Issue 139 March 6th 2019

The Headlines

Groundbreaking Date Set For Tower Center At Unity Square Project

The public is invited to attend a groundbreaking ceremony that has officially been set for the highly anticipated Tower Center at Unity Square project in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The space, designed by Ambler Architects, will unite Frank Lloyd Wright’s historic Price Tower and the nearby Taliesin-designed Bartlesville Community Center. The new green area will feature an outdoor performance space, a revitalized fountain and a walkway through a landscape of regional plants, rocks and stone. The event is scheduled for Friday, March 29th. Read more.

Wright's Coonley Estate Stables For Sale

A three-bedroom house in Riverside, Illinois that was originally built 11 decades ago as stables for the Avery Coonley estate is up for sale. Converted and used as a residence for more than half a century, the 2,300-square-foot home has 84 original windows and a fireplace all designed by Wright.

Part of the cluster of Wright buildings that Avery Coonley and Queene Ferry Coonley built on their estate between 1908 and 1912, the buildings' 10,000 square feet was divided into four residences decades later, and the surrounding acreage was sold off. One of those four residences is the former stables, now a single-story house.

Owner Ella Mae Eastman is asking $1.1 million for the home, which she and her late husband, Dean, bought for $350,000 in 2005. At the time, one person had lived there for decades and the house was dilapidated. The Eastmans did a complete rehab and updated all mechanical and climate systems. More here.

Step Into Houses Designed By Kaneji Domoto

In the center of New York’s Westchester county, located in the ocean of leafy neighborhoods between the Saw Mill River Parkway and Interstate 684, stands a built example that approximates Frank Lloyd Wright’s vision for suburban America: Usonia.

Now a National Historic District, "Usonia" is a 100-acre plot purchased in 1945 by a cooperative of New York families who wanted to build their homes there. The group sought Frank Lloyd Wright to design it; Wright planned the development in the fashion of his own nature-focused vision for American suburbia. Only select architects were approved to design individual houses in Usonia, and among them was Kaneji Domoto, the American-born son of Japanese plant nursery owners. Domoto, who studied at Taliesin and incorporated Wright’s ideas, often referenced Japanese architecture and landscaping in his projects. While he might be best known for his landscape design, Domoto did create architectural works. He designed five residences at Usonia which are the focus of a new exhibition at State University of New York at Purchase, New York, Domoto: Visions of Usonia.

This new exhibition is “set up to communicate the nature of Domoto’s spatial ideas, the continuity of interior and exterior, and the specific use of colors and materials; but also something about the way the architecture was built and where.” Domoto: Visions of Usonia includes a wide range of media, including a new site model of Usonia, architectural models, original blueprints, and historic photography. The exhibition aims to be immersive: It includes an historic photo of the Luria House enlarged to near-actual size that is placed alongside a recent photograph of the same room. Domoto: Visions of Usonia runs through March 13. See a selection of the recent photographs taken for the show by Thad Russell here.

Vernon D. Swaback Among 2019 "Historymakers"

The Arizona Historical League has once again recognized the state’s best, brightest and most influential minds through its annual Historymakers Gala and Recognition Program, held Feb. 23 at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa. The “Historymakers” are Arizonans who have made lasting contributions to Arizona by distinguishing themselves in diverse areas, including education, architecture, and the arts.

The 2019 Arizona Historymakers honorees included Vernon D. Swaback. At the age of 17, Mr. Swaback was the youngest student ever to be invited by Frank Lloyd Wright into the Taliesin Fellowship. His Scottsdale-based firm is responsible for some of the most significant planning projects in Arizona’s history. More here.

Celebrating Mr. Mackintosh

HeraldScotland writes that Glasgow has been celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Incredibly, despite his astonishing legacy or architecture and design—which continues to inspire people of all walks of life and creative stripes—Mackintosh was never fully appreciated in his lifetime. Read about this remarkable man here.

Wright's W. Irving Clark House For Sale

The W. Irving Clark house, an early Frank Lloyd Wright design in LaGrange, IL, has hit the market for $1.2 million. Despite having 15 owners since being built in 1893, this 4000 square foot residence in La Grange, IL, is in pristine condition. Much of this pristine nature is thanks to renovations that took place two owners ago overseen by the late John Thorpe, who brought much of Wright's original design back to the house.

“Many, many features in the home are original features,” says Judy Ellison of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. They include doors to the front of the house and to the vestibule, all hardware, and the light fixtures in the family room and main hallway. Floor tile in the vestibule is also original, and stained-glass windows in the living and dining rooms were also preserved, as were built-ins throughout. Four original wood-burning fireplaces are in working condition, ready to crackle during the next polar vortex. Read and see more here.

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