Frank Lloyd Wright’s greatness began in Oak Park
About 10 miles west of Chicago, an internationally known home in Oak Park, Illinois, has a massive tree growing next to it.
In the eastern courtyard of the home that Frank Lloyd Wright built for his family, an enormous gingko tree stands sentry, more than 200 years old and about 5 feet in diameter.
This tree is said to have been about 4 inches in diameter when Wright built his home in 1889 with a $5,000 loan from his famous employer, the architect, Louis Sullivan. Wright was 22 at the time and newly married to Catherine Tobin.
The gingko and Wright’s landmark home still live harmoniously side by side.
Located in a leafy section of Oak Park, the home is listed on the National Register of Historic places. It’s a U.S. National Historic Landmark and a recipient of the American Institute of Architect’s prestigious National Honor Award.
Prairie School style started here
After Wright left his position as head draftsman with Chicago’s Adler and Sullivan, Oak Park became a defining place in his career, where he developed his vision for a specific look and functionality of American buildings.
Strongly influenced by the natural world and the Arts and Crafts movement, his architectural philosophies incorporating simplicity and nature took shape.
The early architectural ideas, innovations and craftsmanship honed during his Oak Park years led to the birth of what historians now call Prairie School architecture.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park has been restored by the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust to what it looked like in 1909, the last year architect lived here with his family.
Illusions & perceptions
I waited by the gingko tree for our guide, Felix. As he spoke, I noticed he often used two words in explaining Wright’s designs – “perception” and “compression.” Perception as in the use of large skylights of art glass, often lemony-colored, on ceilings and windows to create the look of the outdoors and represent sunlight streaming into the room.
Compression is seen in spaces like the home’s small entry, unlike the large foyers of nearby Victorian homes. But that small space may open into a large room that lets you see through to other spaces beyond. You
need to look up, around, and behind to take in the full extent of Wright’s playing with simplicity and form.
The dining room has an extraordinary section of art glass above the table. Looking at the unusually tall, highbacked, Wright-designed chairs, I thought the arty ceiling probably helped distract the diners from those uncomfortable-looking seats.
If you look carefully, you’ll see a variety of insightful passages carved in stone in the home and studio echoing Wright’s close connection to nature. On one fireplace is this: “Good Friend, around these heart stones speak no evil words of any creature.”
There are surprises, too. There’s a piano installed into the stairwell in the main house. Above the fireplace in the living room Wright created an optical illusion suggesting there is no chimney stack. He used a mirror for this optical purpose.
One of the largest areas of the house is the children’s playroom upstairs complete with a dramatic domed ceiling. There are also signature Wright window benches and expansive windows to bring the outdoors in.
A short walk from the house, Wright’s studio gives visitors the feeling that he and his colleagues have just taken the day off.
Rolled-up blueprints leave the impression that work is in progress. You can almost hear the rhythm of a workday.
The Oak Park Studio represents the most prolific period of Wright’s life with more than a third of all the buildings he designed having been created here between 1908 and 1909.
It’s an important part of American history to visit this compact (or compressed) cradle of modern architecture.
Touring the neighborhood
The Chicago area has the largest collection of Wright buildings in the world. Several homes he designed are located near the family home on Chicago Avenue.
Get a deeper sense of Wright’s early Prairie School appeal by walking around the neighborhood starting on Forest Avenue. The best way to understand what you’re looking at is with a self-guided audio tour of the historic neighborhood.
First, head to the all-things Wright Home and Studio Museum gift shop where you purchased tickets for the home tour to add a walking tour to your getaway in Oak Park. You’ll receive an audio player and map of the five-block area. The homes you’ll be seeing are all private homes so you can’t go inside.
How interesting it would be to get Wright’s take on the stream of fans walking around Oak Park and marveling at original American architecture.