I think this is the most dramatic FLW home I have ever seen. Spectacular! I don"t recall him using the hexagonal shape before, do you?

No, I haven't seen that either. I love that it has all of the original furniture. Truly a time capsule!

Simply perfect, except maybe the granite in the kitchen but even that was not too offensive.

Gorgeous house! What a find, it appears to be all original. Also love the look of the furniture but it does not look comfortable in the slightest.

The hex was one of his shapes.

Much of his furniture was uncomfortable. Some of the c.1900s pieces had very high straight backs and people would hit their heads just having a conversation at the dining table. And he also made dining tables with post-mounted lighting on the corners early on.

Really interesting house! A little less livable than some I have seen but beautiful.


I just listened to these two 99% invisible podcast episodes about Usonians and Usonia. You might enjoy:

http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/usonia-1/

http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/usonia-the-beautiful/

“I’ve been accused of saying I was the greatest architect in the world. And if I had said so, I don’t think it would be very arrogant.”

Meyer May house (1909) dining table with very straight backed chairs and post lighting built into the table

The honeycomb house https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanna%E2%80%93Honeycomb_House

Robie House dining table. (1910) This is shown in a museum, not the house.

I think they got a different table later without the lighting, and although these chairs have been reproduced, they have a lower back because of people hitting their heads on these

The Hollyhock House (1920s) chairs don't look very comfortable either. Furniture not designed by Wright tends to look like a foreign, out-of-place object in his houses. Unfortunately most of his furniture was really informed by his essential Victorian roots. Even though he rebelled against Victorian and Edwardian architecture he was still a product of that era.

very cool house. I imagine lots of parties and tomfoolery happened in that basement!

Architecturally beautiful on the outside; the inside does not seem very livable and all that brick is not "cozy". It takes a certain person to live there, but I still find it impressive.

Thanks for posting this. Note window coverings, or lack thereof, especially in bedrooms. I'm thinking maybe cold and dark in long MN winter. I also wonder whether these people didn't wish in many a snowy winter that they had specified an actual garage rather than a carport. more pictures in listing http://www.berglarsengroup.com/listing/cms/mls-4726597-2206-parklands-ln-st-louis-park-mn-55416/

It's a beautiful and impressive home, despite the issues with livability. Do you think the granite was original? the 4" backsplash seems too modern.

No it probably would have been red laminate, with the wood back splash . Even the bathrooms sometimes had a wood back splash and wood shower walls in one I saw

That dining table chandelier--wow!

Here's a bathroom in a Wright house of the same era

And here is the kitchen in the Gordon House, which is a museum, so it's accurate. Cherokee Red (probably) laminate, and Revco refrigerator and freezer

It makes me sad to think that the owners have lived most of their lives with such uncomfortable furniture!

I dunno, I sit in a hard dining chair most of the time even though I have a sofa. I think the back of the banquette seems much too vertical in that house.

I actually begin to feel anxious when looking at pictures of FLW houses.

I grew up in Chicago and lived in Oak Park, so eventually visited all his buildings that were open to the public. I understand their architectural significance, their museum quality, and even their appeal to some people.

But not to me. IMO they are cold, uncomfortable, dark, and off-putting. Where do you read a book, seduce a lover, change a baby?

You could put a barn on that gorgeous property and it would look beautiful!

Rennie Mackintosh a Scottish artist and designer, had furnishing and styling very much like FLW and others. The Willow Tea Room in Glasgow reminded me very much of that 1900's. 1930's styling.

Oh I dunno, I think the idea of not being able to read a book or change a baby in a Wright house is a misapprehension. While he pioneered the open plan, he still had Victorian-era informed ideas about furniture, bedrooms and utility areas. His bedrooms are all modest, enclosed and tend to contain desks and storage for books.

Affleck

Cooke

Rosenbaum

Say, compared to Mies van der Rohe's Tugendhat

Or Farnsworth

or Phillip Johnson's Glass House