Oak Park/Frank Lloyd Wright, Chicago

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Price is $8 and steep for the short tour (maybe 15 minutes) of the interior. This was the designing of Frank Lloyd Wright in 1905. The first Unity church burned that years and Wright started the first of 1,100 buildings in his design years. This took 4 years to complete and has not steeple, nor front entry different and unique, and the majority is formed concrete outside As can be seen, the interior is patterned with wood designs and a Mission look style, I think.

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Starting in 1899, Frank designed homes that later became great icons of new architecture. He was the man who developed the Prairie style homes and Mission home styles. There is a guided tour every hour or so and the cost is $25 that includes the Frank home, or alternate of $18 for guides touring some of the home exteriors only. The third choice for $15 is to get head phones and walk around the few blocks to see 15 homes on the route, at your pace.
The tour is well worth it, and the variety of the home styles stand out

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This is a suburb city that drew many to the close in to commute to downtown Chicago. It used to the the upscale feel, but now is mo0re "mixed" and generally being run down and deteriorated form when I left in 1976, bacause I left, maybe? Bordered by Harlem and Austin Blvd E & W and North AVe and Roosevelt Rds N & S, it is in the middle of much activity and only 10 miles from Chicago center. I was a commuter for about 1 year, and getting to the city was a "trip" so to speak, due to the elements that would board the L train that I was not used to. I moved out of town.
Seeing Frank Lloyd Wright homes architecture and Hemingway home are the featured icons here.

Frank Lloyd Wright house! ?? Can't imagine anyone else did this one. The string of windows...the arch...the brick. These would be his early houses...as the house in Oak Park was the first he did for himself and his family. Speaking of family, there is a very good book written by Wright's son, John. The title, "MY FATHER, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT". I'm afraid it isn't very complimentary of dear old dad. Interesting read, tho.
UPDATE: This is in fact another Wright work....we're told it is the Heartley House and it's on the market for 5.75 million. I'm not surprised.....with the reputation of Wright.

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Oak Park is a well known suburb of Chicago for two reasons, first because it is filled with homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and second because it was the birth place of Ernest Hemingway. It's an easy daytrip from Chicago, either by car or public transportation, as it is only about 10 miles outside Chicago's downtown.

I finally got around to visiting on a beautiful sunny June afternoon after many years of saying "gee we really should go there sometime". There are several ways to visit Oak Park, I'd suggest that you make your first stop the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio which has information about Frank Lloyd Wright plus information on Oak Park in general. They have guided tours leaving from here on the weekends, self guided audio tours or a map of the significant architecture which you can purchase for about $4. The Chicago Architecture Foundation also has guided tours on foot or by bus.

For more information on visiting this community, please see my Oak Park page

I didn't research the various houses I saw in Oak Hill, but photographed those which I thought were probably Wright's work. Here we see the trademark row of windows which so characterizes his work. If not a Wright house, then certainly someone drew their ideas from him. If anyone knows the specifics of any of these houses, please leave a comment to tell me about it.
UPDATE: thanks to the VT community we have now identified this house and it is in fact a Wright creation. Thank you, DABS. Exerpts from the site re: his home and work....
"This house was commissioned by James C. Rogers for his daughter and her husband, Frank Wright Thomas. In some ways, it resembles the Heurtley House: Both homes have leaded glass windows, an arched entryway, and a low, long profile. The Thomas house is widely considered Wright's first Prairie Style home in Oak Park. It is also his first all stucco home in Oak Park. Using stucco instead of wood meant that Wright could design clear, geometric forms.

The main rooms of the Thomas House are raised a full story above a high basement. The L-shaped floor plan of the house gives it an open view to the north and west, while obscuring a brick wall located on the south side. A "false door" is located just above the arched entryway."
REFER TO: http://architecture.about.com/library/blflwthomas.htm

If you are into the Wright architecture and the man himself, you will enjoy reading the book by his son, John. Lots of family insights but also lots of inside information about some of his work and work ethics. I don't want to give it away before you read it, but suffice to say, John wasn't crazy about his papa.

The Frank Lloyd Wright home and studio in Oak Park is an exciting place to spend an afternoon. With 25 Wright buildings in the neighborhood surrounding the Home and Studio, Oak Park is an outdoor museum of architectural history. The extraordinary Home and Studio complex served as Wright's architectural laboratory from 1889 to 1909, the years that launched his career. Here he conceived the Prairie style of architecture, testing ideas that found their fullest expression in many of the surrounding homes he designed for clients.

Advance tickets ($12) are available for select daily tour departures. They may be purchased online up to midnight prior to the day of tour. Tickets for other tours are available in the museum bookshops on a first-come first-served basis the day of the tour. Admittance to the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio is only with the scheduled guided tours. Visitors may not walk through this historic house museum on their own.

951 Chicago Avenue, Oak Park, IL

You can take the EL (westbound Green Line) to the Oak Park Avenue stop. Walk under tracks and go north on Oak Park Ave. to Chicago Ave. Turn left (west) and walk 3 blocks to the Home and Studio. It is a 10-15 minute walk.