Navigating the Landscapes of Frank Lloyd Wright

 

I don’t recall which of Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs first caught my eye. It might have been Fallingwater. I’ve watched the Ken Burns documentary about Wright four times, learning about places like Taliesin West, his winter home in Scottsdale, Arizona. This once led me to explore the estate after a business trip there. 

 

During my vanlife journey across America, I visited some of his many other notable designs, such as the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Milwaukee, completed in 1961, and the American System-Build Homes, designed between 1911 and 1917, also in Milwaukee. In Grand Rapids, Michigan I inspected the Meyer May House, designed in 1908, situated in the ritzy Heritage Hill Historic District.

 

In Racine, Wisconsin I toured Wingspread, a home built and designed in 1938-39 for the grandson of Samuel Curtis Johnson, the founder of Johnson Wax. That same day, I was part of a group that was led through the Wright-designed global headquarters of the SC Johnson Company, designed in 1936. 

 

As much as I enjoy his architecture, I chose not to explore the plethora of Wright must-sees in downtown Chicago, his adopted hometown, due to lingering big-city phobia and my concern for the safety of the van.