Issue 227 November 11th 2020

The Headlines

Dwell Looks At Wright's Armstrong House

Dwell magazine highlights Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Dune House” as it hits the market for $1.2M. Also known as the Armstrong House, the Usonian residence in Indiana was built in 1939 and expanded in the 1960s.

"A Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home is now up for sale in Portage, Indiana, about 40 miles east of Chicago along Lake Michigan. Originally completed in 1939, the tri-level Andrew F. H. Armstrong House is located in the coveted lakefront community of Ogden Dunes. Inside and out, the structure offers many signature details—including board-and-batten walls, handsomely articulated brickwork, and, of course, built-ins galore." See the photos here.

See The Best Of Frank Lloyd Wright In A PechaKucha Live-Stream

The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy and the Westcott House are teaming up again with PechaKucha to kick off the FLWBC's 2020 virtual conference with Wright Sites x PechaKucha vol. 2. The inaugural Wright Sites x PechaKucha on June 8th , 2020, attracted over 2,000 people from all around the world. Wright Sites x PechaKucha vol. 2 will feature eight presentations in the highly-visual and efficient PechaKucha style: 20 image-based slides, shown for 20 seconds apiece, with each talk lasting only 400 seconds. This live online global event will celebrate the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, an architect whom in 1991 the American Institute of Architects named the greatest American architect of all time.

This free virtual event, scheduled for Wednesday, November 11, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. CDT, will feature eight speakers who own, live or work in Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings. These public and private sites span the country and represent multiple phases of Wright’s long and varied career. Sites include:

Carolyn and Harold Price, Jr. House (Bartlesville, Oklahoma – privately owned) David and Gladys Wright House (Phoenix, Arizona – privately owned) Hollyhock House (Los Angeles, California) Laurent House (Rockford, Illinois) Marin County Civic Center (San Rafael, California) Meyer House (Galesburg, Michigan – privately owned, available for overnight stays) Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York, New York) Willey House (Minneapolis, Minnesota – privately owned, tours by appointment)

Wright Sites x PechaKucha was born out of a concerted effort among Wright sites to rally together and offer new and exciting programming during the pandemic. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Westcott House played a key role in coordinating this effort as the site has been part of the global network of PechaKucha city organizers for a decade now. “We brought PechaKucha to Springfield after seeing the huge popularity of this program in Chicago and other larger cities, says Marta Wojcik, Executive Director & Curator of the Westcott House. “Our goal has been to go beyond a traditional tourism destination and become a hub for community engagement. PechaKucha is one of the initiatives that helped us grow our impact and relevance in the community.”

Wright Sites x PechaKucha vol. 2 will help kick off the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy’s Annual Conference, taking place online from November 11-14. The conference offers an unprecedented chance to convene the global community of Wright specialists and aficionados. Preservationists, homeowners and public site leaders will participate in lively panel discussions and open their doors to attendees through video and photographic tours, providing a broad look at the current state of the movement to save Wright. From the comfort of home, attendees can journey to nearly twenty sites, many not regularly open to visitors—an itinerary that spans Wright’s career and reaches from his Midwestern origins to Japan. To learn more about the full conference, follow the link.

“Wright was at the forefront of technology and innovation, which is why his legacy continues to inspire,” says Mark Dytham MBE, principal of Klein Dytham architecture and co-founder of PechaKucha. “There’s no better moment to visit Wright sites than now for fresh insight as we face a new world.”

Attendees can register for this free event here.

Check Out The FLWBC Silent Auction

Speaking of the FLWBC's annual conference: the silent auction, one of the Conservancy’s most popular annual fundraisers, is happening entirely online for the first time ever in conjunction with the 2020 Virtual Conference. The auction offers rare Wright memorabilia, artwork, collectibles, experiences at Wright sites, books, and more—all proceeds supporting the Conservancy's mission. You don’t have to be a Conservancy member, or even be registered for the virtual conference, to bid. Bidding opened Monday, November 9, and will close at 9pm Central time on Saturday, November 14. So get your bids in here!

Pull Up A Morris Chair: The 28th Craftsman Weekend Is Going Online

Unable to celebrate its 28th Craftsman Weekend in the usual historic locations because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the preservation group Pasadena Heritage has moved its fall celebration of architecture online, but with an expanded lineup.

With so many events shut down this year, it's reassuring to see the event return Nov. 6-15 as “Preservation Pasadena: Craftsman to Modern,” a reimagined virtual examination of more than 50 years of architecture, from Arts and Crafts to Midcentury Modern.

Hosted on Zoom, the event will include tours, lectures and panel discussions designed to revisit familiar subjects in new ways. Highlights include a walking tour of Prospect Park, Pasadena’s first National Register Historic District and home to Charles and Henry Greene’s Bentz House; Arthur and Alfred Heineman’s Hindry House; Sylvanus Marston’s Hinds House; and Frank Lloyd Wright’s concrete block Millard House. (This is an exterior tour and will include images of the homes’ interiors but not live footage).

Lectures will explore the legacy of architect John Parkinson, who designed Bullocks Wilshire and Union Station; a century of Stickley furniture at the Gamble House; the effect of Sunset magazine on the West; and a screening of the documentary “Neutra: Survival Through Design” with Barbara Lamprecht, one of the premier authorities on Richard Neutra’s work. Moving outside Pasadena, the programming will also include a 90-minute, prerecorded, online exploration of the life and times of America’s most famous woodworker, Sam Maloof.

If you are unable to attend events during the scheduled times, recordings will be available for a week afterward for those who have purchased tickets, with the exception of the documentary. Tickets are $12 and $15 per program. For more Information go to pasadenaheritage.org.

Memorializing Midcentury Modern Chicago

Whet Moser of Chicago Magazine gives us a review of Modern in the Middle, a new book by Susan S. Benjamin and Michelanglo Sabatino. The book covers 53 houses built in the Chicago area between 1929 and 1975, all of them in the modern style familiar to fans of Frank Lloyd Wright and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. From the volume’s presentation — a handsome coffee-table book of masterpieces by architects like Bruce Goff, Bertrand Goldberg, and Keck and Keck — you might think the stories of the homes’ owners, a central part of the text, would be of the rich and famous.“This is not a book about lifestyles of the rich and famous,” says Benjamin, an architectural historian and owner of Benjain Historic Certifications. "They’re progressive thinkers who are the clients. Architects were heavily impacted by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, who built his first Usonian house in Madison in 1936.”

Wright’s Usonian ideal was a more simple adaptation of his Prairie style for middle-class houses. The idea was to make the homes’ beauty more accessible. Though there are only a couple Usonian homes in the Chicago area, their philosophy imbues many of the houses in Modern in the Middle. Read the entire article here.

Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Hires Jewel Branding & Licensing As Worldwide Licensing Agent

The Whirling Arrow informs us that Jewel Branding & Licensing has just signed with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to be their exclusive, worldwide licensing agency. The Foundation preserves and celebrates the legacy of America’s most renowned architect and visionary, and through licensing, Wright’s work and ideas are brought to life for the next generation of design enthusiasts. Jewel will be working closely with the Foundation to support their existing licensing program, which includes about 50 licensees, as well as bring them new opportunities to further extend the Frank Lloyd Wright brand and design aesthetic.

“In the world of design and architecture, the name Frank Lloyd Wright is unmatched,” said Ilana Wilensky, President of Jewel Branding & Licensing. “We are so honored to be working with the Foundation to advance Wright’s legacy through licensing and support their mission to make his work more accessible to consumers of all ages around the globe.”

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation’s mission is to inspire people to discover and embrace an architecture for better living through meaningful connections to nature, the arts, and each other. Their licensing program supports the mission by making products that allow people to bring Wright’s ideas into their daily lives. Products range from exact reproductions of original products to adaptations and abstractions of Wright designs. It includes classic products, as well as innovative new work that exemplifies Wright’s philosophy. Jewel will be seeking strategic licensing partners who can develop products that embody the Frank Lloyd Wright aesthetic and be relevant to today’s market. Revenues generated from the licensing program support the Foundation’s important work in preserving Taliesin and Taliesin West to provide experiences that challenge visitors to build and live better, and influencing and educating a worldwide audience about the continued relevance of Wright’s architectural and cultural legacy.

“As our licensing program continues to grow, we felt it was time to bring on an agency to support our goals, and it was important to find a partner who understands the intricacies of working with a cultural institution,” said Stuart Graff, President and CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. “Everything we do at the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation is in support of our mission. From our first meeting with Jewel, we understood they would partner with us to build a licensing program that would help, in Wright’s words, ‘make life more beautiful, and the world a better one for living in.’” Learn more here.

Holiday Wright Style At The Allen House

"Holiday Wright Style" is happening at the Allen House, 255 N. Roosevelt , Wichita, Kansas, from 4-9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14. Wichita’s only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed residence will be decorated in 1918’s style, when Henry Allen and his wife, Elsie, lived in the home. A newspaper publisher, Henry Allen later become a Kansas governor and senator. Visitors can take self-guided tours of the main floor, garden house and gardens. Holiday shopping available, with silent auction items in the garden house and items in the Gilded Garage Gift Shop. Timed entry tickets required and sold only online. Face masks and social distancing required. Cost: $20. More information here.

7 Incredible Churches To Visit In The Southwestern U.S.

SJ Morgensen of TravelAwaits has compiled a list of 7 Incredible Churches to visit in the Southwestern U.S. The list includes Wayfarers Chapel designed by Lloyd Wright (Wright's son) and Chapel of the Holy Cross, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright student Marguerite Brunswig Staude.

Perched on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific, Wayfarers Chapel is made almost entirely of glass and wood and offers magnificent views of the Pacific coast. This masterpiece was designed by Lloyd Wright who carries on his father’s architectural hallmarks. Bathed in glorious, soft natural light and with a stunning backdrop of incredible coastal views, it’s the perfect setting for an intimate wedding. The chapel itself is a small, gorgeous space with a stone interior. The simplicity of the stone, wood, and floor to ceiling windows allow the incredible natural beauty to be the star of the show here.

Perched high in the mountains and buttes of Sedona, Arizona lies the awe inspiring Chapel of the Holy Cross. Completed in 1956, the church was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright student Marguerite Brunswig Staude and was under construction for more than 18 months. Reaching over 250 feet into the air, the way the church was built into the side of a mountain is really an engineering marvel. In fact, it’s been named one of the seven manmade wonders in Arizona. Read the entire list here.

For Sale: The Only John Lautner-Designed House In Alaska

The only John Lautner house in Alaska is ready for a new owner to gently resuscitate this 1960s gem that’s now on the market for $1.2 million. This 6,165-square-foot structure has all of the features you’d expect from a house designed by renowned midcentury architect: profuse amounts of wood, unusual forms and angles, dramatic design — except, of course, for the fact that it’s located more than 3,000 miles north of his usual Californian haunts, in the blustery Alaskan city of Anchorage.

In 1956, Lautner was approached by radio announcer Willis Harpel to design his Los Angeles home, and created an essay in mixed materials like wood and concrete in concert with a simple plan and geometric shapes. So, when Harpel and his family moved to Alaska in 1966 — by which time Lautner had already experienced some ups and downs in his career — they hired him to build their new residence as well, this time poised delicately next to a lake.

The house’s grand circular room and its lantern-like appearance on the lakefront at night earned it a six-page color spread in Life in Oct. 1967, declaring it “as big and bold as all outdoors, which is saying something in Alaska.” The home presents a relatively modest, single-story wood-clad façade to the street, but inside, visitors will find themselves in a long, paneled corridor with built-in shelving that leads to the back of the house, to the wheel-shaped grand living room that looks out to the lake below, complete with built-in seating, and incredible natural light.

Off the grand room is a raised dining area with original built-in woodwork and cabinets. The adjacent kitchen appears to have retained its original layout, but it looks like some cabinets may have been replaced with laminate doors, while others look like they might be original to the home. Daylight streams in through triangular zig-zagging windows along an exterior wall that was intended to evoke a mountain motif. As for the bedrooms and bathrooms, they also retain their original wood cabinetry and vanities, along with wood paneling on the walls and the same triangular windows found in the kitchen. See the gallery photos here.

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