visit the Dana Thomas House.

I had read about the house in a number of books and it certainly looked interesting. I underestimated it; the house was magnificent. It’s been well maintained and preserved and is an excellent example of the Prairie Style of Frank Lloyd Wright and his studio. The building of the house and a lot of the detail was designed by Marion Mahoney Griffin who worked at his studio and with her husband, Walter Burley Griffin, was responsible for Canberra’s design and a number of key buildings in Melbourne and Sydney.

The house is far larger than any of the FLW prairie houses I’ve seen to date. The closest would have been the Darwin Martin House, but due to the restoration work going on there at the moment, it had been a bit of a disappointment. This house was complete and the architectural detail and use of space is amazing. It is certainly worth a visit.

You can’t take photo’s inside (and there’s no single book dedicated to the house with colour photos) but I was able to take some outside before the heavens opened up. Parking was straightforward, with a dedicated lot right next to the house (over the train line).

Hopefully tomorrow I’ll get to the Robie House!