Roadboy's Long Weekend in the Windy City
Cornice Angel
Title Guarantee Building 1898
Saint Louis, MO
(Recovered from Demolition 1983)
Stylized Ornamental Building Sculptures
Terra-cotta and Stone Interior Lantern
Imperial Hotel Tokyo
Frank Lloyd Wright 1923
(Recovered from Demolition 1968)
A few months back a friend expressed a desire to make a first visit to Chicago.
Well, no one has to ask me twice when it comes to visiting the Windy City!
Well, no one has to ask me twice when it comes to visiting the Windy City!
We scheduled a trip for the last weekend in March when prices for hotels and flights are a bargain and the number of tourists is light. While March still delivers chilly temps all the fine museums are open, restaurants are welcoming and locals are happily emerging from the grasp of another long winter.
At O'Hare our first stop was a CTA ticket kiosk to buy $20 multi-day unlimited passes. The pass (called a "Ventra") enables unlimited transport - including the journey from the airport to downtown via the Blue Line.
Google transit identified a route with only a single bus transfer that delivered us within 1 block of our hotel; the venerable 1927 era Gold Coast icon Millennium Knickerbocker (just north of the Water Tower).
This hotel has a lot of history. Hotel lore has it that Al Capone's brother operated a casino and speakeasy on the 14th floor during prohibition. Later, in the 1970's, Hugh Hefner bought it renaming it the Playboy Towers.
Today the hotel has been updated, but still retains lots little of the cool original touches that remind you of its age and history. There are the tiny elevators, the copper mail chute, the horseshoe shaped martini bar in the lobby and its spectacular ballroom.
For our purposes, the Knickerbocker turned out to be a great choice. The rooms are getting a little dated, but they were clean and quiet. WiFi was free (if a little sluggish). But any negativity was more than offset by the terrific rate we snagged on a Travelzoo Top 20® deal.
Google transit identified a route with only a single bus transfer that delivered us within 1 block of our hotel; the venerable 1927 era Gold Coast icon Millennium Knickerbocker (just north of the Water Tower).
This hotel has a lot of history. Hotel lore has it that Al Capone's brother operated a casino and speakeasy on the 14th floor during prohibition. Later, in the 1970's, Hugh Hefner bought it renaming it the Playboy Towers.
Today the hotel has been updated, but still retains lots little of the cool original touches that remind you of its age and history. There are the tiny elevators, the copper mail chute, the horseshoe shaped martini bar in the lobby and its spectacular ballroom.
The Knickerbocker Ballroom
For our purposes, the Knickerbocker turned out to be a great choice. The rooms are getting a little dated, but they were clean and quiet. WiFi was free (if a little sluggish). But any negativity was more than offset by the terrific rate we snagged on a Travelzoo Top 20® deal.
After dropping off our luggage we were off to the bean at Millennium Park and the Art Institute of Chicago (open late on Thursdays!) The Art Institute is one of those museums that offers surprise and delight at every turn.
This trip I was able to capture a first glimpse of the newish Deering Family Arms and Armor collection (opened in 2017).
This trip I was able to capture a first glimpse of the newish Deering Family Arms and Armor collection (opened in 2017).
Deering Family Arms and Armor Gallery
I also revisited some of my old friends by Thomas Hart Benton, Charles Singer Sargent and Edward Hopper.
The Cotton Pickers
Thomas Hart Benton 1945
Pan of Rohalion (Cast after 1894)
I particularly enjoyed examining the exemplary building fragments displayed in the main atrium space in the original wing.
Title Guarantee Building 1898
Saint Louis, MO
(Recovered from Demolition 1983)
Stylized Ornamental Building Sculptures
Terra-cotta and Stone Interior Lantern
Imperial Hotel Tokyo
Frank Lloyd Wright 1923
(Recovered from Demolition 1968)
Friday, after a great breakfast at the Original Pancake House near our hotel (yum), we boarded the CTA with Oak Park as our destination. Here we could explore the design incubator space for Frank Lloyd Wright's earliest signature structures.
The visit to Oak Park was especially fun for me. In 1976 my mom and I spent a day here. My mom was born in Chicago and played in Wright's Avery Coonley Playhouse at the age of 6 or 7 when it was owned by the Kroehler (Furniture) family. Immediately after that trip I began my own architectural studies at the University of Idaho.
On this trip we began with a guided tour of Wright's 1906 masterwork Unity Temple. I'm very happy to report that Unity Temple actually looks much better today than it did when I visited it more than 40 years ago. The congregants still make full use their jewel box structure exactly as it was intended by Wright over 100 years ago.
After our tour we walked just a few blocks, past no less than five examples of Wright's early residential Prairie Style architecture, en route to his original home and studio.
In 1889, when Wright was just 22, he borrowed $5000 ($153,000 in today's dollars) from his employer and mentor Louis Sullivan to build a small home for his future family.
This home afforded him the complete freedom to explore his design ideas. It became a work in progress, that he went on to expand, renovate and rework continuously for the next twenty years. In 1898 he added his studio, where for the next 11 years in collaboration with his architects and allied artists he developed America's Prairie School of architecture.
In 1909, after 20 years of marriage and six children, he abandoned his wife, family and studio departing for Germany with Mamah Borthwick Cheney (the wife of a client) to create portfolio's of his work for a German publisher.
Wright would never live or work in the Oak Park home and studio again.
Roadboy's Travels © 2019
The visit to Oak Park was especially fun for me. In 1976 my mom and I spent a day here. My mom was born in Chicago and played in Wright's Avery Coonley Playhouse at the age of 6 or 7 when it was owned by the Kroehler (Furniture) family. Immediately after that trip I began my own architectural studies at the University of Idaho.
On this trip we began with a guided tour of Wright's 1906 masterwork Unity Temple. I'm very happy to report that Unity Temple actually looks much better today than it did when I visited it more than 40 years ago. The congregants still make full use their jewel box structure exactly as it was intended by Wright over 100 years ago.
Model of Unity Temple
Oak Park Illinois 1906
Frank Lloyd Wright Architect
With a budget of $45,000, Wright (a neighbor and Unitarian himself) was commissioned to design the building. It was completed in 1908. Wright's design for Unity temple broke almost every rule for church design at the time and was deemed a masterwork almost immediately.
Sanctuary Unity Temple
The Double Balcony Sanctuary Design Seats 400
Unity Temple, Oak Park, Illinois
In 1889, when Wright was just 22, he borrowed $5000 ($153,000 in today's dollars) from his employer and mentor Louis Sullivan to build a small home for his future family.
This home afforded him the complete freedom to explore his design ideas. It became a work in progress, that he went on to expand, renovate and rework continuously for the next twenty years. In 1898 he added his studio, where for the next 11 years in collaboration with his architects and allied artists he developed America's Prairie School of architecture.
In 1909, after 20 years of marriage and six children, he abandoned his wife, family and studio departing for Germany with Mamah Borthwick Cheney (the wife of a client) to create portfolio's of his work for a German publisher.
Wright would never live or work in the Oak Park home and studio again.
Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio
"Speak No Evil Word of Any Creature"
Above the Fireplace
Above the Fireplace
Master Bedroom Mural
Children's Playroom Mural
Playroom Windowbox
Stork Sculpture at the Entrance to Wright's Oak Park Studio
Richard Bock 1898
Richard Bock 1898
Mankind Rising From the Earth to Transcend Earthly Bonds
Richard Bock 1898
Richard Bock 1898
Wright's Studio
Light Detail in Wright Office / Library
Business Office in the Wright Studio
In 1911 he returned to the US and attempted an unsuccessful reconciliation with Catherine. At that time he converted his former studio into a home for Catherine and his children, subdividing the original home into apartments to provide Catherine income. Catherine went on to work in Women's suffrage and with the Jane Addams Hull House in Chicago. Catherine eventually granted Wright a divorce in 1922.
In 1913 Wright began work on a dazzling new home and studio he called
Taliesin (shining brow) in Spring Green Wisconsin. Horrifically, one year later, while Taliesin was still
under construction and Wright was away on a business trip, a mentally unstable servant killed Mamah, her children and carpenters attempting to rescue them.
With enough Wright under our belt for one trip. we devoted Saturday and Sunday in pilgrimages to the Hull House and Chicago's City History Museum.
Each day ended with wonderful dinners provided by Lou Malnati and Stephanie Izard (The Little Goat Diner). Needless to say, we ate well.
Each day ended with wonderful dinners provided by Lou Malnati and Stephanie Izard (The Little Goat Diner). Needless to say, we ate well.
On Sunday we departed with a vow for a future visit in summertime.
Roadboy's Travels © 2019
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