If you’re reading this blog, Gentle Readers, chances are you know a thing or two about Frank Lloyd Wright and his Prairie School architecture.
The horizontality,
the echoing of nature via earthy colors,
and Wright’s penchant for designing of interior furnishings as well as the house itself.
So this post isn’t a Frank Lloyd Wright primer. Or a tutorial about the Arts & Crafts Movement, for that matter. (I don’t even love the Arts & Crafts style, tbh, but I really adopt a “when in Rome” attitude when I’m traveling ;) )
But I learned a thing or three — well, learned a few things and observed a thing — on my recent visit to the Robie House in the Hyde Park ‘hood of Chicago. I thought you might find them interesting.
First, the Robie House was built in the middle of a prairie. I knew he was alluding to the prairie landscape when he adopted this style of architecture (the Robie House is considered “Late Prairie”), but I didn’t realize that the house was actually, like, on a prairie.
Our tour guide was really helpful in pointing out the 2 other houses that existed when the Robie House was built in 1908.
For context: the arrow below points to where these houses are – catty-corner from the house.
Then everything on the long side of the house, beyond the walled-in, depressing hardscape that served as the children’s play area, was undeveloped prairie.
So. House in the middle of a prairie, with just a few neighbors. That’s thing one.
Thing two: Frank Lloyd Wright REALLY used ceiling height to manipulate you. I mean, he REALLY grooved on that, at least in this house. This fellow in our tour group was around…6’4″? And look at him in the entry!
Even *I* wanted to duck, and I’m 5’2″.
Compression, release. That’s the idea: make you feel squished,
then RELEASE you into the more expansive main level.
(Not that the ceilings are super tall anywhere, but they’re tallER on the main level.) I expected the manipulation; I did not expect the drama.
Third, I didn’t know that Frank Lloyd Wright designed the original rugs to follow the outlines of the rooms. Did you? That seems really modern to me. I just assumed there were piles of Oriental rugs on the floors.
Finally, a curious observation: the dining room furniture placement. In most houses, the dining table runs parallel to the long side of the room. It just feels right.
But in the Robie House, the dining table runs short-ways, in line with the beams across the ceiling.
You have to take my word for it: It feels weird. Standing in the room without furniture, you would naturally position the table in the direction of the longer side of the room. It’s just what you would do.
There was a very good reason FLW positioned the dining table short-ways (and trust me, the furniture placement was his doing): in addition to the main table, there was a small table in the front of the room, and the tables were placed together for large gatherings. And together they would run parallel to the long side of the room.
Most of the time, though, the table would be as shown above, and it just seems at odds with…everything.
So I leave you with those little nuggets and a few more detail pictures from my visit to the Robie House. I wish there had been more furniture there, but even so, it’s worth a visit if you have the opportunity.
Annie Elliott Design is a residential interior design firm based in Washington, D.C.
