The View from a Drawbridge

It is a rare occasion when a house is declared to be a work of art, but a 1957 edition of House and Home magazine did just that when describing the Robie House in Chicago, Illinois. I wholeheartedly agree with their assessment. Dear Husband and I had the distinct pleasure of touring this house during a recent Chicago visit. I couldn’t resist, as Frank Lloyd Wright is my all-time favorite architect.

Wright is considered by many to be the American founder of the Art Deco movement with his use of geometric designs, fine craftmanship, rich materials, vibrant colors and exotic cultural influences. It is a unique style, indeed. As Wikipedia so aptly puts it, “Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, and faith in social and technological progress.”

I can think of no other architectural style that has so profoundly influenced fashion, jewelry, stained glass, metal art, furniture, automobile and train designs, and products such as radios and toasters and vacuum cleaners. If I could fill my home with nothing but Art Deco, I’d be thrilled. I can’t explain why, but for me, Art Deco is how everything ought to look.

You can see Art Deco influences all over the Robie House. It was built in 1910, and Wright designed this home in the Prairie School style, which is considered the first uniquely American architectural style. This home is considered the yardstick against which all other Prairie School homes are measured.

It may well be Wrights favorite house of all the ones he created. In 1956, The Architectural Record selected the Robie House as “one of the seven most notable residences ever built in America.” And yet it was slated for demolition in 1957. This inspired Wright to stand in protest outside, which is something he never did for any of his other work. He was 89 years old at the time, and he would pass away two years later.

The Prairie School style is influenced by the wide American plains, and its focus is very much on the horizontal. It usually has flatter roofs, deep overhanging eaves, and it always attempts to integrate with the landscape. The interiors tend to accommodate the American, more casual style of living.

The only complaint I have about the Robie House, personally, is that its ceilings are so low that it is easy to feel claustrophobic when standing in most of its rooms. Granted, Americans in 1910 were at least 2 inches shorter than the average American today, but that doesn’t account for it. This house would be perfect for me if only every ceiling were raised about 9 inches.  I think the emphasis would still be on the horizontal, but one wouldn’t walk around in constant fear of bashing one’s head.

If I lived there, I also might miss modern affectations such as actual closets and adequate storage space, and the ability to draw window blinds when necessary, but Wright was never known for such things. He was all about the design, and often did not take the day to day lives of humans into consideration. That’s also why his gorgeous furniture is notoriously uncomfortable to use. Some of that, too, is displayed in the Robie House.

Enough talk. Here are some pictures that we took during our visit, including one taken in the gift shop which displays four stained glass art deco designs on wooden stands. If I ever have some mad money, the second one from the left, the most colorful one, will be mine. It can be purchased all over the internet, so it’s not like I’d have to return to the Robie House to get it. But then, any excuse to go there is alright by me. As they might have said in 1910, it’s a dilly of a house.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Deco#
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prairie_School#
• https://study.com/academy/lesson/frank-lloyd-wright-the-art-deco-movement.html
• https://franklloydwright.org/site/robie-house/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robie_House#
• https://www.flwright.org/explore/frederick-c-robie-house
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lloyd_Wright#

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