Wright Plus House Tour, 2003:  Oak Park, Illinois

Me and Mr. Wright at Wright Plus 2003

Each year the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust does a fundraiser in Oak Park, Illinois called Wright Plus.  In mid-May they sponsor a house tour that allows about 2000 people to tour 10 historically significant homes or buildings in Oak Park, many of which are not normally open to the public.  Each year they include Frank Lloyd Wright’s Home and Studio, Unity Temple, Robie House (not in Oak Park, but in the Chicago area) and 3 or 4 Wright homes that are not normally open to the public.  In addition to this there are 6 or 7 other homes of similar vintage that were designed by Wright’s contemporaries (thus the name of the tour, Wright Plus).  All of these places are staffed with volunteers that give interpretive information about the architect, history of the house and people for whom the home was built.

I’ve attended this tour many times over the last few years.  It is always a fun event and a great opportunity to hang out with a few thousand Wright minded people.  I always try to incorporate some kind of road trip either before or after (or both) the Wright Plus tour to make an event out of it.  One year I was coming back from my father’s place in Kansas at the time of the tour and I drove up from the West side… seeing Wright homes in Iowa and southern Illinois along the way.  Other times we’ve gone through Wisconsin and enjoyed some of Wright’s work in Milwaukee and Racine before Wright Plus. 

For 2003, I did the mother of all road trips in association with Wright Plus.  The original plan was that my wife and I would drive from Washington, DC (home) up to Buffalo, New York and see some of the Wright homes there as well as Niagara Falls and some other site seeing things in the area.  Since Laura isn’t as much of a Wright-head as I am, I planned a lot of really great touristy things that we both would enjoy as we continued the tour across Canada, Michigan, a little into Indiana, then on to Chicago.  This was going to be a leisurely, relaxed and very fun trip for the both of us.  

Unfortunately Laura’s work schedule wouldn’t let her off for the week that we had planned this trip.  At the last minute, she had to cancel.  I was pretty bummed out because I really wanted to do the trip with her.  I bravely pressed on with the trip and arranged things a little differently to make the trip a bit more oriented towards my interests.   Out were all the non-Wright parts of the trip and in came a true Frank Lloyd Wright Road Trip Marathon! 

With 3 days notice, my goal became to view and photograph every Frank Lloyd Wright building between Buffalo, New York and Chicago, Illinois (later the trip was even expanded to include 5 buildings in central Iowa.).  There were a few obstacles to this though.  Taxes were not kind to me.  Laura was going to go in on the financing of this trip with me and even though she wasn’t going, that didn’t really reduce the expenses for the trip.  My payday was 2/3 of the way through the trip, so I’d be flush with cash after Thursday, but I’d be seriously strapped for the first 5 days.  With about 20 minutes with a pocket calculator, I figured that if I slept in the car 2 or 3 nights and ate REALLY cheaply, that I could ALMOST do everything I planned for this trip.  That was good enough for me.  I emptied my piggy bank into a zip-lock bag, packed my pillow and sleeping bag in the car… along with all the road food I could find in the house and started driving North for Buffalo!

Heading a little West through Maryland and West Virginia is a beautiful way to start any road trip.  My plan was to finance all of my food and tolls for the first part of the trip with money from my zip-lock bag of change.  I knew that this would drive the fast-food folks nuts, but it was the best I could do at the time.  Oddly enough, they were all very sympathetic when I told them that I had to break my piggy bank to pay for dinner.  Most got a good laugh out of it.   

New York

Darwin Martin House

I slept in the car in a rest stop just past Erie, Pennsylvania and planned on driving into Buffalo early the next morning to photograph all the Wright buildings in Buffalo that are not open to the public.  It would be early Sunday morning and the light would be good.  Not too many people would be up and around so I wouldn’t be invading their privacy by respectfully snapping photos from the street or sidewalk.  The first hitch in the plan happened that morning.  It was pouring rain.  I’m not talking about a nice, light sprinkle.  I’m talking a total and complete downpour.  Many of my photos were taken from inside the car.  I’d roll down the window, place a towel over my lap and then snap photos from under cover of the car roof.  Since I’m shooting digital, this worked pretty well.  Photoshop can help me crop out all the side view mirrors and car doorframes in order to get a good image.  Some of the shots I got out and walked around with my golf umbrella and shot photos from under its safety.  I had to stop and clean the optics on my camera after each venture out of the car, but luckily my photography class taught me how to do that pretty well. 

Side of the Heath House in the pouring rain

The photos actually turned out pretty well.  I really like the way the camera did a still-action of the raindrops falling in front of the Wright buildings.  It adds some character to the photos.  Luckily it cleared up a bit and I was able to go back and get some photos where it was just wet, rather than a total downpour. 

When walking around the Darwin Martin House I met Margie… the head of volunteers for the house.  She saw me respectfully photographing from the sidewalk and invited me inside the fence to get some really great shots.  She was fantastic.  She talked a lot about the restoration project at a depth that the tour docent couldn’t go into because of time restrictions.  She led me around to get the best photos of the outside of the house.  She was interested in my trip and where I was planning on going.  I was really interested in her involvement with the Martin house and any little tidbits of info she could give me.  This meeting was truly indicative of the kind of serendipity that I would have throughout the whole week. 

I’d turned my cell phone off during the tour of the Martin house.  When I turned it on after my tour, I had voice mail.  The lady from the Isabel Martin House (Graycliff) called to say that they were under a tornado warning and that they probably would have to cancel my tour.  If I were going to stick to my plan, I’d miss touring Graycliff because I had to be in Detroit by morning.  Lucky  me… I called back, the danger had passed and they said to come ahead. J

Click on the links below to see the photos and reports of the buildings that I saw when I was in New York.

New York

Canada

I hadn’t been to Canada in quite a few years.  I kind of liked the idea that I’d get to spend a little time in another country.  As it would turn out, it was a very little time.  I didn’t even stop for gas.  I drove from Niagara Falls, New York to just north of Detroit, Michigan and my only stops in Canada were at the border crossings.  In a way I guess it was my own loss.  There’s tons of cool stuff to see and do in that part of Ontario, but my schedule was such that I didn’t have time to do much more than notice that they have a highway named after Wayne Gretsky and enjoy the chance to drive 120 on the interstate (even if it was 120 KPH). ;)

Michigan

Afleck House North of Detroit.

Sunrise over Detroit… What a lovely site. J Actually I really liked the Detroit area.  My previous experience with this part of the country had been from a childhood visit on a road trip with my mom and brother.  We’d toured a bunch of the auto factories and steel plants.  They are very interesting and well worth the trip.  My other exposure was that during the 90s, I remember that Detroit was always in hot competition with Washington, DC for the status of Murder Capitol of North America.  What an honor!!!!

Thankfully it had stopped raining.  I got some great photos of the homes in the Detroit/Pontiac/Ann Arbor area and then headed west.  I had a lot to see on this day.  I needed to look at most of the Wright homes in central Michigan in one day.  I had a dinner date with Carol and Al, two docents from the Meyer May house in Grand Rapids, Michigan for 6pm that night.  I had calculated that my route would take about 400 miles to see all the homes I wanted to and make it to Grand Rapids in time for supper.  The great thing was that this would be a night that I got to sleep in a hotel!  WOOHOOO!!!

My good luck continued.  I worried that many of the homes would not be visible from the street.  I’m pretty strict about not trespassing in order to take photos.  I really want to respect people’s privacy and hopefully give a good name to all of us Wright-heads.  As it turned out, there were only 3 homes that I couldn’t really see from the street.  Some were not convenient to photograph and the quality of the shots shows that, but I can live with that. 

I hit pay dirt when I noticed a “for sale by owner” sign in front of the McCartney house in Kalamazoo.  I called her on the phone and talked with her for a little while about her house. She was very warm and accommodating and said that she didn’t mind if I came down and took a few photos of her house.  She’s a great lady.  I know it’s hard for her to sell her Wright home, but someone will truly enjoy it.  She’s done a wonderful job of maintaining it. 

McCartney House: Kalamazoo, Michigan

I got to Grand Rapids in time for a quick nap in my $32 hotel (woohoo!) before dinner with Carol and Al.  I even had paper money to pay for dinner that night so I wouldn’t embarrass them. J  Dinner was fantastic.  We met at a Chinese place and talked for at least 2 hours.  These two are definitely some of the greatest people I’ve met on my adventures.  Their love for Wright’s work runs deep and they’ve had lots of great adventures of their own.  While I was in New York, I’d found out that Edgar Tafel (former Wright apprentice from the 1930s) was speaking near Buffalo the following Sunday.  They were excited to hear the talk and we made arrangements to meet there.  

Meyer May House: Grand Rapids, Michigan.

That night I slept and slept and slept.  After two nights of naps in the car, parked in a rest stop, I was ready for a real bed, a real shower and a chance to charge my camera batteries. 

Tuesday morning was an early one because I had a lot to do that day.  I made my way to the Meyer May house in Grand Rapids and photographed it and the Amberg house around the corner.  I also photographed some of the other homes in the area for contrast.  I was then back on the highway and heading for the coast.  Brief stops in Benton Harbor, St. Johns and Grand Beach were my last stops in Michigan before heading to Indiana.

Please click on the links below to look at the photos and reports on the Michigan homes that I saw.

Michigan

Indiana

Mosberg House: South Bend, Indiana

I didn’t have a lot of time for Indiana.  I also didn’t have a ton of stuff to see.  There are two homes in South Bend and one in Ogden Dunes.  The homes were beautiful.  The drive went well.  I wished I’d had more time to explore Indiana.  That will have to wait for another trip though.  I had places to go and things to do.  I was a little disappointed that I didn’t stop and see the two homes in Gary, Indiana.  I was really tired by that time and it was too dark to do much photography.  From what I understand, one of them has almost collapsed and I think it would be a good addition to my list of homes. 

Please click on the links below to look at photos and reports from the Indiana homes I visited.

Indiana

Illinois

Bradley House: Kankakee, Illinois

Here’s the big daddy of the trip.  As you can see from the HUGE list of buildings I visited, I spent a lot of time and energy seeing Wright’s work in Illinois.  There are two reasons for that:  1) There is a ton of it to see; and 2) I’d been to Chicago many times and hadn’t managed to thoroughly see all that there was to see. 

I started south in Kankakee, Illinois.  I got to spend the night in another cheap hotel and really rest up for a serious Chicago blitz the next day.  I started at sunrise in Kankakee, seeing the two homes and collapsed barn there.  Then I headed North into the Chicago area.  By starting early, I missed a ton of the traffic. 

Yahoo maps served me well as a planning tool.  I’d mapped everything out with directions from one house to another as I worked my way North.  I had to cut two buildings out of my list to see because I had to be at the Charnley house at noon for an interior tour.  That was spectacular.  Don’t miss those photos!!!  

Charnley House Interior: Chicago, Illinois

After the tour I continued making my way North along the waterfront… seeing all the Wright homes and buildings along the way.  I kept going and going until sunlight finally gave out on me at the far North end of Chicagoland.   I was really tired after a long day of touring.  I was out of sunlight, out of money and done with the main part of the Chicago tour that I wanted to do.  There was only one thing left to do that night…. Drive to IOWA!!!!

Please click on the links below to see the Wright homes and buildings in Illinois.  We’ll come back to this list later as I come back to Illinois the next day.

Illinois

Iowa

Park Inn Hotel: Mason City, Iowa

Okay, here’s the situation.  It was Wednesday night and I had nowhere to sleep, no money for a hotel, but a full tank of gas.  I had already finished the Chicago touring that I had planned for the next day, so I had Thursday free.  I had done up some maps and information for Mason City, Iowa.  It was about a 5-hour drive from Chicago, but I had time to kill.  SOOOOoooOOOoOo  Off I went. J I slept in a rest stop in rural Iowa and pulled into town about the time McDonalds was into their morning rush.  My paycheck had arrived as planned in my account and I was now fully funded!!!! WOOHOOO!  My only problem was that I’d used all of my camera batteries the day before when shooting in Chicago and I had a full day of camera work ahead of me before I’d get to a hotel to re-charge.  My rescue came in the form of a small, local camera shop half a block from McDonalds.  They actually had the non-rechargeable lithium batteries for my Nikon that most places don’t carry.  I couldn’t thank the woman enough.  I went around her store and bought everything that I thought I might possibly need someday so that she could have a good sales day.  She was almost as happy as I was.  

Stockman House: Mason City, Iowa

Mason City is GREAT!  Definitely make the trip if you are in the area.  I only had a morning to spend there, so I barely scraped the surface.  I talk in more depth about this in my building reports linked below, but Mason City has a lot of nice architecture.  The Milwaukee railroad came through and that opened the door to a lot of influences from Chicago and points east.  The people are so wonderful.  I met Roz, one of the docents for the Stockman house.  She was out tending the flours.  We talked for a long time about the house and other things.  She wasn’t able to give me a tour, but I had more fun just sitting and talking with her.  She was another one of those gems that I found on this trip.

Cedar Rock Living Room: Quasqueton, Iowa

After a morning in Mason City, I was off to Quasqueton to see Cedar Rock again.  I stopped in Charles City to see a home along the way and made it to Cedar Rock by lunchtime.  After my tour I was off to Chicago to finish up the western part of the city that I had left as a precursor to the actual Wright Plus tour.

Please click on the links below to see the photos and reports of the buildings I saw in Iowa.

 Iowa

Illinois again…

What kind of idiot can spend so much time in Oak Park and not see Riverside, River Forest, La Grange or any of the other communities on the west side of Chicago that are filled with Wright buildings?  I guess that would be ME before this trip.  After a great night at the Residence Inn in Lombard, Illinois, I was rested, showered and re-charged for a day of touring.  I made it to all of the above neighborhoods except River Forest.  I took a tour of Robie and the Home and Studio. 

Robie House, Still under Construction: Chicago, Illinois

Possibly the coolest thing is that I met my friend Jerry that I’d run into two years earlier at Wright Plus.  He recognized the tattoo and introduced himself.  He turned out to be my tour guide for the Home and Studio.  He gave a GREAT tour and we kept talking afterwards.  As it turned out, he had a spare ticket for the Wright Plus preview tour that is given to all the volunteers.  He invited me along.  I accepted!!!  It was scheduled for 7pm that night.   We’d meet at 6:30 at the Home and Studio.

Home and Studio: Oak Park, Illinois

This presented a problem.  I wanted to photograph every home in Oak Park and River Forest that afternoon.  That left me very little time to do this.  Fortunately I had my running shoes on.   I did a running tour of Oak Park and managed to photograph 22 homes in less than an hour.  I had a big dinner at a new Mongolian BBQ type place on Lake Street and was at the Home and Studio by 6:15… tired but ready for more touring.  I ditched the camera in the car and Jerry and I walked to all the houses.  The tour was fantastic.  The conversation with Jerry was great too.  I met a few other people I knew and some that I hadn’t known.  He was a great tour guide and opened a lot of doors for me that otherwise wouldn’t have been available to me.  Many thanks to Jerry!!!

Finally, the day of the actual Wright Plus tour was upon me.  I got up really early and made my way to River Forest to photograph the homes I’d missed the day before.  I zipped back to the hotel to partake of their amazing hot breakfast and then was back in Oak Park for the beginning of the tour.  It was truly fantastic.  The homes were great!  I really liked that they were all close to the Home and Studio.  We didn’t have to get on any school busses. I’d packed my lunch so I could eat while waiting in line to get into some houses.  I liked seeing the homes by daylight after seeing them after dark the night before.  It gave a whole new perspective.  I also got to hear the docents talking about the homes. 

New York, again????

The trip from Chicago back to Washington, DC is a long one if you take it directly.  Its even longer if you go through Buffalo, New York.  Early on in this trip I found out that Edgar Tafel was going to speak at a benefit for Graycliff.  He was one of Wright’s early apprentices and one of the few originals that are still alive today.  I’ve read his books and thoroughly enjoy them.  For that reason, I got up at 2:30am, checked out of the hotel, and drove like heck to be in Buffalo by 1pm.  I made it.  Just barely.  I pulled into the parking lot at 12:50pm and ran so fast to the auditorium that I forgot my camera in the car.  Luckily my friend Al was there with his.  His photos are the ones you see on the Edgar Tafel Talk page. 

Click here for the page that discusses Edgar Tafel’s talk in Buffalo, NY.

Home, Sweet home…

It was 2:30 by the time the lecture finished up.  I had been up for 13 hours already and had 9 hours of driving to go.  I was the opposite of perky.  I made it home safe and sound though.  I managed to pull into the driveway, walk in the house, greeted my wife and collapse on the bed… sound asleep.  I even made it to work by 7am the next morning. 

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