The Wright Stuff.

Today we drove into downtown Grand Rapids to see another Frank Lloyd Wright house. We had no idea it was here until we arrived in the town, so it was another lovely surprise to find it. After our experience at Fallingwater we just had to go and see if Mr Wright was just a one trick pony.

450 Madison Avenue, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Another family home.

All in all F.L.W. was responsible for 532 buildings created for various purposes, so I don't think we'll be popping in on all of them. But we both love the way he put his houses together.

Where the boring neighbours lived a few doors down.

 

This one was built for Meyer S. May, a clothes retailer, in 1908-9 (now please bear those dates in mind) and was always meant to be a family home. This was at a time when motor cars still hadn't taken over from the horse and carriage, electric lights were still experimental and all the neighbours were living in more traditional houses.

This is the back of the house - what the neighbours saw.

 

 The children who lived here told of their friends thinking they were odd, because they lived in the strange house on the corner. Well it looks anything but strange now does it?

This was built on what was called the 'Prairie Style', accentuating the horizontal line - as the land and sky does on the prairie.






The brickwork is specially laid to help reinforce this effect. The mortar is of two colours, one to blend in with the vertical lines, and one deeply recessed to accentuate the horizontal.

On the second storey you can see the bricks laid in protruding lines - with the same effect.





And going in to the house the same trick is used as in Fallingwater. The entrance is low and dark, compressing the space around. Then when entering the lounge, the sensation of light and expansiveness is stronger. This guy didn't miss a trick.

The skylights had electric lights inside for when darkness fell.

You can see for yourself the beautiful proportions of the room - although the line of the top of the window cuts directly across most people's sightline. Aha! But not for Mr. Mey! He was a very short man, and this house was tailor made for his height. Bend your knees and bring yourself down to five feet four and it all works.

There is double glazing, and blinds hidden behind the horizontal frames. The cords are hidden by the vertical frames.

The attention to detail is breathtaking, from the F.L.W. designed rugs, lamps, chairs, tables, windows etc etc...










...to the lamps which are integral with the dining table. The whole house is one work of art in it's entirety.






In fact we were told that hanging pictures was discouraged by F.L.W., because the house was the art.

No prizes for guessing who designed the dinnerware.

With both of the house we've visited so far, the most surprising thing to us was how they felt when we were inside. They were lovely spaces that we could easily have lived in, they were real homes as well as being statements of architectural art.

                                We think that is cleverest trick Frank Lloyd Wright pulled off.

The master bedroom window.

Windows onto the stairs.

 Unfortunately his houses weren't always watertight, and also had a few structural problems over the years - living in an artwork must have some drawbacks. Owners over the years also wanted to adapt their home to their needs, so after three quarters of a century the house was suffering.

Lovely, but expensive to maintain.

Nowadays the property is owned by a company called Steelhouse. They purchased the property in 1985, and embarked on one of the most complete restorations of a Frank Lloyd Wright house anywhere. It was in a terrible state when they acquired it, but some member of the board decided that whatever the cost it must be saved. And now anyone can turn up and have a free tour round the house, with the services of an expert volunteer guide to boot.

Everything in the house is part of the whole.

Who said nothing was free in America?

If you'd like see the story of just how bad things were before it was resurrected, here it is:

http://meyermayhouse.steelcase.com/house