Issue 182  January 1st 2020

We're Hiring! - Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy

The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy seeks an experienced Events and Communications Manager to join our Chicago office full time. The Events and Communications Manager directs and coordinates the planning, preparation and implementation of the annual conference, special events, tours, travel programs and other fundraising and donor recognition events throughout the year. Oversees the annual communications plan and budget in consultation with executive director and board. Oversees the creation, editing and coordination of all Conservancy communications and publications to inform members and the public about Conservancy activities, advocacy and events. If you are interested, more information here.

Click for more details: savewright.org  

The 11 Best Midcentury Modern Homes Of 2019

A wealth of homes from the 1950s and 1960s hit the market in 2019—from untouched time capsules to Frank Lloyd Wright originals—and Curbed covered them all in their "House of the Day" column.

Curbed includeds the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Toufic H. Kalil House in Manchester, New Hampshire, that hit the market in September. The home is a Usonian Automatic designed in the 1950s. While Usonians were Wright’s solution to more economical homes, built with no attics and basements and with less ornamentation than some of his other designs, Usonian Automatics took this idea one step further. The list also has the circular Norman Lykes home, Frank Lloyd Wright’s final residential design. See the entire list here.

Click for more details: curbed.com  

Dow Foundation: Back To Nature

In 1899, the founder of the Dow Chemical Company Herbert H. Dow and his family established a home in Midland, Michigan. Over the years, Herbert Dow created gardens, orchards, hills and ponds, and his architect son Alden B. Dow continued his work, as more land was acquired. The gardens grew to encompass an 110 acre complex that housed the Dow family and their descendants.

Now owned by the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation, the property opened to the public in 2004, offering them the chance to explore the gardens and the 54-acre forest. Herbert Dow descendant, Mike Whiting, started to think of ways to encourage visitors to appreciate the woods that had served as his backyard and playground as a child.

Whiting got in touch with Metcalfe, the firm responsible for the master planning, structure, and exhibit of the Tree Canopy Walk at University of Pennsylvania’s Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia. Working with Mike and Sara Whiting and the Dow Foundation, Metcalfe created a series of interconnected spaces and active zones that include two bridges, an amphitheater, orchards, a 1,400ft-long canopy walk, a 13,600sq ft nature playground featuring sandy beaches and water play, and a visitor center in what was the Whiting family home.

"We started with the Whiting family home, which was donated to the public in 1980. It’s a fabulous building designed by Alden Dow, who was a mid-century modern master; a student of Frank Lloyd Wright." Read more of the interview here.

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Record-Breaking Year For Wright House Sales

The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy notes that with 15 properties changing hands this year, 2019 was a particularly busy year for Wright-designed houses.

"The last several years have typically seen seven or eight sales per year. This year’s group was large enough to include a house from each decade of Wright’s independent career, as well as from each of the major periods of that career. It was also a geographically diverse collection, including houses in the Northeast, Southwest and various parts of the Midwest. Sale prices ranged from $600,000 for the Baker House in Wilmette, Illinois, to $18 million for the Ennis House in Los Angeles. The Ennis sale price broke the record for a Wright house. The record was previously held by the Storer House, also in Los Angeles, which sold for $6.8 million in 2015." More information here.

Click for more details: savewright.org