A new book on Oak Park’s most famous architect highlights Frank Lloyd Wright’s work in Illinois. Publishing July 7, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Illinois: Explore His Most Prolific State, From Prairie to Usonian, is Kristine Hansen’s second book dedicated to Wright.
Her first Wright-centered book looked at the architect’s designs in Wisconsin. This time around, she decided to focus on her home state of Illinois. Hansen’s interest in Wright is inspired by her experience growing up in Northern Illinois and now living in Wisconsin. “I’ve been surrounded by his project for years,” she said.
Focusing on Illinois was a natural step for the author who notes that of Wright’s 532 completed projects, the highest concentration of his works worldwide is in Oak Park, including his Home and Studio. The book covers 41 of the nearly 80 completed Wright works that are within four hours of Chicago. Locally, she covers 11 homes in Oak Park, 1 in River Forest and 3 in Riverside.
Hansen calls the book part travel guide and part a story of the stewards who maintain and care for the private, Wright-designed homes in Illinois.
The book is organized by region and covers sites built from 1889 to 1959. Hansen includes information on each home’s history, from its ownership and commission, to how materials were selected and how the natural landscape was used.
The book is not meant to be a comprehensive guide to all of Wright’s work in Illinois. Hansen says she leaned on an approach she uses when writing for Architectural Digest’s website: covering how people actually live in their homes.
“I didn’t want to just regurgitate detail on architecture,” she said. Rather, she focused on the tension between living in a historical home and modernizing it, taking the original character and adapting to today’s life.
One of her favorite aspects about researching the book was meeting with homeowners.
“I think it takes a special person to live in a Wright-designed home or a similar landmark, “she said, adding, “They have to have the courage to honor the legacy but also allow the casual onlooker to learn more.”
Hansen, who visited each of the sites she profiles, said it was important to be in a space to be able to write about it fully. She also says that she learned more than she expected about what it takes to be a steward of a Wright design.
“One commonality that I was very surprised about was that a lot of Wright owners in Oak Park didn’t necessarily set out to buy a Frank Lloyd Wright home,” she said.
One interviewee was looking to live near the train. Another set of homeowners were looking for the right house to raise their blended family.
On the other hand, she interviewed a couple who tried for years to buy a Wright house after seeing it on a house walk. They not only really want to live in a Wright home but a particular Wright home.
Hansen says both Illinois and Wisconsin offer the opportunity to build day or weekend trips around Wright’s designs but says Illinois is different due to the high concentration of Wright homes in the area.
“Oak Park is often the first place people go,” she said, noting that it’s a planned site for many Wright pilgrimages. In Oak Park, she says homeowners are used to people walking by, taking pictures and marveling at their homes. This might be more unusual at a home like the Wright Usonian in Libertyville that she also profiles.
She hopes people will use her book to plan their own Wright pilgrimages and to deepen their understanding of the stewardship that goes into owning a Wright design.
“A common thread among these sites is that a Wright home is like a living person. It has a heartbeat,” she said.
Meet the author
On July 11, Hansen will be signing copies of her book at Barnes & Noble on Lake Street in Oak Park from noon to 3 p.m.
On July 29, she will be speaking at the Oak Park Public Library’s Main Branch, at 7 p.m. The event is free, but registration is requested. For more information visit: https://oakpark.librarycalendar.com/event/author-visit-frank-lloyd-wrights-illinois-kristine-hansen-131611
Oak Park’s The Book Loft will also carry Hansen’s book.