Days Four and Five- 1/4 Lap of America Oak Park I woke up in the Cheney house thinking I had spend the night under the roof Mr. Wright built over his mistress's head while seducing her out from under her husband's nose. It was a more than a little macabre coming from the house where she was murdered to sleep in house where she lived before she ran off with Mr. Wright. As if that wasn't harsh enough, shortly after breakfast I had another rude awakening. As it turned out we were sleeping in the basement "game room" converted by the new owners of what is now a Bed and Breakfast. We had photographed every interior detail of choice and placement only to find out we were sleeping in a collector's a collection of Frank Lloyd Wright creations rather than in the creation as it was meant to be. We would have preferred to sleep under the original pool table. This brought up the issue for me with a jerk, like getting an architectural wedgie. I have felt the pressure to document and experience all the Wright creations since I first read on the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Society's home page, "One out of every five buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright has been destroyed.". I will never see the beach cottages at Damietta, "..set in a circle ..[like]..spokes of a pinwheel... looking like origami butterflies...disassembled each year and stored during the ...[Egyptian]... flood season."With so much of what FLW created being destroyed even as you read these words, and so much of what he built himself evolving into something different by his own hands, and his own well documented date and credit fudging, and restorations of his work by loving and often intimate hands- what constitutes a "real" FLW creation? Further complicated by intra- FLW bickering over all things FLW from simple furniture ownership- which of his desks belong in which of his offices- to facts disputed by the Wisconsin faithful-where he died was Arizona, not "on his way to Wisconsin"- drawing solid conclusions becomes more risky. For a man who promoted himself ceaselessly, was documented so frequently, and immortalized intentionally with convictions of details so passionate he literally nailed the furniture in place in the homes he designed- on which evidence left in the physical world can we rely? The more I learn about his work the more frequently I doubt myself and more opinionated I become. After waking up in the Cheney house thinking I was sleeping where FLW had placed a bed, and finding out long after breakfast that I was probably sleeping under where he put the pool table I was disoriented to say the least. I resolved to be more scrupulous in walking in Mr. Wright's footsteps, or driving down his roads as it were. I may not get everything Wright and I might get some of it wrong, but it will be Wright. This would pay off later. For now it meant literally driving up to the houses, if possible up their driveways. I had been fixated on his concern for conveyance since I first spotted a perfectly placed iron tie ring for horses at the entrance court to Taliesin East in Wisconsin. The "Path to Discovery" was about more than walking into a room. It was also about riding up the driveway. Even now I am finding out that the driveways may not be where they were. For two days Dave and I went separately into Oak Park searching for Mr. Wright. Happily this returns images from a broader perspective, seeing the properties at different times of day, so essential to his design that not only were all the homes built to capture the sun by their design but also house that were remodeled were usually moved off their foundations. And so I am interested only in what Mr. Wright himself is known to have said and drawn and written and created, judging for myself the disputed areas. If he mentions another furniture maker or architect or craftsperson then I am interested. If he didn't mention them, they are irrelevant for my purpose. As I followed the "Walking Tour" map and listened to the tape, I had only a stammering impatience for the homes in Queen Anne Style, Stick Style, Classical Revival and Gothic Sytle, or the works of E.E. Roberts and of Tallmadge & Watson. Over these two days I would chase the rain with Esmerelda and the tape player and my digital camera to capture these houses as Dave did the same with the aide of his copious research, CiZi, GPS and crafty use of his digital camera. I make heavy use of the Frank Lloyd Wright Companion CD Rom, truly "The definitive multimedia reference on the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright" it claims to be. If you love Frank Lloyd Wright, you must have this CD and/or the book from which it is based by William Allin Storrer. I also make use of images and quotes from the Microsoft Ultimate Frank Lloyd Wright CD Rom by Byron Preiss Multimedia. Get these CDs, their walk throughs and videos are the closest any of us will get to the demolished buildings and closer than most of us will ever get to the existing structures. Driving the FLW Walking Tour: 02 Parker and Thomas Gale houses: Companion: "Ownership of these two houses was long reversed in listings, but the plan in the Taliesin archives clearly identifies this unit as the one designed for Robert Parker. This, however must be countered by the argument that the house was built by Walter and Thomas H. Gale as an investment. It was then purchased by Parker." 04 Map lists Walter H Gale, Companion lists Walter M Gale 05 Moore House Companion: "The small wing to the west, according to the original plans, was an unfinished garden house. Between this garden house and the main house is now a two-car garage. ...Two car garage added between garden house and main structure." Not saying who did alterations, I can only hope it was FLW. 06-If the history of a FLW structure is not obscured by the vanity of the owners, then just as often it reads like a Greek tragedy like the Hills-DeCaro House. Companion: "...Wright designed [the] remodeling. Actual work, including the relocation and reorientation of the structure, was delayed by legal problems and did not begin until the spring of 1906...a wedding gift to [Moore]'s daughter... married on New Year's Day, 1908... lived here for forty-five years;...then passed through two owners and fell into disrepair...in 1975 [Tom and Irene DeCaro] began restoration. On the night of January 3, 1976, Mrs. DeCaro was removing old paint from the last of 136 windows when fumes caught fire. The structure burned down to the.. first-floor.." Restored once again... 07 Heurtley Living quarters on the second floor. DCP_1133, 1134 are the Balch Residence, 611N Kenilworth (S.168) Dcp_1120, 1121, 1122 are George Furbeck Residence, 223 N. Euclid Ave. S.043 The companion CD has a several pictures, including an "As Altered" when the porch was enclosed in 1922 Charles Roberts House for Sale http://www.savewright.org/Wright_on_the_Market/Market1/croberts.html 1268 - Goodrich Residence, 534 N. East Ave (S.042) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1153- I think that the artglass skylights for the reception hall and FLW office are just below the openings in the roof. I've attached two diagrams with highlight in red to illustrate the location. 1156 - I recall the guide saying the crib was the original used by the Wright children... And I remember her telling a story about it, but can't recall any more. 1274-76 He designed a few prism tiles for Luxfer around 1897. Have not yet been able to determine the exact number. The three that I see most often are the "flower" "plain" and "name" prisms in the pictures at Chaney House. They pop up on ebay occasionally. One is there now. I've remember reading someplace on the web that only one or two of his buildings had the prisms installed when originally built - no verification yet. I think they were used in a few Louis Sullivan buildings. One link below has his patent drawling for flower design. The other has a blurb about Luxfor [sic] commissioning FLW for the design. http://www.megsinet.net/~guardfrog/glasstilewebpa/Page_1x.html http://www.bath.ac.uk/~ab9njm/chicago.htm 1150-At the top of the mantle is "Truth is Life." Below is inscribed "Good friend, around these hearth-stones speak no evil word of any creature" (You can zoom in on the picture on the Companion CD)

2 Day Three- 1/4 Lap of America Part 1 In Search of Taliesin~~ Part 2 Babies at the Visitor Center~~ Part 3 1st sight of Taliesin~~ Part 4 Outside Taliesin~~ Part 5 Sit-In @ Taliesin~~ Part 6 FLW's Gargae Page~~ Part 7 Angels @ the Portal~~ Part 8 Lower World~~ Part 9 Upper World~~ Part 10 Music Hall~~ Part 11 Entrance Court~~ Part 12 Odd Angles~~ Part 13 Exteriors~~ Part 14 Landscape Design~~ Part 15 Roof Tops~~ Part 16 Cherokee Red and Blue~~ Part 17 Organic @ Home ~~ Part 18 Unique Construction~~ Part 19 Decorative Accents~~ Part 20 His Toys~~ Part 21 Apprentice Quarters~~ Part 22 The Study~~ Part 23 Study Hall ~~ Part 24 Rooms Over There~~ Part 25 Main House~~ Part 26 Great Living Room~~ Part 27 Fireplace~~ Part 28 Fabrics, Ceiling~~ Part 29 Gold Leaf~~ Part 30 Mrs. Wright's Catwalk~~ Part 31 Intimate Public Spaces~~ Part 32 Last Look @ Taliesin~~ Part 33 The Store~~ Part 34 Lunch...~~ Part 35 Babies + Taliesin~~ Part 36 Route 78~~ Part 37 Back to Illinois~~ Part 38 Into Oak Park~~

1/4 Lap of America Frank Lloyd Wright Gumball Page May 21-30, 2001 Esmerelda's Home Page