Issue Dec 13th 2023  December 13th 2023

Two Early Frank Lloyd Wright Homes Have A Surprising Link That Was Just Discovered

Before Frank Lloyd Wright was Frank Lloyd Wright—pioneer of organic architecture, master of material innovation, undisputed American icon—he was just a young 20-something, working as a draftsman in studios across Chicago trying to pay the bills. A new discovery reveals how he was able to get his start through a particular family that gave him his earliest commissions.

It was the late 1880s: Wright had worked under Joseph Lyman Silsbee and was now an apprentice at Adler & Sullivan (he was even given special responsibility and attention from Louis Sullivan himself). But as many young adults know, it’s in these early career years when money is the tightest, and Wright, with a growing family and expensive taste, was no stranger to this occurrence. He began taking on independent commissions outside of his post—something that was forbidden under his contract—and when Sullivan found out, his position ended (whether he quit or was fired is not fully clear).

It was then that Wright officially established his own studio, and now historians know a bit more about how the architect was able to build his business in these early days. The breakthrough came after Safina Uberoi, the current president of the Frank Lloyd Building Conservancy, and her husband, Lukas Ruecker, bought one of Wright’s earliest commissions known as the Bagley House. They hired Jean Follett, a historic preservation specialist, and Julia Bachrach, historian, preservation planner, and urban design professional, to nominate the property for landmark status.

“As the home was originally a summer residence, and one Wright’s earliest independent commissions, we wanted to know more about the Bagley family,” Bachrach tells AD over email. The pair found that Grace Bagley, the matriarch of the family, was an important social reformer through the late 19th and early 20th centuries. According to Crain’s Chicago Business, she was active in the women’s suffrage movement, a frequent volunteer at Jane Addams Hull House (a settlement house that served European immigrants), and made improvements for tenants to an apartment building her husband owned. While unconfirmed, it’s likely that Wright met the Bagleys at All Souls Unitarian Church, where they were members. The paster there, Jenkin Lloyd Jones, was the architect’s uncle. Wright also worked on the church during his time at Joseph Lyman Silsbee’s firm. In 1893, the couple, who shared Wright’s progressive ideologies, hired him to design them a summer home outside of Chicago.

The other half of the connection took place six years later, when Stephen A. Foster, an attorney, and his wife, Almeda, hired Wright to design them their own vacation property in the West Pullman neighborhood of Chicago. But it wasn’t just a shared use that the two houses had in common. While digging through the Bagley’s life, the researchers found that Almeda and Grace were actually sisters. Both women, born Hodges, had taken their husband’s names, muddying the connection between them and their two homes. “In the past it was much more difficult to find information on the wives of Wright’s clients,” Bachrach adds.

Both properties are very clearly early Wright. That is to say, to the untrained eye, they don’t look much like Frank Lloyd Wright designs at all. The Bagley House is designed in the Dutch Colonial Revival style and features a dormered gambrel roof and columned veranda. The Foster House, though more experimental, is defined by wood siding and a dormer roof. However, both properties do reveal a designer eager to innovate, who, likely constrained to clients’ tastes and financially unable to pass over commissions, did what he could to push the boundaries. The Bagley House, for example, includes an octagonal library, open floor plan, and glass doors that open onto the veranda, which appear frequently in later Wright homes. The Foster House, for its part, features an outward flare on the edges of both the dormers and the roof, suggesting a Japanese influence, something Wright would continue to explore throughout his career.

Ultimately, the discovery not only affirms that Wright took advantage of word of mouth advertising when designing early in his career, but also made use of familial connections (both his own, such as those made through his uncle, and among clients). However, perhaps the most exciting revelation is the vital importance of women in the young architect’s formative years. “We are discovering more and more how important women were to Wright’s career,” Bachrach says. “Especially social progressives, like Grace Bagley.” (More about Grace is currently on display in a special exhibit at the Bagley House titled “Finding Grace”).

Dr. Lisa D. Schrenk, a professor of architecture history at the University of Arizona and author of The Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright, adds that it is refreshing additional context to Wright’s early career. Brothers Darwin and William Martin are often given plenty of credit for “advancing Wright’s early career through their commissioning [of] a series of residential and commercial projects in Chicago and Buffalo, but it is only now that we are hearing about the important role of two sister clients played,” she says. Though there are many advanced softwares that can help shed light on historic buildings, she commends Bachrach and Follett for their traditional archival sleuthing. “Careful researchers like Julia Bachrach and Jean Follett, who dig through archives and take the time to connect small nuggets of discoveries, can shed important new light onto the past.”

Click for more details: architecturaldigest.com  

Modernists Defined Organic Architecture, Helena Arahuete Is Making It Current 

Driving in the hills of California, you often can see glints of sunlight bouncing off the windows and metallic surfaces of homes nestled in the tree tops and bluffs. Unsurprisingly, many of these dwellings are also architectural feats. They don’t just reflect light but also the vision of their creators.

One such home is the “House above the Morning Clouds,” a 13,580 square foot glass and concrete hexagon with cantilevered decks, designed by Los Angeles-based architect Helena Arahuete, whose 50-year career in organic architecture is the focus of the current exhibition “From Within: The Architecture of Helena Arahuete” at UC Santa Barbara’s Art, Design & Architecture Museum.

“Arahuete stands out as perhaps the sole living female architect in the world who is still practicing according to the organic principles introduced by Louis Sullivan over a century ago,” said Silvia Perea, curator of the museum’s Architecture and Design Collection. “In this regard, her work represents a pioneering force in the advancement of architecture, setting a powerful example by resisting prevailing trends.”

Organic architecture has been practiced by pillars of modernism such as Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and John Lautner, who was Arahuete’s mentor. For her part, she is known for how her design strategies define a building’s internal space. The geometry of her structures are interpretations of geometries found in nature. Water, vegetation and rocks are often in the interior of buildings. Large glass panels for exterior walls are common and locally-sourced materials, imperative. Perea has described this as blurring the boundaries between the architectural and its surrounding landscape.

At the “House above the Morning Clouds,” for instance, there are points at which the only distinction between the interior and the exterior are the glass walls and doors that span the house. The home’s pièce de résistance is a suspended rectangular swimming pool that, along with the stone floor, continues seamlessly from inside to outside the house.

“Arahuete’s architecture is not ostentatious and yet it provides a highly rich sensorial experience because it stems from a process of molding the space intended to uplift the spirit,” said Perea. She also noted Arahuete’s commitment to minimizing architecture’s environmental impact, inserting the buildings deep into their sites, implementing passive energy methods, using materials specific to the site and engaging local craftworkers.

Originally from Belgium, Arahuete learned about organic architecture as a high school student in Argentina. After graduating from the School of Architecture of the University of Buenos Aires, she worked at Lautner’s office for 23 years, rising to the positions of chief architect and associate. After Lautner died in 1994, Arahuete established her own firm and continued to work according to organic principles, while adapting them to evolving technological resources and her own values.

The AD&A Museum exhibition, which runs through Dec. 17, is the first retrospective of Arahuete’s career, expanding the scholarship on modern architectural history, which the curator noted has traditionally been centered on the work of male practitioners.

“It sets an example for young female students of architecture,” said Perea, “considering the gender discrepancies that still exist today in the architectural field.” Only 17% of licensed architects identify as female and women continue to make around 15% less than men, she added, noting that there are also less opportunities for professional growth and individual recognition for their contributions.

“Throughout her career, Arahuete has earned a respected position in the predominantly male-dominated construction industry by cultivating a profound understanding of the multifaceted aspects required to transform architectural concepts into reality,” Perea added. “These include the historical, constructive, structural, material and administrative dimensions of the architectural praxis.”

Arahuete has often said “no” to commissions that implied a departure from the organic principles she identifies with “not in an arrogant way, but in an ethical one,” Perea said. Her adherence to principles and “independence of thought — or disobedience to the norm — is quite unique in the construction business, so intensely subject to market pressures.” But Arahuete’s specific approach to architecture has also limited her clientele and the number of projects she has built still remains modest.

For the AD&A Museum, the exhibition is an opportunity for visitors to cultivate a deeper appreciation for the contributions of underrepresented architects — which is pivotal in advancing equity within the field of architecture. The exhibition also promotes environmental conservation by showcasing the role of organic architecture in terms of energy efficiency, resource preservation and landscape protection.

Click for more details: ucsb.edu  

The Guaranty Building: A Civic Toast To A Crown Jewel of Buffalo

The Hodgson Russ law firm’s holiday party is set for Dec. 14. Managing partner Benjamin Zuffranieri Jr. plans to call everyone together in a downtown lobby of stained glass luminance, where he’ll raise a toast to the definition of a monumental act:

It will be 40 years, almost to the day, since the Guaranty Building reclaimed its rightful place as a crown jewel of Buffalo, New York.

The 13-floor landmark is an architectural masterwork by Louis Sullivan, an American genius and “father of the skyscraper,” his plans reinforced by such brilliant colleagues as his partner, Dankmar Adler, and draftsman George Elmslie. No matter how often you walk in, the awe never wears off.

On Dec. 15, 1983, about 1,000 people jammed inside the Guaranty to celebrate the rescue and restoration of a treasure the late Ada Louise Huxtable, legendary architectural critic for the New York Times, once described as “one of this country’s most important works of architecture.”

It was the final – and arguably finest – collaboration of Adler & Sullivan, the Chicago firm whose works embraced a vertical canvas. The Buffalo connection was locked in by Hascal Taylor, a successful oilman from Stockton, near Fredonia, who envisioned a nationally memorable landmark in the heart of Buffalo.

The dream came to be in 1896, though Taylor died before his name could go on the building. Yet Sullivan, the man he hired, followed through on creating a global statement of such meaning that international visitors routinely travel to Buffalo to see this high expression of Sullivan’s creed: Form follows function.

Peter Flynn of Flynn Battaglia Architects has served as project architect on four Guaranty restorations in the last 40-some years. He describes the façade as evoking the delicate vines of a terra cotta grove of trees, “rising above the city and blooming at the cornice.”

That baked clay exterior was restored in hundreds of places, in scalpel-like-detail, by Boston Valley Terra Cotta of Orchard Park, whose chairman of the board, John Krouse, describes the painstaking challenge as “an honor.”

That work became a soulful remedy, long after a 1974 fire on the top floors left the Guaranty at risk of demolition – peril reinforced by years of neglect.

Over the years, there had also been such mind-boggling “renovations” as smothering an entrance way of exquisite tiling with the kind of paneling that people in the 1950s and 1960s often used on basement walls. The unintentional benefit, Flynn said, was that it protected the precious work beneath.

Even in a community where Wright, H.H. Richardson and other masters worked, the Guaranty assumes the aura of a terra cotta shrine.

Terry Gilbride, a Hodgson Russ partner beginning a new role as chief legal officer with the Buffalo Bills, paused Wednesday by one of Sullivan’s gleaming elevators to reflect on the close call that only amplifies why the building means so much.

A half-century ago, the Guaranty almost came down. Buffalo’s architectural treasury has emerged as “our legacy to the world,” Gilbride said, and to level the Guaranty would have meant repeating what happened with Wright’s irreplaceable Larkin building: A civic blunder of unimaginable scale.

Still, the Guaranty wasn’t financially secure until the 2000s, when the Hodgson Russ partners – understanding the magnitude of the Guaranty in Buffalo – made a decision to buy it out of foreclosure and to invest $20 million in transforming all 13 floors into the law firm’s home.

Zuffranieri, who described how such details as circular windows or the magnificent lobby always touch off the same reaction:

“You feel as though you’re part of a beautiful work of art, every day.”

Flynn, the longtime architect, was maybe 30 when he walked into the building for the first time. He immersed himself in learning about Sullivan, whose mother would send her child into the woods to sketch natural scenes – early training that Flynn believes blossomed into the astounding façade in Buffalo.

At 76, now intimate with almost every detail of the landmark, Flynn sees the 40-year anniversary of a great treasure’s restoration as a reminder of many lessons, but of one gift above all others:

The building, this one-of-a-kind creative miracle, is here for good.

Click for more details: buffalonews.com  

Light And Nature Abound At Cedar Rock

Built on a limestone bluff overlooking the Wapsipinicon River in Buchanan County, near the town of Quasqueton, Iowa, "Cedar Rock" is one of only 47 that bears the bright red tile with Wright’s signature imprinted on it. He designed the house at the request of Lowell and Agnes Walter, even fashioning the unusually short upholstered chairs and sofas to fit the Walters’ small stature. Wright also selected the carpets, draperies and even accessories.

The Walter house — finished in 1950 and donated to the State of Iowa in 1981 — is considered one of Wright’s most complete Usonian homes. Wright applied the term Usonian to homes he designed to meet the needs of middle-income families and provide space for living simply and in harmony with nature. Everything about this house is compact and efficient — no attic, basement, garage or frills. If you’re a fan of tiny houses, you’ll be fascinated by such touches as a bathroom sink countertop that folds over to provide access to the bathtub.

That living room is a wonder. Sure, it’s cozy, but the three exterior glass walls offer spectacular views of nearby gardens and the river valley to the south. Natural light from skylights fills the room, allowing houseplants to flourish. Broad overhangs with upturned edges soften the sunlight and shade the glass walls. Wright’s ingenious clerestories — a row of horizontal windows well above eye level — both brighten the interior space and release hot air trapped near the ceiling.

The visitor center and residence are open from late May to mid-October, Wednesday through Sunday. You can park your car at the visitor center and then be shuttled the last quarter-mile to the house. Free tours are available by reservation.

A guided hike of Cedar Rock State Park will take place on New Year’s Day 2024, starting at 1 p.m. in the visitor center with an outdoor winter yoga session.

Click for more details: littlevillagemag.com  

Holiday Traditions At Wright's Kraus House

Nestled in the grassy fields of Sugar Creek Valley in Kirkwood, Missouri, is a residence designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built for Russell and Ruth Kraus in 1950. It is been preserved by the Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park, the nonprofit organization that welcomes nearly 5,000 visitors to the home each year.

Internationally, the home is known as an excellent example of Wright’s democratic vision of beautiful architecture at an affordable cost. For neighbors and friends, it’s still Russell and Ruth Kraus’ place. The Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park honors the Krauses by engaging visitors in the artistic life of “Russ” and the accomplishments of Ruth, who was a lawyer and involved in every aspect of making their Wright-designed dream home a reality.

“Most people who come to the house know the name Frank Lloyd Wright. We make sure they leave also knowing the names Russell and Ruth Kraus,” said Kathryn Feldt, executive director of the Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park.

Feldt said the Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park is always interested in talking to people who knew Russell and Ruth Kraus to build on the oral history that helps keep the couple’s memory alive.

“Russell was proud of his house, but he also wanted to be known as an artist,” she said. “We honor Russell’s legacy as an artist by having some of his artwork in the house. We talk about how his work as an artist influenced the home’s design, including how Russell instructed Wright to change the original design so that his studio was located in the main area of the house, a change which Wright readily agreed to, and during the holiday season, we display the beautiful, one-of-a-kind hand-carved and painted ornaments that Russell made for family and friends.”

This time of year, the Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park continues several of its holiday traditions including having the ornaments on display during public tours, hosting special “Member Mornings” where members can view the ornament collection and continuing the popular holiday raffle in which the winner will be able to host a private “Wright+Wine” event at the house.

Stop in for holiday shopping at the Frank Lloyd Wright House in Ebsworth Park museum store, which is open during tour times on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays and Sundays. The public is welcome to shop during those times.

Tours can be booked, and memberships and gift cards can be purchased online at ebsworthpark.org.

Click for more details: timesnewspapers.com