Wisconsin – ALL I NEED IS MY PASSPORT

Grandview

May 242018

7351 Route WI-39
Hollandale, Wisconsin

Three Swiss Patriots. This tableau represented the three founding fathers of the Swiss Republic. Walter Furst, Werner Stauffacher and Arnold Melchthal

This lovely and imaginative spot well in the countryside of Wisconsin is the creation of Nick Engelbert.

In 1937, after his children were grown, Nick Engelbert began to build an elaborate arched porch of concrete around the front entrance of his farmhouse, ultimately covering every inch of the outside surface of the house with concrete inlaid with shards of china, glass, beads, buttons, and seashells. Over the next 15 years, Nick created more than 40 concrete sculptures in his yard, combining patriotic themes with imagery from history, fairy tales, mythology and his own imagination. At the age of 70, no longer able to make sculptures, he turned to painting, producing over 200 oils before his death in 1962.

The Grandview site is now owned and operated by the Pecatonica Educational Charitable (PEC) Foundation. Many of the statues have been restored or recreated. The house, now a museum, contains many Engelbert artifacts, family memorabilia, and copies of Nick’s paintings.

The painting on the wall of the interior of the house.

The painting is on the wall of the interior of the house.

Nick Engelbert was born in 1881 in Pravaljie, Austria and named Engelbert Koletnik. He was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian army as a young man and, after serving only two years, he fled Europe to escape further military involvement. Following extensive travel to several countries, he eventually settled in America. He reportedly then changed his name to Nick Engelbert in order to start a new life with a new identity.

In 1913 Nick married Katherine Thoni, a recent immigrant from Switzerland. They settled in Wisconsin to be near Katherine’s family. In 1922 they bought a small seven-acre farm just outside the little village of Hollandale where they raised four children.

Engelbert created his first concrete sculpture in the mid-1930’s, reportedly while recovering from a sprained ankle. By the 1950’s his entire yeard was transformed into an artistic landscape of over 40 concrete sculptures

By the early 1940’s Engelbert had decorated the entire exterior of his small farmhouse with a colorful mosaic of concrete embellished with stones, shells, glass shards and fragments of ceramic dinnerware and porcelain figurines.

In 1960 Katherine died and Engelbert sold Grandview and moved to Baltimore to live with his daughter Alyce and her family.

Nick passed away on his birthday in 1962.

This is a replica. The lion was thought to be Engelbert’s first representational sculpture and was conserved and moved to the John Michael Kohler Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Stork with Baby. This sculpture, as well as the Stork’s head and legs, are reproductions. It is thought the original sign read “The Stork has forgotten the address and is asking the ladies to help him”

Habsburg Castle. The original sign read “Castle of Habsburg in Often Switzerland erected by an Austrian Governor during the 14th century” If you look very closely you can see a horse and rider approaching the bridge

Uncle Sam with Donkey and Elephant. The original tableau featured Uncle Sam with the “Democratic” donkey and the “Republican” elephant. The Uncle Sam figure is missing and the donkey deteriorated beyond repair. The original sign read “Can anyone do a days work with a team like that?”

Organ Grinder This is a replica, the original has been fully restored and moved to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan Wisconsin. The original sign read “Please register. Thank you”

Austro-Hungarian Eagle. This double-headed eagle commemorates the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the land of Nick’s birth. It was originally on the front porch flanked by the American Eagle. The sign originally read “Double Eagle Under One Crown” Nick moved the sculpture to this location in the 1940s when the empire no longer existed

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Visiting this site is well worth the effort. It is open Memorial Day to Labor Day every day but Monday and is free. The day I visited there was not a soul around, and yet, the door to the museum was open and inviting.

A. D. German Warehouse

Richland Center, Wisconsin

May 222018

300 South Church Street
Richland Center, Wisconsin

The Albert Dell German Warehouse was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the Mayan Revival style, between 1917 and 1921.

While there is some controversy, it is believed that Wright was born in Richland Center, making this his only building in his birth town.

The building is a four-story, rectangular structure of brick and cast concrete. It was commissioned by the A.D. German Wholesale Grocery Company to store flour, feed, and groceries. The three lower floors were designed for storage of non-refrigerated goods, and the fourth floor was to be refrigerated for perishable items.

There is a small annex to the left that was to be the music studios of A. D. German’s sister.

Each of the four levels is an open-floor-plan, single-pour, concrete slab, supported by poured concrete columns 16 feet apart. The ceiling heights grow slightly lower as one proceeds upward. The building was never completed. Construction stopped in 1921 after Mr. German had spent $125,000. The projected cost of the building had been a mere $30,000. A. D. German fell on hard times over the course of its construction on several occasions but was never able to recover completely to fulfill the dream of occupying the building. The building has been altered over the years by various occupants, but never so much as to damage its overall condition. Neglect, however, has taken a more severe toll.

The business entrance to the building is on Church Street, and it was to have been marked by horizontal rectangular windows topped by a decorative concrete frieze. These elements were never finished.

The interior of the building is yellow brick, the exterior red. The wythe wall construction uses every fourth red brick of the pattern to tie the two walls together.

The windows of the storage areas in the building are 12 inch wide slits. This allows for more storage area along the walls and deters vandalism

Interior of the 2nd floor graced by the remains of a retrospective of Wright held in Europe just before his death

Presently the 2nd floor is graced by the remains of a retrospective of Wright, held in Europe, just before his death.

The cast concrete frieze on the warehouse is Frank Lloyd Wright’s first expression of Mayan forms. This building predates his use of these forms in Hollyhock House of 1920 in Los Angeles and the Millard House of 1923 in Pasadena, California.

The Mayan Revival, cast concrete, frieze

The use of cast concrete most likely was new to the area. The concrete company hired was The Daughhetee family, with the workers being the Piasecki brothers. The concrete was mixed in a one bag mixer and then placed in wheelbarrows to be run up to the top floor. The concrete was poured with a crew of up to eight. There would be four on the ground and then two, three or four on the building as needed.

The contractor was Arthur Judevine, a trusted contractor of Frank Lloyd Wright.

A few of the wooden molds used for the frieze still exist

A corner of the building on the second floor, above the elevator, showing the concrete capitals and the brick walls.

A reinforced column sits in the corner of the building on the second floor, above the elevator.

The columns in the public spaces were also given a Mayan Revival decoration

At three corners of the building are these slightly ornamented concrete projections. The plans show that they were for flagpoles and hanging gas lanterns.

Looking down through the hallway between the old and new warehouses, one can see the change in dock height to first accomodate horse drawn drays, and later motorized transport

Looking down through the hallway between the old and new (unfinished) warehouse, one can see the change in dock height to first accommodate horse-drawn drays, and later motorized transport

The building now stands in the hands of The German Warehouse Conservancy. They have launched a $4million capital campaign to restore the building and give life back to it by turning it into a community use center.

The building is open for tours on Sundays. They are $10. There is a terrific 15-minute video at the beginning of the tour that helps put the history of the place in perspective.

I had the pleasure of being led around by Lou Arbegust, a founding member of the Conservancy, who’s passionate love of the building is infectious.

You are not allowed above the second floor and must sign a waiver, but the hour plus drive from Madison is well worth the visit.

You can also purchase Frank Lloyd Wright’s Warehouse by Margaret Scott at the site. A lovely paperback of the family history of both the Wrights and the Germans. It also contains descriptions of the building’s design and construction processes.

Wisconsin Historical Society

Madison, Wisconsin

May 222018

816 State Street
University of Wisconsin, Madison Campus

There are four arches surrounded by uniquely different lions, leaves and garlands.

The entry consists of three arches surrounded by uniquely different lions, leaves, and garlands.

The building that houses the Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is an excellent example of the classicism that followed the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago

The organization is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization. Founded in 1846 and chartered in 1853, it is the oldest historical society in the United States to receive continuous public funding.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has occupied this building, designed by Ferry & Clas, since 1900. When it was completed and dedicated in the fall of 1900, it was the most expensive building built by the state at that time.

Tile floors throughout the building differ from floor to floor. On the first floor, square sections hold printers marks from around the world in the center

This is the second-floor Reading Room, the public face and grandest room of the Society’s library. The room was restored in 2009-2010 to the tune of $2.9 million.

The restored ceiling was part of the $2.9 million restoration

When first built, money ran out before the Reading Room paint scheme could be executed. The colored stained glass panels were removed during a 1950s remodel, so the restoration included bringing things back, as well as finishing the original plans while upgrading the building’s infrastructure.

A total of 14,760 pieces of Kokomo art glass were used to restore the Reading Room ceiling. Originally skylights were above the stained glass ceiling allowing light into the room, the skylights are gone, and the effect of sunlight is provided with reflecting fluorescent lights

The pendant lighting is suspended from the ceiling and covered in gold leaf as are other decorative elements in the ceiling coffers.

The curved balconies look down upon the Reading Room

The stacked moulding patterns of egg and dart, dentil, lambs tongue and bead and rail can be found throughout the building

The balcony level

The table lamps were not reproduceable due to the fixture size, so the lighting company found clear globes and coated them with automobile paint, in a precise and difficult process

The table lamps were not reproducible due to the fixture size, so the lighting company found clear globes and coated them with automobile paint, in a precise and difficult process.

Mosaic Tile floor of the entryway and first floor. This pattern is reproduced in the coffered ceiling and the stained glass of the Reading Room.

The transom windows above many of the doors in the building

The Centennial Mural, commissioned in observance of the Wisconsin state centennial in 1948, sits between the third and fourth floors. Three periods in Wisconsin’s history are depicted: exploration and fur trading, economic progress, and the state’s political heritage. The artist was William Ashby McCoy (1913-2001).

“William Ashby McCloy lived in Nanking and Shanghai, China until the age of thirteen, returning to the United States in 1926. He received his first training in art at the State University of Iowa in 1930 and graduated with a B.A. in Art. He spent one-year at Yale School of Fine Arts before returning to Iowa for graduate study in the Psychology of Art receiving an M.A. in 1936. At Yale, he studied painting with Eugene Savage and back at Iowa studied printmaking with Mauricio Lasansky, sculpture with Humbert Albrizio and also painting with Eugene Ludens. In 1937 he became Assistant Professor of Art at Drake University for two years. In 1939 he moved to the University of Wisconsin and remained until 1948. He was Mural Assistant to John Steuart Curry on three murals and executed two major mural commissions himself (1939-1943). He spent 1943-1946 in the US Army where he served as a Clinical Psychologist. Returning to State University in Iowa he received an M.F.A in Painting in 1949 under the G.I. Bill and again later a Ph.D. in Art History in 1958. Between 1950-1954 he was Director of the School of Art at the University of Manitoba leaving there to take over as Chairman of the Art Department at Connecticut College retiring as Professor of Art emeritus in 1978.” via AskArt

John Muir’s alarm clock and desk

A highly interesting piece in a glass case on the first floor is this desk by John Muir.

Muir described this desk, and some of the other inventions that populated his dorm room, in his biography, “The Story of My Boyhood and Youth” (1913):

I invented a desk in which the books I had to study were arranged in order at the beginning of each term. I also made a bed which set me on my feet every morning at the hour determined on, and in dark winter mornings just as the bed set me on the floor it lighted a lamp. Then, after the minutes allowed for dressing had elapsed, a click was heard and the first book to be studied was pushed up from a rack below the top of the desk, thrown open, and allowed to remain there the number of minutes required. Then the machinery closed the book and allowed it to drop back into its stall, then moved the rack forward and threw up the next in order, and so on, all the day being divided according to the times of recitation, and time required and allotted to each study.

This is “Forward” by Jean Pond Miner, a female sculptor from Wisconsin. The sculpture was for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. “Forward” is an allegory of devotion and progress, qualities Miner felt Wisconsin embodied and is the Wisconsin state motto.

Miner was born in Menasha, Wisconsin in 1865 and grew up in Madison. She graduated from Downer College in Fox Lake and continued her studies at the Art Institute of Chicago. Though she had planned to become a portrait painter, her classes with famous sculptor Lorado Taft convinced her to change her emphasis. In 1893, both Taft and the Janesville Ladies Afternoon Club recommended her for an artist-in-residence position at the Columbian Exposition.

In 1895 the statue was placed at the east entrance of the State Capitol. In 1916, the State rededicated “Forward” and moved it to the North Hamilton Street Entrance where it remained until 1995. Unfortunately, the delicate bronze had suffered in its 100 years of outdoor exposure.

A bronze replica of “Forward” is now displayed at the west entrance to Capitol Square at the end of State Street, this original sits on the first floor of the Historical Society’s building.

The State Capitol of Madison, Wisconsin

Madison, Wisconsin

May 202018

There is more information on the State Capitol of Madison than many I have seen. So I will just be touching on the art and architecture, rather than the history, of this magnificent building.

It is important to point out that the people take very seriously that this is the building of the people, so it has no metal detectors and should you so desire, you can walk through this magnificent structure simply to get from one side of the block to the other.

Atop the dome is “Wisconsin”, sculpted by Daniel Chester French of New York. She holds a globe with an eagle in one hand and wears a helmet of the state animal on her head. The state animal is a badger. This came about when in the 1820s, mining had become a huge business, with thousands of men coming to find their fortune.

The miners made temporary homes by digging caves into the rock of the mines, similar to tunnels that badgers dig for shelter. The miners came to be known as “badger boys” or “badgers,” and the name stuck.

Looking up to the top of the interior dome you will see the painting “Resources of Wisconsin” painted by Edwin Blashfield of New York at a cost of $8000. In this photo, there is a woman with a red headdress representing Wisconsin. She is holding a sheaf of wheat, which symbolized Wisconsin’s roots as the breadbasket of the area, before dairy took over the econonmy. There are others products in the scene, such as tobacco, lead, fruit and fish. The paintings size is decieving due to its distance from the ground, but it is only eight feet smaller in diameter than the opening of the first floor rotunda, or a huge 34 feet in diameter. The outer ring of the painting is actually a balcony.

Liberty

There are four of these magnificent glass mosaics in the rotunda. They were designed by Kenyon Cox of Warren, Ohio at a total cost $20,000. They each contain about 100,000 pieces of glass tile and represent the three branches of government and Liberty.

Legislation

Government

Justice

There are badgers above the doors of flour second-floor chambers.

There are badgers above the doors of four of the second-floor chambers.

The highly ornamented red and gold leaf room on the first floor in the East Wing is the Governor’s Conference Room. It is designed after the small council chamber in the Doge’s palace in Venice.

There are many allegorical paintings throughout the room done by Hugo Ballin from New York. These paintings cost $25,000.

This painting shows Wisconsin’s role in the Civil War. The woman in the center is Unity. The woman on the left is Cordelia Harvey, widow of Wisconsin Governor Louis Harvey, During the war, Governor Harvey had asked Lincoln to establish military hospitals in the north, but Harvey died before this could happen, and his widow worked tirelessly to establish three hospitals.

These are a few panes from the skylight of the Supreme Court. This is one of four skylights in the Capitol, all made of low-toned leaded glass with metal halide lights above.

There are four murals on the walls of the court painted by Albert Herter of New York at a cost of $28,000. They cover the historical events that influence Wisconsin Law.

Caesar Augustus Octavius presiding over the trial of a soldier representing Roman civil law, which is written down in codes or statutes in contrast to English common law which is based on custom and usage.

The signing of the Magna Carta by King John, who was forced to sign by his soldiers and noblemen.

In the painting is the artist’s son, Christian Herter who later served as Governor of Massachusetts and Secretary of State under Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The signing of the Constitution in 1787. In the painting is Thomas Jefferson, who would not have been in the room as he did not sign, nor help write the constitution. It is possible the artist included him for his influence on American law.

This painting is an example of territorial laws. Wisconsin was still a part of Michigan territory at the time. This shows the trial of Menominee Chief Oshkosh when he was accused of killing a Pawnee and brought before James Doty. While the jury found him guilty, Doty ruled that territorial law could not be applied because Oshkosh had, in fact, followed the legal system of his tribal laws.

These columns sit behind the chairs of the Supreme Court Judges. They are of Benou marble from France.

The marble panels are Formosa marble from Germany and the columns are Italian Breche Coralline marble

Fossils are scattered throughout the marble

Fossils can be found in the marble throughout the Capitol, including a starfish on the North Wing stairs, this Ammonoid, Coral, Nautiloids, Gastropods, Bryozoans, Burrows, and Brachiopods.

The skylight in the Senate Chamber

The mural in the Senate Chamber was also painted by Kenyon Cox at a cost of $12,000 and is called “The Marriage of the Atlantic and Pacific” It commemorates the opening of the Panama Canal.

The groom represents the Atlantic Ocean and the bride the Pacific Ocean The figure in the center presiding over the wedding is America. On the right side of the painting the goddess of peace welcomes the nations of Germany, France, and Great Britain, and on the left, the god of commerce welcomes the nations of China, Japan, and Polynesia.

The skylight over the Assembly Chamber is the largest of the four skylights in the capitol

This difficult to photograph mural is by Edwin Blashfield, titled Wisconsin it was commissioned at a cost of $15,000. It illustrates the past, present and future.

The skylight of the North Hearing Room

There are four murals in the North Hearing Room painted by Charles Yardley Turner of New York at a cost of $20,000.

This room was originally used by the Railroad Commission so the murals reflect the history of transportation.

Native Americans on horseback

A trading post with a canoe as the mode of transportation

Early French settlers bargaining for furs with the Native Americans

The colonial period with a stagecoach

Modern transportation of steamboat, railroad, automobile and even an airplane

The exterior sculpture of the capitol is as exquisite as the interior. They are all by Karl Bitter, a Vienna native who came to New York in 1889. His work can be found in such great architecture as the Biltmore in North Carolina, Trinity Church in New York City and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Faith

Prosperity and Abundance.

Knowledge

Strength

This is just a small soupcon of what the Wisconson State Capitol offers. Free tours are available every day of the year, except New Year’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas. Plan on spending 45-55 minutes for a tour.

The Jacobs I House

Madison, Wisconsin

May 182018

Madison, Wisconsin
441 Toepfer Avenue

The front of the home now rid of its coat of creosote and showing off the woodwork as it was intended

Traveling with the VSA we had the true pleasure of touring the home of James Dennis, who graciously opened his home and took time to answer all of the questions we could possibly throw at him.

The home is the first of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian homes and was originally built for Herbert and Katherine Jacobs.

Wright used the term “Usonian,” to refer to an artistic, low-cost house built for an average citizen of the United States of North America. The North America portion was an important part of his adaptation of the term. Wright went on to design over 300 Usonian houses.

The back of the house with its brick and glass walls. Walter Burley Griffin created landscape plans for the house.

The house was built in 1937 on two lots in the Westmorland subdivision. The Jacobses picked the Westmorland subdivision for its then rural character and the relatively inexpensive price of lots. Wright forced them to give up a lot on the west side of Toepfer (on higher ground, with the potential for better views) for two lots on the east side of the street, which gave the house a better orientation for Wright’s design.

The house is 1550 square feet and consists of walls of boards, primarily in the front of the home and walls of solid brick or glass primarily in the rear of the home. The house sits on a concrete pad laid over tamped sand. It does have a small basement that contains the equipment for the radiant heating system.

James showing a sample of the wood wall construction

James Dennis showing the group a sample of the wood wall construction

The wood walls are mainly a composition of layered boards that Wright apparently invented. Wright believed that the thin sandwich walls would be cheaper and faster to erect than walls of standard balloon framing. These walls consist of interlocking pine boards standing on end, the side next to the floor is grooved to fit into the upper edges of zinc strips which are troweled into the concrete slab. This thin wall was then covered with building paper, and over that, on each side, is a layer of 91⁄2-inch wide boards arranged horizontally and held to the vertical boards by 3 1/4- inch redwood battens screwed to the boards with the screw heads all aligning to the directions of the boards. The walls were then covered with several coats of linseed oil on the outside and waxed on the inside.

The brick walls are the same on both sides. The glass wall in the living room and the two bedrooms are floor-to-ceiling sheets of plate glass set into narrow rectangular frames. These are nine feet high in the living room and seven feet high in the bedrooms.

Looking up through the overhands one can see how the water would drain off of the roof.

Looking up through the overhangs one can see how the water would drain off of the roof.

The roof was originally a flat roof which was later modified by the present owner to contain a slight slope solving a consistent drainage problem.

The house is filled with bookshelves throughout that were modified by Mr. Dennis to be slightly wider, allowing them to actually hold books.

One of the two bedrooms in the home.

The hallway connecting the main area of the home to the bedroom area

The kitchen, as in any Frank Lloyd Wright home is very small, it has been modified to allow some modern appliances

The kitchen, as in any Frank Lloyd Wright home is very small at only 7 x 8 feet, it has been modified to allow some modern appliances. The only windows are in the clerestory above

A window in the dining area just outside of the kitchen

A bay window in the dining area, just outside of the kitchen, lights both the dining and kitchen area

The fireplace was always the heart of the home in a Wright house.

This unique track lighting is original and, as specified by Wright, consists of 15-watt incandescent bulbs.

In a sad state of disrepair, the home was purchased by Mr. Dennis, a professor of American Art at the University of Wisconsin. Mr. Dennis explained to our group that when he purchased the home the exterior board walls were black from a coat of creosote, the roof leaked, and the overhangs were sagging. He brought the home back to its present shape with the help of Chicago restoration architect John Eiffler.

The restoration was not easy and was very obviously a labor of love by Mr. Dennis. Steel beams were placed to help correct the sagging edges, and return the roof to near horizontal. The heating system failed when steel pipes froze during restoration so it was replaced with PVC piping and the floor was re-poured with the added color of Cherokee Red The wooden walls were cleaned and repaired, the roof was covered with a continuous rubber membrane to help with drainage, and the electrical system improved. With all of these repairs, the house is now exactly as built.

A view of the ceiling in the interior of the home.

The carport, a term we were told was invented by Mr. Wright

The extreme cantilever of the carport, a term we were told was invented by Wright

The home is called Jacobs I as Wright later built another house for the Jacobses when their family expanded.

Although not scaled, this drawing from GreatBuildings.com will give one a sense of the floor plan.

The Unitarian Meeting House

Madison

May 172018

Madison, Wisconsin

At various times Wright used the word “aspiration” and “praying hands” to describe the soaring prow of the Meeting Hall.

Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and completed in 1951, when Wright was 84 years old, this church is recognized as one of the world’s most innovative examples of church architecture and one of Wright’s more influential buildings.

Despite being one of the more stunning buildings in Madison it was almost not to be. When the congregation was deciding who should design the meeting hall Wright was not the most obvious or wanted choice. In a widely circulated letter, one society member described Wright as “arrogant, artificial, brazen, cruel, recklessly extravagant, a publicity seeker, an exhibitionist, egotist, sensationalist, impatient, unscrupulous, untrustworthy, erratic and capricious. . . .”

The First Unitarian Society realized (after fees) $102,650 from the sale of its old church and parish house and $23,915 from the sale of its former parsonage. At the winter parish meeting held January 25th, 1946, the vote to hire Wright was twenty-five in favor, three opposed, and one abstention. The building was continually over budget and behind time.

You are greeted with this lovely saying as soon as you enter the Meeting Hall.

You are greeted with this quote as soon as you enter the Meeting Hall.

The materials selected by Wright consist of tawny-colored native stone, dolomite, for the masonry, natural finish oak for all of the trim which is a native and plentiful wood in Wisconsin, large expanses of clear glass, placed in horizontal, bands in the two wings and in the prow, and terra-cotta- colored concrete for the exterior steps, patio areas and interior floors.

The interior view of the prow

This was Wright’s “Little Country Church” as it sits on a small hill that once overlooked experimental farms that belonged to the University of Wisconsin.

The benches are designed for multiple uses. They are made of one sheet of 8 X 10 plywood and produced by the apprentices at Taliesin. Plywood was used as a cost-saving material but also makes them light enough to move easily.

Wright was a member of this church and his parents were founding members of the congregation in 1879.

The building reflects Wright’s beliefs in Unitarianism and Transcendentalism. Presumably, to underscore his family’s connection to the church, Wright had the name of his uncle, who was a Unitarian minister, inscribed with the names of five other Unitarian and Transcendentalist on the oak fascia at the base of the octagonal opening in the Hearth Room ceiling. The other names include Charles William Elliot, Theodore Parker, William Ellery Channing, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

Unity Chapel also featured a large room divided by a curtain. The Meeting House inscription reads, “Do you have a loaf of bread break the loaf in two and give half for some flowers of the Narcissus for the bread feeds the body indeed but the flowers feed the soul.”

The curtain, which no longer hangs in the hall due to its delicate nature has a wonderful story on its own. In the attempt to cut down on the ever-increasing costs of the building of the church the women of the church took it upon themselves to construct the curtain itself.

Wright agreed to the women’s suggestion for a curtain to hang between the worship space and the social space, but it was to be designed by him. The women, knowing nothing about weaving, took classes at the local college to learn to weave, and then dyed the various materials in their own homes in big vats over their kitchen stoves. Each color was then sent to Wright for his approval.

It is a stunning piece of artwork all unto itself.

Triangular tables, designed by Wright, are used throughout the church.

Wright’s preliminary drawings reveal his use of a four-foot diamond or quadrilateral parallelogram with 60 and 120-degree angles as the unit grid for the design. The parallelogram provided the basis for the grid Wright used when laying out the floor plans and establishing the elevations for the roof, angular prow, and decorative details.

The Loggia continues the east-west axis established by the lobby and contains offices and a library, which were initially designed as classrooms, and a hallway with restrooms. The interior walls of the rooms in the Loggia correspond to the angled grid lines incised into the colored concrete floor; these spaces occupy approximately two thirds of the wing. A long hallway, which is lit its entire length by full-height windows and three glazed French doors, comprises the other third.

The Loggia continues the east-west axis and contains offices and a library, which were initially designed as classrooms. The interior walls of the rooms in the Loggia correspond to the angled grid lines incised into the colored concrete floor.

Wright donated these Hiroshige woodblock prints to the church. Each door is bracketed with one horizontal print and one vertical print. When the doors are open, the vertical prints are still completely visible, due to their positioning.

The Loggia ends at the West Living Room. This room was originally intended as the living and dining space of an unbuilt pastor’s residence.

The front entry side of the Meeting House

Knowing that the estimates for the construction were well over what the church could afford, arrangements were made with Albert J. Loeser, the owner of a quarry near Prairie du Sac, for the purchase of the dolomite for the walls at $20.00 per cord. Loeser agreed to further reduce prices if the society members hauled the stone themselves. Able-bodied members of the congregation assembled almost every weekend from the fall of 1949 through the spring of 1950 for the sixty-mile round trip to the quarry. It has been estimated that the volunteer stone haulers loaded and then unloaded approximately one thousand tons of stone. The church still refers to this labor force as the “stone haulers”.

This bell was supposed to simply be a decorative piece for the Meeting House. It is made of sheet copper, the same material used in the roof. It was never meant to be rung and was designed to be suspended under the highest point of the roof in front of the glass prow. Strong winds caused the bell to swing so much that it was removed to prevent any more serious damage.

Taliesin East

Spring Green, Wisconsin

May 172018

Spring Green, Wisconsin

So very much has been written about Taliesin that it seems silly to write a post about it, but it has been on my list of architectural sights to see ever since my father took me to Taliesin West when I was 10.

Taliesin was named in honor of FLW’s Welsh heritage, it was the name of a druid bard, and literally means “shining brow.” The structures wrap around the ridge of the hill, embracing the site and standing as a “brow.”

A lovely example of some of the stone work with a peek into the root celler on the right

Taliesin (or Taliesin East, following the construction of a Taliesin West in 1937) was the home and studio of the great American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. Designed by Wright himself, the building was built in 1911, and underwent several changes before being finalized as its current iteration in 1937.

The farm portion of the property, this was the old cow and horse barn area

Wright designed the Taliesin structure two years after leaving his first wife and home in Oak Park, Illinois with Mamah Borthwick. The design of the original building was consistent with the design principles of the Prairie School, emulating the flatness of the plains and the natural limestone outcroppings of Wisconsin’s Driftless Area.

The Taliesin house had three sections: two broad portions on either end and a narrow connecting loggia. Wright described, the house as “low, wide, and snug.”

Wright chose yellow limestone for the house from a quarry of outcropping ledges on a nearby hill. These stones were laid in long, thin ledges, evoking the natural way that they were found in the quarry and across the Driftless Area. Plaster for the interior walls was mixed with Sienna, giving the walls a golden hue resembling the sand on the banks of the nearby Wisconsin River. The outside plaster walls were similar but mixed with cement, resulting in a grayer color. Windows were placed so that sun could come through openings in every room at every point of the day. The finished house measures approximately 12,000 square feet.

Wright had a passion for Japanese art and his homes showed the Japanese influence in his work. He first became interested in his early 20’s, and within a decade, he was an internationally known collector of Japanese woodblock prints.

In 1885, at the age of 18, Wright met architect Joseph Silsbee, who was building a chapel for Wright’s uncle in Helena Valley, Wisconsin. The following spring, Wright went to work for Silsbee’s firm in Chicago.

Silsbee’s cousin, Ernest Fenollosa, happened to be the world’s leading Western expert on Japanese art at the time. It is not known whether the young Frank Lloyd Wright ever met Fenollosa in person. However, it is known that Wright admired his views, and appears to have obtained his first Japanese woodblock prints from him.

Wright, like Fenollosa, felt that “the Japanese print is an organic thing,” and his 1912 book on the subject, “The Japanese Print: An Interpretation,” was really a general treatise on aesthetics based largely on Fenollosa’s ideas.

Wright’s favorite Japanese print artist, Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), had published sketches illustrating how the subtleties of living forms could be constructed from simple mechanical shapes.

Wright’s collection of woodblock prints by artists, both Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige, have been removed from the house and many have been repatriated back to Japan, others are in storage until Taliesin can provide a better temperature controlled environment.

The house, however, is not lacking in Japanese art and influences.

Many of Wright’s most famous buildings were designed while he was at Taliesin East, including Fallingwater, “Jacobs I” (the first Wright-designed residence of Herbert and Katherine Jacobs), the Johnson Wax Headquarters, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

Possibly even on these two drafting tables that were gifts of his first major employer and mentor Louis Sullivan.

Taliesin would burn three times, and as Wright did not have enough money for its reconstruction after the third fire, a group of former clients organized a partnership to pay Wrights debts. To keep Taliesin economically viable, the society devised programs in which students paid an enrollment to be able to learn and “experience the lifestyle of Frank Lloyd Wright”. This program still continues at both Taliesin East and Taliesin West.

A small wood sculpture just inside the front door

This is one of FLW’s signature lamps, copies of which can still be purchased today

Wright was also well known for his furniture that graced most every home he built. These are his barrel chairs and dining room table

Wright was also well known for his furniture that graced most every home he built. These are his barrel chairs, a high back chair and dining room table. Notice the Japanese print behind the table.

A look towards the windows in the great room that command a stunning view of the Wyoming Valley

Details and musical instruments found behind the piano in the great room

While not a true cantilever, as there is rock support in the middle, this little “Bird Porch” lets you stand in nature.

Chinese screens incorporated into one of the sitting rooms

Classic Wright geometric ornamentation

Broken pottery inlaid into one of the many fireplaces throughout the home

The work space of Wrights bedroom

A pergola made from old plumbing pipes and barn doors

A view of one end of the drafting room area with a piece from a Louis Sullivan designed building

A view of one end of the drafting room area with a piece of ornamentation from a Louis Sullivan designed building

One could spend days just studying the roof lines of a Frank Lloyd Wright home, and Taliesin East delights at every turn.

There are many tours available at Taliesin East. They all begin at the Wright designed Vistors center that also houses a small restaurant and excellent book and gift store.

I was here with the Victorian Society in America on the Spring Study Tour and we took the two hour house tour, which is the most complete way to see the home.

The tour was $54 and they run every day from May to October and weekends the rest of the year.

It was a true thrill and a tour that one could take over and over to truly appreciate the genius of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Metal spire on the Visitors Center

Wyoming Valley School

Spring Green, Wisconsin

May 172018

Spring Green, Wisconsin

Built in 1957, the building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, who donated his design and 2 acres of land to the Wyoming School District in honor of his mother, Anna Lloyd-Jones Wright. It is the only public school ever designed by Wright.

The story goes that the school had land close to the road, but Wright, who truly believed in making architecture part of nature, wanted to build it into the small hill so he moved the building site back several hundred feet. It was not until later that it was discovered this was not property the school owned, Wright bought the two acres from the farmer who owned the land and gave it to the school.

Even with Wright’s generous donation, the building did not have a budget large enough to be constructed, so many ways were found to help bring it in on budget, this included the use of cement block instead of stone, common light fixtures extended with standard plumbing pipe, and standard windows.

There are two fireplaces in the school. It is thought that only one was used, and this was often during Christmas pageants.

That same year, Wright was beginning construction on his redesigned Guggenheim Museum in New York, he was in the midst of a contentious battle regarding his 1955 design for the Monona Terrace Civic Center in Madison, and he was also in the midst of publicizing his Mile High ‘Illinois’ Skyscraper. In addition to these he had also just completed the design for his Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin and according to Frank Lloyd Wright: The Complete Works, that same year his office produced designs for at least another 34 new building projects, of which at least nine would begin construction in 1956 or soon thereafter.

Considering how busy he was this was quite obviously a labor of love for Wright, an opportunity to show what schools should look like and a chance to honor his mother.

The clearstory lets in so much light, that the electric fixtures are often not needed to light the building

The clerestory lets in so much light, that the electric fixtures are often not needed to light the building

The school opened in 1958 with 46 students in grades 1 through 8. After consolidating with the River Valley School district the building was used by the district’s 4th graders until being closed in 1990.

There are 12 mitered windows throughout the building

It was sold then sold to a private owner for $305,000. The first owner lost it through bankruptcy and it was purchased again by Jeff Jacobsen, a local landowner, and neighbor.

The building closed and sadly, remained empty for much of the next 20 years.

In August of 2010 the school was given to the not-for-profit Wyoming Valley School by Jeff Jacobsen.

Small details were added to make the cement block a tad more attractive

This is mirrored on the interior as well

A view of the back of the school, showing how it was built into the hill.

The school is open for tours by guides that are local and very knowledgeable, they will regale you with not only stories about the school’s architecture, but stories from the teachers and students who attended the school during its 30-year run.

Just down the street from the Wyoming Valley School and Taliesin East, is the Lloyd Jones Family Chapel.

The rumor is that Frank Lloyd Wright, at the age of 18, met architect Joseph Silsbee, the architect hired by Wright’s uncle, to build the chapel, and the Wright had a hand in the design. The story is probably apocryphal, but if he did have a hand in the design it most likely was the interior ceiling.

The church also houses the family graveyard. Wright was originally buried here but was later dug up, cremated and his ashes were spread with his third wife in Arizona. There is still a gravestone honoring Wright.

Also, hidden away on the grounds is the grave of the love of Wright’s life, Mamah Borthwick Cheney.