Many of us know the homes, but not the original homeowners. Dr. William H. Copeland, for instance, was a retired medical practitioner who decided to start patenting medicine. One of the first remedies he invented was a teething formula for babies. The main ingredients were alcohol, chloroform, and opium. Copeland was the original owner of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home located at 400 N. Forest Ave., built in 1908.
Patrick Cannon, the author of the recently released book, Hometown Architect: The Complete Buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park And River Forest, Illinois, which details all 27 homes Wright designed in the two villages, as well as Unity Temple and eight “lost, altered, and possibly Wright structures,” said learning about the original homeowners of Wright houses, like Copeland, was one of the best parts about writing his book.
“I think the kids were probably pretty quiet in those days,” he said coyly about the children who used Copeland’s teething medicine. “The real appeal of the book is the information about the original clients, the people who hired Wright to build the houses. A lot of them were quite interesting in themselves.”
Cannon is a retired journalist, editor, and publicist who has given tours as a volunteer of the Wright Home and Studio for 30 years. He was searching for a project that would be challenging and interesting and decided on something involving Wright, specifically his work in Cannon’s hometown of Oak Park, where he has lived since 1974.
“People have done tons of books on Frank Lloyd Wright,” Cannon said. “I thought there was the need for a more comprehensive treatment of Frank Lloyd Wright’s work in Oak Park and River Forest. This is the place he really got started.”
He pitched the idea to the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust, and they loved it. Getting the book off the ground was just a matter of finding a publisher, which turned out to be Pomegranate Communications, Inc.
The author added that, other than the background stories of the original homeowners, the real strength of the book is the photography.
“The interiors of many, many of the houses in the book had never been photographed in color,” said Cannon, “so for the first time, people get a really good idea of what all these houses that they go past everyday look like inside.”
Cannon and his photographer, James Caulfield, were able to get inside almost every Wright house in Oak Park and River Forest to take photographs. He said there were a few exceptions because of small conflicts, such as one house being renovated. Cannon emphasized he couldn’t have written the book without Caulfield, and the book was very much a joint venture.
“This book is really a partnership because any book on architecture depends heavily on the quality of the photography,” said Cannon, who enjoyed the partnership so much he’s releasing another book with Caulfield in the spring of 2008 titled Prairie Metropolis. “People are drawn to a book just by the quality of the photos, and in this case I think the photos are really extraordinary.”
Caulfield, who met Cannon at a Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust meeting, has worked in advertising photography for over 20 years. He has a studio in downtown Chicago and lives in Glencoe. The photographer said taking pictures for the book was challenging because there are so many Wright houses in Oak Park and River Forest and also because of the problematic lighting in the homes.
“I hoped to photograph them in their own natural ambient light,” said Caulfield. “But since the homes are classically dark, it took long exposures to photograph the interiors properly.”
Caulfield even had to take different exposures for different parts of individual rooms in order to get the lighting right, and then go back to his computer and combine the photographs digitally for one cohesive picture.
Cannon, born in Pittsburgh, Penn., has lived the last 32 years in Oak Park. He graduated from Northwestern University in the late 1960s with a degree in English. He was in charge of public relations for Lions Club International, a service organization involved in assisting the blind and visually impaired, for 20 years, overseeing the publication of the club’s two magazines. He has contributed several opinion pieces to the Chicago Sun-Times and Tribune. Now retired, Cannon currently serves as the president for the Oak Park and River Forest Lions Club chapter.
He ran the Wright Plus housewalk in the past and has been giving tours of Wright’s Home and Studio on Chicago Avenue, and occasionally other Wright houses, since 1975.
Cannon said his favorite Wright house is the Arthur Heurtley House, located at 318 N. Forest Ave.
“It was restored a few years ago; it’s just so pristine,” said Cannon. “It must look now like it did when it was built originally. It’s just a very lovely, beautiful place. Everybody just stands and gawks at it when they see it for the first time.”
Caulfield concurred.
“It was the best work that Frank Lloyd Wright did in Oak Park and after seeing them all, I’d have to agree,” he said.
Hometown Architect takes a chronological approach to documenting Wright’s work in the area, starting with his first effort, his own home, built in 1889, and ending with the Harry Adams house, 710 W. Augusta St., built in 1913. Cannon was enthralled with the process of seeing Wright’s Oak Park and River Forest works developed in order.
“One of the fascinating things about the book is you can trace that development of the style and ability of Frank Lloyd Wright as he developed as an architect and an artist,” he said. “I always think it’s interesting when you look at any artist consecutively.”
In the end, Cannon hopes his readers will finish his book with a sense of pride about their community and the number of Wright homes in the area, the highest concentration in the world.
“This young man came to the Chicago area when he was only 19 years old and in 20 years, was able to not only master architecture, but change its direction. For people in Oak Park and River Forest, I hope it engenders a sense of pride that all these buildings are in their communities.”