Issue 47 May 31st 2017

The Headlines

Don't Miss Wright & Like 2017

Just a reminder! This weekend on Saturday, June 3, 2017, Frank Lloyd Wright Wisconsin celebrates the 150th anniversary of the birth of America’s greatest architect, with a very special house tour Wright and Like Milwaukee. This event provides a rare opportunity for interior tours of twelve distinctive architectural treasures by Frank Lloyd Wright and his contemporaries. Get your tickets and don't miss it! Read more.

Keep The Wright Party Weekend Going at the Schwartz House

After the fun of Wright & Like on Saturday, if you want to keep the Wright celebrations going, then head up to Two Rivers, WI on Sunday June 4, 2017 to attend the birthday bash at the Wright-designed Bernard Schwartz House. Read more and get tickets.

Live In "Usonia" For $1.2 Million

A home in "Usonia", the Wright-designed community in Pleasantville, New York, has come on the market for $1.2 million. The 100-acre enclave was formed in 1947 by a group of friends who were able to enlist Wright to put part of his "Broadacre City" concept into practice. Wright decided where each of the houses would be built, designed three of them, and approved the plans for 45 others. This particular home was not designed by Wright himself, but has many design elements that are found in his other Usonian buildings. Read more.

Take a Look Inside Frank Lloyd Wright's Newly-Restored Unity Temple

We were fortunate enough to see inside Wright's newly-restored Unity Temple this week, but Time Out Chicago has some great photos. If you want to see it in person, the Unity Temple Restoration Foundation will host a free neighborhood open house on Saturday, June 17 from 2 to 5 pm. Read more.

Friends of Cedar Rock Preserve a Piece of Wright History

Cedar Rock State Park, Iowa, is the site of a well-preserved Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house. However, the boathouse, with its overhanging roof and cantilevered construction, had been falling on hard times. Enter the "Friends of Cedar Rock", whose leadership and determination helped accomplish the $200,000 restoration of the Wright home’s unique boathouse. Read more.

Wright's Robert P. Parker House Lists for $840K

The Robert P. Parker house , an early 1892 design by Frank Lloyd Wright while he was working as a draftsman for Adler & Sullivan, has come back to the market in Oak Park, IL for $840,000. Even though it's not as revered as his Prairie or Usonian houses, these early "bootleg" designs are very cozy and livable. Read more.

Paolo Soleri Exhibit Highlights Arizona Architect's Work

Paolo Soleri first drew national attention while apprenticing under Frank Lloyd Wright in 1948, and his artwork figured into the earliest integrations of art and architecture in American art museums. The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art has announced an October retrospective of the Italian-born American artist and architect. The exhibition brings together elements from his built and unbuilt residences, bridges, dams, cities and transportation systems. In addition to original drawings, models, and sketchbooks, the exhibition surveys the artist’s earliest ceramic and bronze artisan crafts, as well as fabric designs and silkscreens. Read more.

Four Frank Lloyd Wright-Designed Homes in the D.C. Area

Curbed has a list of four residences in and around the D.C. area designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The Pope-Leighey House in Alexandria, Virginia is the only Wright site open to visitors in the D.C. area. The list includes the Marden House in McLean, Virginia; the Robert Llewellyn Wright House in Bethesda, Maryland; and the Andrew B. Cooke House in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Read more.

Video Tour John Lautner’s Iconic Sheats-Goldstein Residence

Noting that "if a house could be a celebrity, this would be it", Curbed has a video tour of the Sheats-Goldstein Residence. Designed by architect and Wright apprentice John Lautner in 1961, the concrete-and-glass residence perched on a cliff above Beverly Hills incorporates frameless walls of glass, built-in furniture, and spectacular views of the Los Angeles skyline. Last February, Goldstein donated the home to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, saying that he wants the house to be an educational tool for young architects and to inspire good architecture for Los Angeles. The museum will offer limited tours while Goldstein is still living there. Read more.

Wright's Mile-High Skyscraper: Never Built, But Never Forgotten

Chicago Tribune architecture critic, Blair Kamin, notes in a recent article that as the 150th anniversary of Wright's June 8 birth approaches, Mr. Wright's plan for the "Mile-High Illinois", as it's often called, remains an object of fascination and curiosity. Read more.

The Uphill Battle For Modern America

Lest we forget that Frank Lloyd Wright worked hard for his architectural reputation, an article in the Apollo magazine reminds us that this pre-eminence was hard won, with tragedy and decades of obscurity to battle. This year is the 150th anniversary of the American architect’s birth, and with a blockbuster show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (June 12th – October 1st), and quite a few new books from his leading biographers, more than half a century after his death, Wright’s reputation looks in fine health. Read more.

A Poetic Birthday Wish For Mr. Wright

J.C. Rotunda, a member of the Wright Society, recently wrote us and sent a poem written to commemorate Frank Lloyd Wright’s 150th birthday that we thought we'd share with everyone:

Happy Birthday Mr. Wright

Wisconsin born years one-fifty ago, sentiments of the family Lloyd Jones you did know;

The Gifts of Froebel in youth did master, at the table with mother, yours forever after;

From father master musician renowned, taught to you the edifice of sound;

Nature - your love and enduring education, abstracting her beauty without reservation;

To work with Lieber Meister you did go, in the city of American architecture, Chicago;

Learning the art which would be your life, holding to your purpose through all obstacles and strife;

Taliesin your home dedicated to life’s work, you stood your ground, you did not shirk;

Great masterpieces - Robie, Unity, magnificent Fallingwater you did build, proof to the doubters your indomitable will;

You have given us beauty for which we are grateful, your vision modern beyond all others, faithful;

You, American artist supreme, your buildings forever in our hearts doth beam;

You’re not forgotten this day or this night, Happy Birthday Mr. Wright!

We love when members send us their creative work to share, so thanks J.C.!

Support Wright Society

Thanks to David Necker who recently joined as a Supporter! Click here to learn more about how you can provide support at any level of your choosing.

About

This weekly Wright Society update is brought to you by Eric O'Malley with Bryan and Lisa Kelly from PrairieMod. If you enjoy these free, curated updates—please forward our sign-up page and/or share on Social Media.

If you’d like to submit content to be featured here, please reach out by emailing us at mail[at]wrightsociety.com.

Sponsor

The Headlines

Support Wright Society

About