Issue May 22nd 2024 May 22nd 2024

Announcements

Correcting Some Hillside Playhouse Theater History

Last week, we shared an article on the restoration of the Hillside Playhouse Theater at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin. Original Wright apprentice, Louis Wiehle, noticed some historically incorrect information about the Hillside Playhouse in the news story, so we wanted to share his feedback with readers to help correct the record.

Louis writes: "The version of the theater that is to be celebrated in the scheduled reopening in June is not the original 1932 version. That was destroyed in a fire of 1952 that Mr. Wright himself accidentally caused. The extant Taliesin Playhouse is correctly pictured in the newsletter with its magnificent stage house curtain, appliqued and stitched by Taliesin apprentices from a Wright sketch collated by Ling Po."

"The original Playhouse, built into what had been the Hillside Home School Gymnasium, was a beautifully abstract interior of lapped, stained oak boards with edges and ends enameled in red on slanting wall surfaces, including a stepped wood floor, and Wright’s first 'reflex' (chevron) arrangement of theater seating. The rebuilding of the space, which I joined on my return to Wisconsin in 1953, was a clearly more fire resistant sand-textured plaster resurfacing of walls and ceiling. Stone floors predominated except for the wood stage. Individual seats, still in reflex rows, are fabricated of steel pipe with round rose velvet cushions replacing the original wood benches and rectangular cushions."

Thanks Louis! We appreciate the clarification and compelling historical memories you were willing to share with all of us!

You can read more about the history of the Hillside Playhouse Theater (and the 1952 fire) at Keiran Murphy's informative weblog.

The Headlines

Happy 100th Birthday Roland Reisley!

May 22nd marks the 100th birthday of Roland Reisley, the last remaining Frank Lloyd Wright client living in their original home. To celebrate, the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy is hosting an online celebration, and you can attend!

In 1951 at the age of 26, Roland and his late wife, Ronny, commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design his home as part of the Usonia community in Pleasantville, New York. A founding Board member of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, you will have a chance to hear first-hand from Roland about his experience working with Wright and how the house has contributed to his longevity. Be sure to register for the free online event taking place Wednesday, May 22, 2024 at 5 – 6 p.m. CDT.

As an extra birthday treat, you can enjoy more photos of Roland at Mark Hertzberg's Wright in Racine website here.

Florida Southern College Launches School Of Architecture

Florida Southern College is launching a School of Architecture. It’s a program many assume is already available at the campus as it’s the world’s largest single site group of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture.

Annually, the campus in Lakeland draws 30,000 to 40,000 visitors who gawk at Wright’s work. He spent more than 20 years working on structures for the school.

The school’s president, Dr. Anne Kerr says it’s the ideal time to start the program. “As we see coming in the next decade the number of retiring architects, there will be a deficit in the profession for really well-educated architect professionals. So, we’re coming in, I think, at just the right time,” she said.

The new coursework will allow students to learn the principles of the industry in a building designed by one of the greats. Program participants will also get hands-on experience preserving buildings that are part of Wright’s most iconic collection.

Jeffery Baker, FSC’s resident architect has been working on restoration of the buildings for decades. “It’s a living laboratory, it’s still an active, living, breathing college campus,” he explains, “you have to restore a building but still make it work for modern uses.”

Funding for the school of architecture is provided by a private donor. The program starts in Fall 2025.

Wright-Designed Planetarium At FSC Gleams Anew After Restoration

Even as supporters of Florida Southern College celebrated the emergence of something new Thursday night — the launch of an architecture program — they treasured the restoration of something quite old.

Following the banquet at which FSC President Anne Kerr announced the new program, guests took turns touring the Miller Planetarium, one of beloved architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s many creations on campus.

The planetarium, contained in the Polk County Science Building, has remained dormant for well over a decade. The structure now gleams again, reflecting a rehabilitation project overseen by architect Jeff Baker, the college’s designated conservator of the Wright legacy.

“It’s like a breath of fresh air,” Baker said of the revived planetarium. “And it gives people a clearer understanding of what these spaces were and the way Wright conceived them. And, of course, this is a living, active campus; it's not possible to exactly restore all the spaces in the campus. So when you get an opportunity to restore a space, it's pretty special.”

The revival project was made possible through a $250,000 federal grant Florida Southern received in 2020 from the Save America’s Treasures program, administered by the National Park Service, and a matching grant from an anonymous donor.

“No one remembers seeing shows in there in at least probably 15 years,” he said. “So it's been out of commission for a while and just shut down and dark.”

The planetarium, whose roof dome can be seen from Lake Hollingsworth Drive, occupies a relatively small space at the south end of the Science Building. The planetarium held a first program on April 7, 1960, according to school records.

It is one of several circular elements Wright bestowed upon the campus, along with what is now the Hollis Room in the original E.T. Roux Library (now the Thaddeus G. Buckner Building), the William Fletcher Theatre in the Ordway Building and, of course, the J. Edgar Wall Water Dome. The Science Building, actually a series of connected structures, is one of the final Wright designs constructed on campus, opening in 1958.

Weltzheimer/Johnson House Serves As Piece Of Architectural History

The Weltzheimer/Johnson House is one of Oberlin, Ohio's hidden architectural gems.

The house, which is tucked nearly out of sight on Morgan Street, was designed by renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright and now offers open houses through the Allen Memorial Art Museum and Oberlin College.

Stacie Ross, communications manager for the Allen Memorial Art Museum, said the house represents a unique piece of American architectural history.

"It's one of the few Usonian houses in the U.S. open to the public," Ross said. "Those houses were designed by Wright to be affordable to a middle income family."

The house was completed in 1949 for the Weltzheimer family in Oberlin and was sold in 1968 to former Oberlin College art history professor Ellen Johnson.

The house had undergone alterations prior to Johnson's purchase, but she helped return the home to its original form and arranged for it to be donated to Oberlin College when she died in 1992.

Tours of the house are available on the first Sunday of the month from now until November.

Tickets are going fast and they are sold out through July, Ross said.

"I think the word has gotten out more than other years," she said. "Usually, it sells out before the event, but not months in advance."

There is, however, a walk-in event during Oberlin College's commencement weekend from 1-4 p.m., May 26, Ross said.

Admission is $10.

Ross said there is no pre-registration required, and all are welcome.

The feedback from those who visit the historic home is overwhelmingly positive, she said.

"People are really impressed with the comfort of it and the way the outside and the inside blend," Ross said. "The spaces are quite small, but I think the attention to detail, the windows and the shapes and forms inside the house are consistent with Wright's work."

For more information, visit this link.

Robie House: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Revolutionary Idea :: Zoom Lecture

Members of the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust can look forward to an exclusive free Zoom lecture on Tuesday June 4th given by author and historian Kathryn Smith. Smith has written a new soon-to-be-released publication on the Robie House, in partnership with the Organic Architecture and Design Archives.

In this online lecture, Smith will explain the two-year period of design and construction of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Frederick C. Robie House, using construction photos taken by the contractor, Harrison Barnard. These photos reveal the extent of the steel framework, which explain the daring roof cantilevers and the wide span interior rooms. Smith will also discuss the spatial revolution Wright built into the Robie House when he controlled and manipulated how people move through the space.

The soon-to-be-released publication will feature an illustrated history and analysis of Frank Lloyd Wright’s early residential masterpiece, the Frederick C. Robie House, 1908-10. Presented in four parts: Introductory essay with plans and diagrams; rare album of construction photographs taken by the contractor, Harrison Barnard, reproduced in its entirety; complete publication of every professional photograph taken by Henry Fuermann & Sons, 1910-11; portfolio of color photographs of the restored building on the exterior and interior. The rare historic Fuermann photographs are reproduced from either the original glass negatives owned by the Organic Architecture and Design Archives or first generation prints from local collectors. Annotated Timeline, 1878-1932. Select Bibliography. Finally, a special feature unique to this publication will be a three-page color gate fold of the entire major elevation of the restored house.

This landmark publication, written by Kathryn Smith, features important research accompanied by never-before-published photos—including the first time that the Robie House has been published with color photographs of the exterior and interior restored. It's sure to be a quintessential publication on this iconic UNESCO World Heritage site. It will be available for purchase through the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust and to subscribers of the OA+D Journal as the spring 2024 release.

Kathryn Smith is an author and historic preservation consultant. She was Scholar-in-Residence at the Frederick C. Robie House (Frank Lloyd Wright Trust) in 2003. She is the author of numerous books, including Frank Lloyd Wright: Hollyhock House & Olive Hill and Wright on Exhibit: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Architectural Exhibitions, and a contributor to Frank Lloyd Wright: The Houses and Frank Lloyd Wright: Prairie Houses.

Become a member of the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust here and then be sure to register for this exciting online event here.

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