Frank Lloyd Wright in Chicago and Oak Park

What started as a sightseeing activity to Taliesen West in Scottsdale, Arizona, became a quest for me to learn more and visit other Wright-designed buildings. I aim to see all eight UNESCO-designated American sites comprising The 20th Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright group. On this trip, we visited these three destination by Frank Lloyd Wright in Chicago and Oak Park, Illinois.

Unity Temple in Oak Park, Illinois (Photo by Julie Diebolt Price)

Frank Lloyd Wright: An Intro

On our site: Read Part 1 of this article series, Get to Know Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West, Scottsdale.

On our site: Read Part 3 of this series, Frank Lloyd Wright in Wisconsin: Madison to Spring Green

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, educator, writer, interior designer, and pioneer of the Prairie School architecture movement. He favored “organic architecture,” believing buildings should be designed as integrated wholes inspired by nature and in harmony with their environment.

Wright designed 1,114 structures over his lifetime, and 532 were built. The structures included private homes, hotels, churches, schools, skyscrapers, offices, and museums.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust celebrated its 50th Anniversary in June 2024. The Trust’s mission is “to engage, educate, and inspire the public through interpretation of Frank Lloyd Wright’s design legacy and preservation of his original sites for future generations.”

Recessed lighting the FLW home dining room (Photo by Julie Diebolt Price)

Why Road Scholar Is My Tribe

In the fall of 2022, I participated in a couple of days’ excursions with Road Scholar on their Architectural Masterworks of Frank Lloyd Wright program in Chicago and Oak Park, Illinois. They offer the same robust itinerary today and have top-notch guides to deliver an excellent education.

On this trip, I learned that Road Scholar is my tribe. I felt comfortable and at ease from the moment I joined them. The tour leader was experienced, competent, and friendly. The travelers were interesting, and we bonded over the common goals of education, good food, and camaraderie.

Three Frank Lloyd Wright Destinations

We visited these three Frank Lloyd Wright destinations during my time with Road Scholar.

Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio (Photo by Julie Diebolt Price)

Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, Oak Park

Frank Lloyd Wright’s first home and studio is in Oak Park, Illinois. He was solely responsible for the design and construction. It was his own money that made his dreams a reality. He experimented with design, materials, and ideas while raising a young family. Wright continued to experiment with his house for 20 years.

Wright was engaged to Catherine Tobin when he was 21 years old, and she was 18. He had been a working architect for two years with the firm of Adler and Sullivan. Wright borrowed $5,000 from his boss, Louis Sullivan, to purchase the property and have the house built up to his design of bold, clean, geometric shapes. The house showcased his early architectural ideas and experimentation. Wright was 22 years old.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976. It was designated an Oak Park Landmark in 1996.

Home studio fireplace (Photo by Julie Diebolt Price)

Some key takeaways from my visit to the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio:

Wright used cedar shingles that look almost like bark on a tree, and the earth tones of the Chicago common brick blended nicely. In 1889, the lot was purely wooded.
When restoration started on the property in 1974, it was a six-unit apartment complex. It took 13 years to convert the property to how it looked in 1909.
Wright felt the fireplace was the spiritual center of any hall. The fireplace is in the middle of the floor plan, and the rooms pivot around it, and that’s where the focus is.
Wright made built-in benches, so you didn’t need extra chairs and sofas around the room to provide seating.
There is dentil molding at the top of the walls, which Wright never used again. Dentil molding is wood trim shaped in square blocks that look like teeth.
Oak Park homes were just getting electricity when Wright was building his house. He created one of the earliest examples of recessed electric lights. He created a plywood and rice paper rack in the dining room.
With a growing family (Wright and Catherine had six children), he built a playroom off a tight hallway. That is by design. Wright compresses space in areas he wants you not to linger in and prepares you for a large, dramatic space to move into.

The children’s playroom (Photo by Julie Diebolt Price)

Wright wanted you to notice the wood grain in his furniture. There was no carving or inlays. Just the natural, gorgeous grain in the quarter-sawn oak. Wright loved natural materials.
Cutting-edge technology was the naked light poles. The original light bulbs were carbon filaments that produced 20 watts of power. They didn’t need light shades because there was only a soft glow.
Wright embraced life’s luxuries. He installed indoor plumbing. Less than one in five houses had indoor plumbing in the Midwest in 1889. It was highly controversial.
The baby grand piano in the playroom was placed in the wall to the staircase so it wouldn’t disrupt all the space in the room.

The home studio library (Photo by Julie Diebolt Price)

Unity Temple, Oak Park

Unity Temple in Oak Park, Illinois, is considered a masterpiece of modern architecture. The Temple is known for its reinforced concrete use and abstract design.

Frank Lloyd Wright was 38 years old when he was commissioned to design the Unity Temple. He and his mother were members of the church.

Unity Temple became a World Heritage Site in 2019.

Unity Temple entry (Photo by Julie Diebolt Price)

Some key takeaways from my visit to Unity Temple:

The Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Oak Park was the original group that commissioned the building in 1905. It was constructed from 1906 to 1908 and dedicated in 1909.
Wright completely altered the meaning of sacred space by giving the congregation a modern church for a modern religion.

Front doors of Unity Temple (Photo by Julie Diebolt Price)

The Unitarian Universalists were an extremely liberal Protestant group, and Wright’s mother was a member, as was Wright, so the building had a spiritual purpose.
The building was in terrible shape in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, because it was done in poured reinforced concrete. The congregation could no longer afford to maintain it, much less restore it.
The Unity Temple Restoration Foundation was formed so that money could be channeled to help preserve the building and not go through a church group.
Alphawood Foundation in Chicago stepped in to save the building.
The Unity Temple was one of the most endangered buildings in all of Illinois.
Restoration occurred between 2015 and 2017 to the tune of $25,000,000.
Funds were limited when the building started. Wright used poured reinforced concrete, which was virtually unheard of at the time for a public building. It was the cheapest way to go.
The building, in later years, had to be coated with shotcrete, a protective covering, to conserve the surface in the restoration process.
Wright created a hugely geometric building with big, flat surfaces and plain, solid geometry.
Wright’s “path of discovery” was to hide the entrance door so visitors could dialogue with the building to figure out how to get in.

Robie House, Chicago

The Frederick C. Robie House in Chicago, Illinois, is on the University of Chicago campus. It is considered one of the best examples of the Prairie School architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Robie House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright when he was 42, was built in 1909. The influential design emphasized horizontal lines and flat roofs and integrated with the landscape.

The University of Chicago owns the Robie House. In 1963, Robie House was designated a National Historic Landmark, and in 1966 was listed on the first National Register of Historic Places. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation became stewards of the property in 1997.

Exterior of the Robie House (Photo by Julie Diebolt Price)

Some key takeaways from my tour of the Robie House:

Chicago is the birthplace of the skyscraper. It used reinforced steel going vertically.
Wright used reinforced steel going horizontally and built a cantilevered roof.
He used only organic materials in the Robie House–wood, brick, and plaster.
Wright did not use drainpipes because drainpipes are vertical and wouldn’t go with the horizontal design of the building.
Wright believed that everybody should be surrounded by nature.

Robie house light fixture and shadows (Photo by Julie Diebolt Price)

He used Japanese rice paper to diffuse the light.
Wright used compression to move from a low-ceilinged room to an open area. It was his trademark; you will recognize it when visiting other properties.
Robie wanted privacy, safety, and security in his home. Wright gave it to him in the architecture.
An architect can only build according to the size and shape of the property they are given. Robie House is 60 feet wide and 180 feet long, meaning it is three times as long as wide.
He used every square foot of the property
Wright-designed furniture that didn’t look comfortable. However, women wore corsets, so they sat up very tall and straight. Men had starched collars, so nobody slumped. Nobody sat with their backs against the chair. They sat in the middle of the cushion, which was comfortable.

Robie house chairs (Photo by Julie Diebolt Price)

Final Thoughts: Frank Lloyd Wright in Chicago and Oak Park

After immersing myself in the architectural brilliance of Frank Lloyd Wright’s creations in Chicago and Oak Park, these destinations offer an unparalleled opportunity to appreciate the true genius of this visionary designer.

The guides at each destination were knowledgeable and enjoyed sharing intricate details about the properties. It helped me delve deeper into Wright’s creative mind and appreciate his approach to organic architecture.