The Washington Post reports that Taliesin West in Scottsdale, AZ is taking some major steps to reduce their staggering $200,000 annual energy bill.Next month will see the addition of 4,000 solar panels, 5,000 new "greener" light bulbs and efforts to make the roof and windows of the iconic building more energy efficient. Read more here.
Image via franklloydwright.org/Judith Bromley
You learn something new everyday! Thanks to the ever-informative members of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy's on-line discussion forum, "Wright Chat", I learned that the ultra-modern bank I often drive by in Villa Park, IL is patterned after Mies van der Rohe's original 1946 design proposal for the Cantor Drive-in project that was never built. Read more about it here.
Images via ns.umich.edu and invillapark.com
If you were not able to make it to Palm Springs, CA for Modernism Week this year, the LA times provides a look at some of the highlights. Read it here and start planning for next year!
Image via modernismweek.com
Here's your chance to live in a place of history! The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park has placed the iconic American author’s boyhood home in Oak Park, IL up for sale for $525,000. There were plans to convert the house into a learning center, but they fell through when Dominican University declined to continue partnering with the foundation. Read more here.
Image via chicagotribune.com
Lee Bey provides an update to the story we've been following about the two historically significant Irving Residences on Isabella Street in Wilmette. The developer, George Hausen, appears to be willing to save and re-sell the beautiful Van Bergen house and allow the little Schindler/Wright cottage to be moved off of the 1320 Isabella St. lot to save it, too. Read more here.
Image copyright Lee Bey
It's official! The Laurent House Foundation recently closed on the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Laurent House and furnishings in Rockford, IL. and its original Frank Lloyd Wright furnishings (after being the winning bidder on the home at auction). Read more here.
Image via rockrivertimes.com
The Chicago Tribune reports that the Village Board of Oak Park, IL voted earlier this week to expand the boundaries of its "Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District" by adding 444 more homes to the 1490 that were already part of the historically relevant area. Read more here.
Image via triblocal.com
It didn't take long for the Rudolph Schindler-designed Goodwin House (1941) in Studio City, CA to sell after coming on the market for $750,000. See what you missed here.
Image via redfin.com
Last night, my wife and I attended a lecture by Tim Samuelson, the Cultural Historian for the City of Chicago, that he gave at the annual meeting of the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust.
The lecture was a little advance preview on the topic of "The Roots of Wright" that will be the focus of a new exhibit in Chicago organized by Tim--tentatively scheduled to open June 1, 2012. It was a great presentation with lots of new facts (like who really deserves credit for the Charnley House) and interesting finds that help explain what helped make Wright "Wright."
As more details of the exhibit are announced, we'll keep you all informed.
Image via steinerag.com
With all the recent excitement surrounding the discovery of the little cottage in Wilmette, IL designed by Rudolph Schindler while working for Frank Lloyd Wright, it's stirred up interest in trying to locate other buildings in the Chicagoland area that may bear Schindler's fingerprints.
One such mystery is a renovation that Schindler apparently did of a house in Maywood, IL for a J.B. Lee in 1916 while working for another Chicago firm: Ottenheimer, Stern, and Reichert. Problem is, no one knows the address or if any part of it still stands. Anyone have any clues?
Image via trianglemodernisthouses.com
The Chicago Tribune reports that George Hausen, the Schaumburg-based developer who is under contract for both properties and was revealed to be the individual who original inquired about demolishing the Irving Residences in Wilmette we've been reporting on says in light of the historical significance of the buildings will rethink his plans. The article goes on to say that he'll likely donate the little Wright/Schindler cottage to a preservation group to develop the lot it sits on, while selling the Van Bergen-design home on the other lot, instead of tearing it down. Let's tentatively call this another "win", but I won't rest easy until a new steward is found for both buildings. Read the article here.
Image via chicagotribune.com
The LA TImes has an interview with the set decorator for the Mike Mills autobiographical film "Beginners" about the important role that the famed Richard Neutra-designed Lovell Health House (1927) played in the film. Read it here.
Image via latimesblogs.latimes.com
After 10 years of intense conservation work, the National Archives of Australia has restored Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahoney Griffin's original winning competion drawings for the city of Canberra--just in time to exhibit for the 100th anniversary of Canberra. Read more here.
Image via canberratimes.com.au
Taliesin West is turning 75 and the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy has designed a custom all-day event on March 17, 2012 to showcase Wright's winter home and studio. In addition to a private behind-the-scenes tour of Taliesin West in the afternoon, participants will also be treated to a professionally guided tour of the Biltmore Hotel; access to the Harold Price, Sr., House (Wright, 1954) in Paradise Valley, Arizona; and an after-hours event at the Phoenix Art Museum with a reception and viewing of the exhibition Frank Lloyd Wright: Organic Architecture for the 21st Century. Don't miss this exciting opportunity—register here.
Image via franklloydwright.org/credit Judith Bromley
Blair Kamin, the architectural critic for the Chicago Tribune, covered the plight of the James B. Riving houses in Wilmette, IL on his blog Cityscapes and gives PrairieMod the shout out for the role played in connecting Wright and Schindler to the little cottage in the back of the property. Read Blair's post here.
Image via Cityscapes
Architectural historian and WBEZ blogger, Lee Bey covered the story of the endangered James B. Irving House and the little Wright/Schindler cottage in Wilmette this morning (which PrairieMod has had an important role in identifying). Read it here. Lee will also be on WBEZ's "Afternoon Shift" with Steve Edwards today after 2:30 pm, talking about it (and other things). Catch it here.
Image via wbez.org
Scott T. sends word and a link that the John Lloyd Wright-designed Merrill House (aka "The Wonder-Y Ranch") in Valley Center, CA will be sold by public auction Saturday March 17, 2012 at 11:00am at the site. Details and photos here.
Image via trovit.com
Paul R. sent a link to a great logo design for Frank Lloyd Wright's Marin County Civic Center that he thought PrairieMod readers would enjoy. Definitely catches the spirit of this fantastic building--thanks Paul!
Image via County of Marin
An art exhibition, “Continuing the Tradition,” recently opened and continues through March 9, 2012 at the Kalo Foundation’s Iannelli Studios Heritage Center, 255-57 N. Northwest Highway, Park Ridge. The first exhibit since the Kalo Foundation purchased the studio last August will showcase some of the area’s current art talents, who carry on the legacy of the Park Ridge Art Colony of a century ago. More than 40 artists are expected to participate in the show. More after the jump...
Curbed reports that , in light of the harsh real estate climate in Los Angeles, designer and real estate agent Scott Lander is offering the Richard Neutra's (moved and restored) 1938 Barsha Residence in Pacific Palisades, CA for rent. If you've got $6,000 a month, you can move in. More here.
Iamge via Curbed.com
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