Tuesday, September 14, 2010
We checked out of our motel this morning and headed to Oak Park, a lovely Chicago suburb that was Ernest Hemingway’s birthplace and houses the world’s largest collection of residential properties designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It was a dream-come-true to tour Wright’s home and studio. Pam, our tour guide, was fantastic. She used the features of the home and studio to illustrate the guiding design principles and evolution of Wright's work from 1889 to 1909, the period of time when he lived in Oak Park. Much of what we saw was breathtaking in both its simplicity and its complexity.
Our audio tour was cut short by an unexpected circumstance—his and hers nausea and migraines. We just couldn’t complete the tour. Pondering what might have suddenly struck both of us at once, we realized that the symptoms started about six hours after eating breakfast sandwiches that morning. As time passed, there was no doubt about it—we both had food poisoning. All we wanted to do was get out of the city and on to our motel in Wisconsin. At that point, it was rush hour in Chicago so we crept along in traffic for about forty-five minutes before getting up to cruising speed. The highway became monotonous so we exited for a more interesting rural road.
We crossed the border into Wisconsin and took a drive through Lake Geneva—a gorgeous town surrounded by palatial estates and lovely houses. This spot would definitely be worth a future visit.
-- Ted and Laura
I hope you two are feeling better after the food poisoning!
ReplyDeleteThat Wright house looks very uncharacteristic of the majority of his work. There are two Wright houses in Buffalo, which are well worth visiting.
You're passing through my old stomping ground - Chicagoland. Glad that you could see so much of it, the waterfront, museums, Magnificent Mile, and some of the best deep dish pizza ever.
ReplyDeleteTry to go back to Lake Geneva, WI. It is much like our Skaneateles because of the water, beautiful homes,and recreation.
Andrew L
Love Lake Geneva! Bet ya didn't know i lived there many years ago for a brief time. They used to have a big Playboy Club there! Glad your havin' fun! Jodie
ReplyDeleteArmin, Andy, Jodie--thanks for your comments!
ReplyDeleteYes, Wright's Oak Park home and studio is an interesting combination of both his earliest influences (Louis Sullivan, Japanese prints, and Nature) and the emergence of his Prairie style, which can be seen in the Buffalo NY homes such as the Darwin D. Martin house. It was fascinating to see the basis and evolution of his designs both here and later at Taliesin in Spring Green Wisconsin.
Lake Geneva was lovely, and definitely worth more time on a return visit. Jodie, I didn't know you lived there! I bet that was quite a time. --Ted