Wright Chat

I occasionally kick myself, as well. I had a books on Hubbard and Fr

I have had the pleasure of sitting in one of the original Martin chairs. Contrary to many claims that FLW's furniture is uncomfortable, the barrel chair is wonderful. Heavy as hell, but a wonderfully comfortable chair. The later version that appears at Taliesin executed in birch is somewhat smaller,...

The stone house in Colorado is also very impressive. Beautifully constructed.

I once asked Anne Baxter something about her grandfather's adolescent years that she thought was not appropriate, and she went on about how his early life had nothing to do with his architecture. But, I pointed out, if he had been born Frank Lloyd Vanderbilt, the history of architecture would be com...

Even as a ruin, Pauson was better than most houses by lesser lights. The site should have been left alone. Freeways never improve the environment. Considering how small the window of opportunity there was between the introduction of color photography and the fire, it's amazing that any color photogr...

I agree that it would be wonderful to have more photos of Pauson. I saw a color photo once in an issue of GQ some years ago. There was a story about a model which showed her posing on the terrace at the bedroom end of the house. John Geiger also has color slides. Hopefully he will find a way to publ...

Lexically the term "expressionistic" fits the "Sturm Und Drang" of FLW's post Oak Park years perfectly. From the late Prairie years until Willey, FLW was adrift, looking for inspiration that was hard to come by. He had been-there-done-that as far as the Prairie aesthetic was conc...

And now, Tallmadge & Watson. This one is at 1217 E 56th St. in Chicago, two blocks north of Robie. It's a beautiful 11-room house, but it's pricey: $1,100,000.00!

The Pauson House, because it would involve eliminating the freeway that took its place, and because it's one of the greatest designs of FLW's career. Ocatillo was so simple that it could be replicated without much trouble, and should be, far from the madding crowd so it would survive this time. A pe...

Since the affair between Wright and Mamah was apparently going on for several years before their departure and was not exactly a secret around Oak Park, it seems unlikely that Edwin did not know about it. The oddest thing about the whole situation is that he did not take any action earlier.

This notice has been disseminated to the board members of the Conservancy. Two persons have replied. John Eifler finds it curious that the Johnson Foundation would sell off part of its collection. Kathryn Smith has seen the items and says they are just prints from the portfolio which commonly sell f...

A former apprentice told me of an incident in the late 30s at a Taliesin costume party. One of the apprentices, a slightly built, extremely effeminate man who made no bones about his *, arrived at the party late, in full drag, dressed as a Spanish dancer, mantilla and all. When he entered the room, ...

This isn't "Mommie, Dearest." However, anything published while Olga was alive would have to have been fawning, or she would have sued. She was famously litigious. (Notice Gill waited until she was safely dead before publishing "Many Masks.") From what I have been able to determi...

This is the book I have been waiting for. It was supposed to come out in March of '05, then last September, then this March, and now September! I hope it's worth the wait. Friedland and Zellman interviewed a lot of people for this tome, including a number of surviving former apprentices with an ax t...

Not only is the Meyer May House a good source of information about FLW in Grand Rapids, the owners of the Amberg House by Marian Mahony are very involved as well. In all the years the Conservancy has been around, I have never heard anything about a knock-off of the Fireproof House in GR, but if anyo...