The Lamp House
Walking along Mifflin Street during a sunny noon-time lunch hour, I caught a glimpse between two apartment buildings of this Prairie-style house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Poking around, I managed to find the alleyway that lead to the front of the house. It stands in a small lot in the middle of the block, sort of stashed away in a blind spot where it goes unnoticed from the street most of the time.
I've read about it a couple times in the paper, first when it changed hands, and again when its new owner was looking for renters.
"Despite the deferred maintenance, the house has the unmistakable flow and timelessness that characterizes Frank Lloyd Wright buildings. The Lamp House was ahead of its time with its open floor plan. Some of Wright's signature features are present: the flat roof, strong horizontal lines, a central fireplace in the living room with an inglenook off to one side, and Cherokee red trim on the exterior. Sunlight floods the house through the many leaded-glass windows." -- Chris Martell, Wisconsin State Journal
2 comments:
It's a great house. It's the prototype for a design Wright published for/in the Ladies' Home JOurnal in 1906, of a fireproof house that could be built for under $5000. This design was built several times, once on the Taliesin estate itself, in 1907, for FLLW's sister Jane Porter. Called Tan-Y-Deri (Welsh for "under the oaks"), FLLW did not acknowledge the house after he completed it because he felt it was wrong to build a house that had been designed for the suburbs in a country setting. "Not organic." But that's what Jane wanted, and she won that round.
interesting post and thanks for the additional info hannah.
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