Framedlight

 Anne wanted to take our niece Emma and us to Florida Southern College in Lakeland, about an hours drive away. We had seen Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio in Chicago and had developed an interest in him so it was an exciting excursion for us. Nothing like a bit of concrete to enrich the soul! Florida Southern College was founded in 1852 and moved to Lakeland in 1921, choosing a virgin site to build on. In 1925 Dr Ludd Spivey became the College president. The time had come for the college to expand. Spivey wanted to create a truly modern campus and decided that Frank Lloyd Wright was the man for the job. In 1938 Wright, then aged 71, came down to Florida to survey the ground, which lies on a gentle hill rolling down 80ft to Lake Hollingsworth. He decided to work with Spivey, as long as Spivey could raise the money for the project. This collaboration has led to a unique campus of Wright buildings interlinked by a series of covered walkways known as the Esplanade, which run to ov...

As I mentioned in my last blog, Wright had lost his job with Adler and Sullivan because he had been designing his 'bootleg' houses on the side, to earn himself some extra cash. After viewing his home and studio in Oak Park we had a short tour of the neighbourhood houses that he had created. The three 'bootleg' houses are within easy reach of Wright's studio, one being directly over the road from him. Robert P Parker House, 1892 Thomas Gale House, 1892 Walter Gale House, 1892 Walter Gale house in front, next to Thomas Gale House Walter Gale owned a hardware store in Chicago. Thomas Gale was a speculator and had his house and the Robert Parker house built by Wright. Thomas Gale sold the Parker House to Robert Parker, a lawyer,  a year later. All three houses look similar, with their large bays, This was a style favoured by Joseph Silsbee, Wright's first employer. Wright liked to be thought of as a 'man about town' and would be se...