FLW+A+Home+and+A+Studio

When Frank Lloyd Wright decided to build his home in Chicago he immediately got to work trying to think of a new and unique design for this house. Wright was disgusted by the the Victorian-style houses, that were popular at the time, he thought of them as big,ugly, and overdecorated boxes or "gingerbread houses". He decided that he wanted to create a house that blended nature,color, and shapes into uique patterns. To do this he would need to use "organic harmony", what Frank thought of as the " harmonious mixture of nature's colors and shapes". Frank designed the outside of the house with a beautiful but simple design of the Froebel blocks that he grew up with. On the inside of the house he used open spaces, which reminded him of the prairie and shapes and colors that reminded him of a farm. To make the house look bigger he took away walls and used wide openings. Frank decided that the fireplace would serve as the gathering place for the family, with that in mind he carved his favorite motto into the space above the fireplace, "Truth is Life", he also created little inglenooks where the family could sit down and enjoy the warmth of the fire.

In 1898 unable to work in the space he had created in his house, Frank built a studio next to his house. In the studio Frank, designed an octagon shaped library and a drafting room. In between the house and the studio was a willow tree that Frank couldn't bare to tear down, instead he built a passsage way around it.

Soon afterwards Frank was faced with a new problem, Catherine, Frank's wife, gave birth to three children, David, Frances, and Robert. The only problem was there was not enough rooms for all of the children, Frank decided that he could make his old drafting room into two bedrooms, one for the girls and one for the boys. Frank also created an upstairs playroom that was. used as a classroom and family orchestra room.


 * Citations**

Thorne-Thomsen, Kathleen. __Frank Lloyd Wright for Kids__. 1st Edition. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 1994