"Loving Frank".. I loved it!

I finished it. I loved it. I could hardly put it down. I am talking about "Loving Frank," by Nancy Horan.

Writing though Mamah Cheney's point of view was an excellent choice. One could see Mr. Wright in a different light as well learn about Mamah's intellectual achievements were and feel what Mamah's inner struggles, her joys and total sacrifices really were.

Mr. Wright seems the type that is certainly captivating and charismatic and had the ability to sweep anyone around him off their feet. One would be willing to do anything at any price if you were in the right mind set. That is what Mamah did. I was captivated as I read about her inner struggle of separation with her children, trying to rationalize, arguing with herself and then finally seeing what did the relationship cost her, her family, sister, friends and of course her children.

Her book let me wanting to know more. What does the monograph look like or the photo book that he worked on for Wasmuth? What did happen to Mamah's sister? What did Anna Wright do when the tragedy occurred? Did she really have a friend named Mattie?

I liked how she used parts of My Father, Frank Lloyd Wright, by John Wright almost word for word. How his father and Ed Cheney were on the same train to Taliesin after the fire. (I caught the mistake that John had written that Mamah had 2 daughters instead of a daughter and a son. I cross read both books.) I liked how Ms. Horan describes a photo being taken of the working men at Taliesin (pg. 233). I saw the photo on the Wisconsin Historical Society website.

Following are photos that I have taken. They kind of go with the book. I regret that I didn't take a picture of the Cheney home. Next time I go to Oak Park I will do just that. I have used the William Storrer numbering system to identify the houses.

S.074 Aurthur & Grace Heurtly Residence (1902) This is the house that the Cheney house was based on.
Name plate on his studio.

S.004 Frank Lloyd Wright Studio (1897)


S.002 Oak Park Residence (1889)
Valley of the Lloyd Joneses
S.218 Taliesin III (1925) It is easy to see why the name Taliesin, "shining brow" was chosen.
Of the hill..is a most descriptive term.
I put this picture in so that one can see the setting of Taliesin I.
S.134 Andrew Porter Residence, Tanyderi (1907) Meaning under the oaks. Build for his sister Jane and her husband Andrew. This isn't too far from Taliesin.
S.037A Romeo & Juliet II (1938) Rebuilt 1992

I only wish that I were the one to run up the hill. Then I would have seen the view of the valley from Taliesin. It really helped that I have been to Oak Park and Taliesin so I could visualize the settings in the book.

Here are a couple sites that I think are very interesting.


Loving Frank, By Nancy Horan published by Random House

Mr. Storrer's site

Background of Frank and Catherine Wright's marriage

Find Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings

I highly recommend this book. I recommend seeing for yourself whatever Wright buildings that you may come across in your travels. I love the personal discovery of seeing new houses with my own eyes. Reading and researching help make everything come together.
-Kim

S. 401 Wyoming Valley Grammar School

This pictures were taken on a visit last September.
Little had changed since my first visit two years ago.

The S. 401, Wyoming Valley Grammar School was built in 1956. It is the only public elementary school that is a FLW design. It contains 2 class rooms with a central loggia. It was able to serve 6o students.

It is made of redwood and concrete block. The original playground equipment is still there, including a teeter-toter.

When looking in the windows the class rooms had a roomy look. I love the glass corners that I have found on so many of his buildings.

It is currently used at a studio of very large and extraordinary wood carvings. I believe they are the stumps and roots of redwoods? I believe there was a For Sale sign posted. I hope that the artist could hang on to the building or maybe he sold it to a caring owner. This is located only about 2 miles south of Hillside School on Highway 23. For more information Check out the Country School Association of America. Very interesting and informative.

If you know the current status of this school, please feel free to comment.

Go out and take some pictures,
Kim

FLW S.000 Unity Chapel, Spring Green, Wisconsin

1886. Is this FLW's first built design? No one is 100% sure. The interior of the chapel is credited to him as is a perspective drawing. It looks like a Silsbee as he worked for Joseph Silsbee when he first arrived in Chicago. The chapel was already in the works when FLW arrived. How fortunate that his Uncle Jenkins was the preacher of the church.

A tour bus from Taliesin arrives for a tour.
Frank is not here. He use to be here but he was moved to
Taliesin West as per his wife no.3 direction.

August 15, 1914. This is the grave of his love Mamah Cheney, the wife of a client (she divorced by then). Frank Lloyd Wright was in Chicago overseeing Midway Gardens when he received word that there was a fire at Taliesin. But it was far, far worse than that. A deranged worker locked all the doors, set fire to the house and killed Mamah, her two children 4 others with an
ax as they tried to escape. Who is reading Loving Frank by Nancy Horan?

This was the second time I visited the Spring Green area. I didn't learn until later that Ann Baxter is buried here as she is the granddaughter of FLW.

Sources: Frank Lloyd Wright by Ada Louise Huxtable, The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright A Complete Catalog 3rd Edition, William Allin Storrer

Pictures...and more pictures.

It has been quite awhile since my last post. Can it really be a more than a year already?
In the meantime, I have been taking pictures of all of my favorite subjects: family, kittens, Frank lloyd Wright and other architecture, bike racing, the students at the school I work at and scouting events.

Here is a picture of the outside of the Park Inn Hotel in Mason City, 1909 S.156. The interior picture is of the lobby. I chanced upon a great opportunity to be included in a tour of the hotel last month. Dr. Robert McCoy was my tour guide. I had spoken to him a couple times about the hotel and other matters FLW. It was a real pleasure to meet him. He is the driving spirit behind funding for renovation for this wonderful structure that actually was a model for other buildings to follow.

Now that I have recovered my username, password, and relearned how to post I will put some other pictures up.
Best wishes,
Kim