To celebrate the 150 years since Frank Lloyd Wright’s birth on June 8, 1867, the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust is planning a variety of events, including the ultimate housewalk for architecture fans, Wright Plus 150, on May 20.
This year’s walk includes nine houses, four of them Wright-designed, with a special bonus house for Trust members. All of the homes are within walking distance from each other and Wright’s Home & Studio, covering streets and sidewalks that Wright himself walked on a regular basis. The Trust continues to put on their standard-setting housewalk, providing unparalleled architectural and historical glimpses into private homes designed by Wright and his contemporaries.
Trust President and CEO Celeste Adams highlights the added significance of this year’s version: “Celebration of the 150th anniversary of Frank Lloyd Wright’s birth resets the lens of history, persuading us to reconsider his artistic achievement on the international stage of modernism and among American visionaries of the 20th century. The Wright Plus 150 Architectural Housewalk embraces the immediate neighborhood encircling Wright’s Oak Park Studio, the incubator of his ideas. Here, he created the first uniquely American architecture, and here it remains, exquisitely preserved along the surrounding tree-lined streets.”Â
House stories
The Arthur B. Heurtley House on Forest Avenue is a favorite for Wright aficionados and stands out on the block for its brightly colored brick exterior. Built in 1902, the home was purchased in 1920 by Wright’s sister, Jane Porter, and her husband Andrew. They divided the home into a duplex, turning each floor into a separate apartment. The Porters lived in the home for 26 years. The current owners undertook an extensive renovation of the home, returning it to a single-family home and taking care to make changes that were sensitive to Wright’s design.Â
The house is known as one of Wright’s earliest mature Prairie-style homes and bears many of the hallmarks of the Prairie style — from the horizontal banding, overhanging eaves, bands of windows, and low-pitched roof. Visitors enter the home through a low-ceilinged entry and then find themselves in a soaring, open room meant to symbolize leaving the outside world behind.Â
As in many of Wright’s designs, the home was planned to bring the outdoors in, with the addition of terraces and balconies. The home is unusual for its inverted floor plan: The public living and dining areas are on the second floor of the home, with the private family spaces on the first floor.
The Hills-DeCaro House, across the street on Forest Avenue, was remodeled by Wright in 1906, turning a late 19th century Stick-style house into a much altered abode that showed early Prairie-style and even Japanese influences. The house was originally designed in 1883 by architect Charles Miller for Dr. William Cunningham Gray, grandfather of Prairie School architect William Gray Purcell. In 1900, the home was purchased by Gray’s neighbor to the north, Nathan Moore, who planned to redesign the home for his daughter Mary. He also purchased the home immediately to the south, demolished it and had the Gray house repositioned on its larger lot. He hired Wright for the remodel, who assigned the job to his draftsman Barry Byrne. Reconstruction, which completely altered the entire house other than the foundation, was completed in 1906 or 1907, but Mary and her husband Edward Hills did not move in until 1911 or 1912.
It is said that Mary was not too fond of her wedding present and did not commission Wright to design the home’s furniture. Instead, she hired her neighbor Henry Fiddelke to make significant alterations to the house.Â
In 1975, Tom and Irene DeCaro purchased the home and began a significant restoration, only to have the majority of the top two floors destroyed by fire during the renovation process. The DeCaros sought to restore the home, relying on Wright’s 1906 blueprints, and a housewalk, the precursor to Wright Plus, was organized to raise funds. For their efforts, in 1977 the Oak Park Landmark Commission renamed the home the Hills-DeCaro House.
The Laura Gale House on Elizabeth Court was designed in 1909 for the widow of Thomas Gale, for whom Wright had earlier designed two “bootleg” houses on nearby Chicago Avenue. The Prairie-style home is notable for its rectilinear concrete forms, which are said to have anticipated modern European architecture from the 1920s. Wright called on the same cantilevering techniques when he designed Fallingwater in Pennsylvania years later. Subsequent owners included a preservation-minded architect, and, though the home’s kitchen and mechanical systems were updated, much of the interior remained intact when the home was listed for sale in 2015.
The Harrison P. Young House on Kenilworth Avenue was built during the 1870s, based on a design by William Coman. In 1895, Young hired Wright to remodel the home, and Wright moved it back more than 16 feet on its lot. The home bears some similarity to Wright’s Nathan Moore House, with its pitched roof. The remodel shows early signs of Wright’s Prairie style with the prominent Roman brick chimneys and with the addition of a sweeping porch and overhanging eaves.
The George Mayo House on Elizabeth Court is new to Wright Plus. The 1875 home is an Italianate-style home with some Tudor and Arts & Crafts influences. The Mayo House is the only house on Wright Plus for which there is no known architect. Records also do not show who was planned the early 1900’s remodel. Although some have attempted to attribute the remodel to E. E. Roberts, there is no substantiation for that claim. The home is thought to be the oldest, extant brick home in Oak Park (See New to Wright Plus, Homes, April 26 or on oakpark.com).Â
The Charles A. Purcell House was built for the Purcell family in 1898. The original owner was founder, vice president and general manager of the American Malting Company. His son, William Gray Purcell, was an architect with Purcell and Emslie Architects. The lavish Queen Anne-style home at the corner of Forest Avenue and Elizabeth Court is attributed to Charles C. Miller. The home was remodeled in 1923 by Charles E. White Jr., an architect who worked in Wright’s studio from 1903 to 1905. The remodel included a ballroom addition to accommodate the musical events hosted by the second owner, Bessie Yager.
The Charles E. Matthews House is a Prairie-style home built in 1909, designed for Matthews, a druggist, whose family enjoyed music. The home is considered one of Tallmadge and Watson’s finest residential designs. Architects Tallmadge and Watson met when both were employed in Daniel Burnham’s office. The interior of the Matthews House features unique art glass.
The Chester Flitcraft house was designed by John Van Bergen in 1913. The Prairie-style home has been meticulously restored and features a unique, underground garage. The Flitcrafts were a prominent Oak Park family who employed Van Bergen, Wright’s final hire in his Oak Park studio, to create their house. A modern kitchen was added to the home during a 2005 renovation.
The John J. Schmidt House was built on Kenilworth Avenue in 1872. Originally an Italianate-style home, it was built for a manufacturing executive. In 1908, it was remodeled by E.E. Roberts, with signature Prairie-style influences and striking art glass. A recent garage addition includes guest quarters on the second floor.Â
For Trust members, the Thomas Gale House, one of Wright’s bootleg houses on Chicago Avenue, will be open the day of the walk for both an interior tour of Wright’s early Prairie style plus outdoor refreshments.