Our main reason for choosing Springfield, Illinois as a stop on our homeward journey was to visit two Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. We set up our trailer in a quiet KOA in the country about 20 minutes outside of town and drove the truck into Springfield to find the sites.
On the way we passed the Muni outdoor theatre and saw on their sign that ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ was being presented on the weekend (today being Thursday) so we parked in their driveway, called their reservation line on the cell and bought two tickets to the Friday night show.
The first Wright site we visited was the Lawrence Memorial Library that he was commissioned to design inside of an existing school in1902. The library is unusual because it is only one of nine interiors designed by the famous architect for buildings he had not designed himself. Only three interiors remain in existence today.
The school is now an adult learning centre, closed for the summer, but the groundskeeper let us know to ring the bell and ask for admittance. We did so, got buzzed into the school and met one of the administrative staff who unlocked the library room for us to enter, and she left us alone in the room (gasp). The most amazing thing is that the library is still in use, after a $100,000 renovation in 1992, so the shelves were full of rather untidy rows of books and I could sit in a FLW chair (another gasp), something that is not allowed in any FLW house tour we have experienced so far. Admittedly, all the furnishings were recreations, but they came from Wright’s original plans and drawings.
The room and the furnishings were beautifully designed and executed, but we found a big puddle of water on the wooden floor (not a surprise in a FLW building – I hear they frequently leak!). John discovered the window air conditioner was dripping condensate inside the room – not Wright’s problem after all – so he called the staff person and she had the custodian come in and clean up the puddle while we were there. She thanked us very much for letting her know about the water before it damaged the floor.
After seeing the library, we drove a few blocks to the visitor centre downtown to see what highlights we should see while in town. Springfield is state capitol and the home of Abraham Lincoln and his tomb is there, so many tourist sites revolve around his life and presidency. We left the truck parked downtown and walked about six blocks to the Dana-Thomas house and signed up for the one hour tour (only $5 each).
What a magnificent building this house is. When Susan Lawrence Dana inherited about 3 million dollars from her father in 1902, she commissioned Wright to renovate her parents’ Victorian mansion into a palatial home for entertaining. Apparently she was one of the few clients who saw eye to eye with the egotistical architect about his artistic vision and it was one of the most expensive private homes he designed. Can you imagine the awe inspiring result when you partner an artistic genius with a very wealthy and willing client? Man oh man… Of course we were not allowed to photograph inside the home but these exterior views of a few wings will give you an idea of the look of the home. You can see more details online at www.dana-thomas.org.
The next day was Friday and while John had the brakes inspected on the truck (they were fine) I worked for four hours on a sketch for a house portrait commission, which is due in September for a 50th anniversary celebration. That evening we drove over to the Muni outdoor theatre, parked in the grass field and made our way to our seats. We were in the 11th row and there were a few thousand people there. What a great facility! It’s been operating for over 50 years and is one of the largest all-volunteer community theatre organizations in the US. Last year they entertained over 40,000 patrons. Fiddler on the Roof was quite well done – good sets and lighting, a decent chorus, great lead actors and every singer had a remote microphone so we could hear really well. The weather cooperated with moderate temperatures and no rain. What a great evening!
On Saturday we drove down south to the town of Chatham to take in their Sweet Corn Festival in the park. It was a small town so the event was not large, but they had a good display of highland game contests (caber tossing, etc.) and the cow chip tossing state championships (I kid you not - the photos prove it!) Here you can see one contestant in mid-throw and another selecting his chip from the wheelbarrow.
The next day we drove our kit and caboodle northeast to Bluffton, which is near Fort Wayne, Indiana.
July 27th, 2009 at 11:35 am Whatever happenned to Christmas in July anyway?