Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, Oak Park, Illinois

When Kim and I were visiting our friend Aberdeen in Riverside, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), we had just enough time to visit the "Frank Lloyd Wright walking tour" area in Oak Park.  The building above is the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, where Wright lived and worked during the first twenty years of his career (1889-1909).

It is a really interesting building, though I didn't get to tour it and really explore.  My request was to stop in the Frank Lloyd Wright gift shop (you know my weakness for paper buildings and museum gift shop fare), but the crowd was so thick it was difficult to really shop and in the end I gave up trying to buy a paper FLW Home and Studio 3D pop-up card, due to the long check out line. I have added the link to shop the store and feel better now that I know that I can buy it online.

What was the one item in the gift shop that surprised me? Lego.  Did you know that you can buy Lego sets of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings? I thought that was really interesting.

I completely understood the crowds.  It was a gorgeous Fall day in Chicago and the home and self-guided walking tours were just where I would want to be if I had more time.

As we walked down the street from the FLW Home and Studio, we saw the Arthur Heurtley House (1902) - look that the giant planters built into the facade of the house.  The lush and colorful plantings are a great natural compliment.  

This gray and black home is the Hills-DeCaro House (1906/1977).

This is the Nathan-Moore House (1895/1923) - imagine how heavy that enormous A-line roof is.  It feels like a Swiss gingerbread house to me.  

When you are in an area with this many architectural treasures, you have to go exploring on foot.  What a day.

Staying at a Frank Lloyd Wright House in Riverside, Illinois

Usually I do research when I travel.  Usually I know where I am going and what I want to see.  But this trip was different.  I was going on a roadtrip with Kim, my best friend from high school to stay with our friend Aberdeen.  Our plan was to eat out, watch a movie and catch up.  No advance planning necessary. If I had used my head, I would have read up on Frank Lloyd Wright.

I knew that Aberdeen lived in a Frank Lloyd Wright house, which sounded really neat, but I had no idea how fascinating it would be to go inside and actually live there.  To respect her privacy, I won't identify the house.  It isn't open to tours and it is up to her to share it as she wishes.

I will simply show you the window I got to look out each morning.  A row of these beautiful "light screens" lined the room and were placed almost at the height you would hang a piece of art. The effect is stunning.  Another plus is that the windows hinge open and on Sunday morning, hymns from a church service waft into the bedroom.  

I have been to many famous residences-turned-museums over the years (Monticello, Mount Vernon, Olana) and in all of them, it is the possessions (paintings, furniture, china, wallpaper) that made the impression on me. I enjoyed thinking of the lives of these famous men and how they lived at the height of their careers.

In this case, I was in a museum of sorts and had the chance to admire the work of a famous architect from within his creation.  Can you relate to what I am saying?  I have not thought about architecture that much and was fascinated with the idea of being inside something that a design icon created.  

You look at Monet's water lilies.  You look at Andy Warhol's Polaroids. You are never inside a piece of art.  That is until I was walking around inside a famous home by Frank Lloyd Wright.  I was able to see the flow of the rooms, the width of the staircase, the natural light from the windows, as well as the illuminated skylights with exactly the effect that Frank Lloyd Wright had wanted.  

Some of the furniture was original too, designed by the architect to work in the space. I loved it all.  It felt silly to gush about it all after the initial look around. I wanted to pretend it was no big deal to eat pizza in a grand dining room or sit outside and talk on a porch with a cantilevered roof.  I can't gush to Frank, so I'm gushing to you. 

Thank you, Aberdeen, for letting me look at architecture and art in a completely different way. 

Ernest Hemingway and Lunch at Hemmingway's Bistro in Oak Park, Illinois

When Kim and I were in Oak Park, Illinois visiting our friend Aberdeen, we found ourselves surrounded by Hemingway.  First, Aberdeen took us to Hemmingway's Bistro for a French-inspired lunch.  Everything on the menu sounded delicious and my Crepes Gratinée filled with ham and Gruyére was as rich and delicious as it looks.  This bistro is the perfect place to sit and catch up with your friends over a long lunch.  Naturally, since we were eating at Hemmingway's Bistro (an extra "m" was added avoid any copyright issues), Ernest Hemingway himself came up in conversation. Kim said that Hemingway "the man-the myth-the legend" turns up everywhere she goes on vacation!

When she was in Spain, she felt that every place she visited, Hemingway had been there first.  In honor of unwittingly visiting his birth place (and the "Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park"), we climbed the steps of this grand museum...and headed straight for the gift shop. Kim wanted a souvenir.  

The woman running the shop told us a funny story about a customer asking if they carried "3XL" size t-shirts. When she found one in stock and handed over the giant shirt to her, she commented that she must have a very big man in her life.  "Oh no, she said, it's going to be a nightshirt for me.  I've always wanted to sleep with Hemingway."

So here we were in Oak Park, Illinois, three friends laughing and paling around like we were in high school all over again.  Priceless.