Issue 173 October 30th 2019

The Headlines

Henderson House Owners Donate Easement To FLWBC

The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy announced that the owners of the Henderson House in Elmhurst, Illinois, have donated a preservation easement to the Conservancy, protecting the Prairie-style house that is currently on the market in a teardown-prone area. The house was designed by Wright in 1901 while in partnership with Henry Webster Tomlinson.

Over the years the house had been altered in major ways, including the addition of an enclosed second-floor sleeping porch over the south terrace that reportedly infuriated Wright. Beginning in the 1960s a series of owners have expended tremendous effort to restore the house, including David and Joyce McArdle, who purchased the house in 1988. As a result of their ownership, McArdle handled the legal filing of the articles of incorporation for the newly formed Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy. The Henderson House today remains as it was originally designed by Wright with few exceptions. Owner Patrick Fahey and his ex-wife donated the easement to the Conservancy as they seek to find a new steward for the house. Read more here.

Nine Chicago Area Historic Cemeteries To Explore

With Halloween rapidly approaching, it seems only fitting to explore Chicago's historic cemeteries. Curbed Chicago has a list of nine Chicago cemeteries that pack a whole lot of history, haunted architecture, and nature.

In the number one spot is Graceland Cemetery at 4001 N Clark St. In 1860, this cemetery was established as the site that would be the new location for the bodies buried in the Chicago City Cemetery which originally located in Lincoln Park. Many of Chicago’s early architects rest here including Daniel Burnham, Louis Sullivan, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Bruce Graham (he designed the John Hancock building and Sears Tower). It also serves as an arboretum with over 2,000 trees on the property. See the entire list here.

Take a Tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Life

Visitors can tour many of Wright’s creations thanks to the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust, whose mission is to engage, educate and inspire the public through the interpretation of Wright’s design legacy. The Trust features 50 employees and 650 volunteers who serve an audience of 150,000 site visitors and 1 million virtual visitors from around the world each year. The Trust offers five tours in the Chicago area where guests can get an up-close view of Wright’s masterful creations. Check out the offerings here.

Exhibitions to Fill an Art Lover’s Fall Calendar

Fall is a busy time of year for displays of art across museums, galleries and auction houses. The New York Times gives us a list of worthy shows of everything from ancient treasures to cutting-edge works, in all corners of the United States.

Of note, at the Art Institute of Chicago, “Bauhaus Chicago: Design and the City” on Nov. 23 to April 26. After the Nazis shut down Germany’s famed art and design school, the Bauhaus, the educators had to go somewhere, and many of them went to Chicago. The New Bauhaus was founded in 1937, in a city that had already demonstrated its passion for great architecture with its embrace of the work of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright. The exhibition looks at the work of Nathan Lerner (he created the plastic honey bear dispenser), Dori Hahn Altschuler, and others associated with the institution.

See the entire list of exhibits here.

Sullivan's Newark, Ohio Building Restoration Plans Announced

The money has been raised and plans are in place to continue the $7.7 million restoration of the historic Sullivan Building in downtown Newark, Ohio.

The Licking County Foundation, which received the building as a donation in 2013, announced Wednesday the capital campaign has raised money to secure a grant for the massive project, expected to be completed and open to the public in 2021.

The Louis Sullivan Building, at 1 N. Third St., was built in 1914 and opened in 1915 as the Home Building Association Company. One of only eight banks, known as jewel boxes, designed by noted American architect Louis Sullivan, it is both a national treasure and a treasured piece of Central Ohio's heritage. Through the years, the Sullivan Building was also home to a butcher shop, a jewelry store and eventually an ice cream parlor. With each new tenant the interior was altered, but the building's historic and architectural significance never changed. In 1973, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The foundation raised the required $1.5 million match to secure a $750,000 grant from the Jeffris Family Foundation, well before the June 30 deadline. The grant and matching funds brings the total raised of $2.25 million toward the $2.5 million needed for the exterior restoration which began in May and should finish in December.

The exterior work will restore the facade, including the intricate terra cotta, art-glass windows and mosaics, and install new doors, lower-level windows, roof and facade illumination. The interior restoration will include the murals, marble, mahogany, safe, lighting, check counters and wood benches. The interior work, including the adjacent LeFevre Foundation annex will cost an estimated $5.2 million. Based on gifts and anticipated Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credits, the foundation has a fundraising goal of $3.9 million to see the entire project through to completion. Eschol Curl, chairman of the Licking County Foundation governing board, thanked the Jeffris Family Foundation for giving the project a funding boost. Read more about this project here.

Where To Find Frank Lloyd Wright Designs In The Phoenix Area

Taliesin West is not the only Frank Lloyd Wright design in the Phoenix, Arizona area. The visionary architect left his mark on the Valley, particularly in the Arcadia neighborhood of Phoenix, in Scottsdale and in Paradise Valley. Channel 12 shares a list of several structures built from Wright's designs. See the photos here.

What Design Lovers Will Be Surprised To Find In Buffalo, New York

Architectural Digest knows that Buffalo, New York has long flown under the radar—but it wasn’t always that way. Frederick Law Olmsted—the mastermind behind other famous New York green areas like Manhattan’s Central Park and upstate’s Niagara Falls—designed the country’s first and oldest park system here, in Buffalo, in the mid-to-late 1800s (850 acres of which are still intact today). Then, at the turn of the 20th century, Buffalo was among the most prosperous and populous ports in the nation. Not only did it have a strategic trade position on the Canadian border, it was also a stronghold for the manufacturing and shipping industries. Although it may feel like Buffalo has been dormant for decades, this Rust Belt city is in the midst of a resurgence thanks to its beautifully restored architecture, burgeoning culinary scene, and new art compounds.

Frank Lloyd Wright has iconic estates all across America. Yet he built a handful of properties in Buffalo as well. Two of which—Martin House and Graycliff—are both fresh-off a decades-long restoration and back open to the public starting last summer. The eight-bedroom Martin House is a classic example of Wright’s prairie-style architecture. A $52 million renovation in 2017 returned it to its turn-of-the-century glory, even down to the original landscape plans, stained-glass windows, and custom-designed furniture. The Martin family also owned the Graycliff summer house, whose sprawling terraces overlook the shores of Lake Erie. Read more here.

Aerial Views of SC Johnson's World Headquarters

The Journal Times provides some views of SC Johnson's world headquarters at 1525 Howe St. in Racine, Wisconsin as seen from the cockpit of local financial planner Michael Haubrich's light-sport airplane. Visible in this photo are the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Research Tower and Administration Building, Fortaleza Hall, and the Golden Rondelle Theater. The campus' northwest corner is under construction. See it here.

Los Angeles Fires Endanger Landmark Architecture

The fires raging in Los Angeles are threatening lives and property—including historic structures by Frank Lloyd Wright and others. One MCM LA landmark in particular—The Eames House— closed Monday as part of the evacuation zone of the fast-spreading Getty fire.

The husband-and-wife team Charles and Ray Eames completed the historic home, also known as Case House Study No. 8, in 1949. The Eameses used off-the-shelf components to create a thoroughly singular design on 1.4 wooded acres in the Pacific Palisades. It was designated a national historic landmark in 2006 and is the subject of a Getty Conservation Institute project.

When a small fire broke out in L.A.'s Pacific Palisades neighborhood this month, Eames Foundation Director Lucia Atwood told The LA Times that fire risk mitigation is a top priority. The nonprofit is seeking donors to accelerate the installation of a water cistern, she said. She added that the foundation is honing its landscape-management plan to address expectations that fire risk will only get worse in the years to come. More here.

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