The Wright Place
When we got into Dubuque this morning, I realized I was in the right place to right a wrong: one of the optional trips was through the driftless area to Taliesen, the home of Frank Lloyd Wright. Although we lived in Madison for seven years–about 50 miles away–we never seemed to find the time to get over to Wright’s home for 50 years near Spring Green.
I have to admit to some familiarization with Wright’s 290 or so remaining buildings. I’m indebted to the Unitarian Meeting House in Madison, where on September 4, 1966 Carolyn and I were wed. Of course, I eventually got around to the Oak Park studios where Wright lived until his first scandal (an affair that wound up as headlines in the Tribune) drove him out of the western suburb, back eventually to his home in the Wisconsin River Valley. The Scout trail in Oak Park on one of Troop 19’s “urban campouts” yielded a Wright- like patch and an intriguing look at the Unitarian-Universalist temple. (Wright was a Unitarian) I really enjoyed the Dana Thomas home in Springfield, where Wright had all the money he needed (he frequently built as though he had all the money he needed, even when he didn’t; when we lived in Madison, there were still stories of his welching on debts) and spared no expense with home and furniture. I remember thinking, lovely to look at, but uncomfortable as all get out. And the Robie House down the street from my fraternity at the University of Chicago. And the spectacular Fallingwater we stopped at on the way to the Summit High Adventure Base.
About time we got to the mother church, and it turned out to be the wright time at the wright place. Our guide regaled us with the scandal ridden stories of a genius (who can be called eccentric if not crazy) in what he did experimenting with his own house, executing some things he would never have done for clients. On a trip to the Far East, he bought lots of artifacts, including an antique rug. He expanded a room to house the rug, but mismeasured and used kitchen shears to make it fit. His attitude? “I’m going to change things anyway, and it’s mine to do with as I wish.”
While the ride there brought back memories of my truck driving days–the pasties on Shake Rag Street in Mineral Point (the lead deposits extending to Galena that made that charming village larger than Chicago till the mines dried up and the trains reached the hog butcher of the world), and the days spent in Rewey and Belmont (first capital of Wisconsin), the highlight was still Taliesen. Glad I finally got to the Wright place (and hope I can figure out how to share pictures from my camera)…