Oak Park, Illinois is home to the world's largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright designed buildings and houses, with 25 structures built between 1889 and 1913. It was here that Wright developed and perfected his signature Prairie Style architecture, emphasizing the use of interior light and open spaces in low, earth-hugging buildings. His designs changed the course of 20th century architecture. Many of the Wright houses and buildings in Oak Park and River Forest are registered National Historic Landmarks.
This is a fantastic walking tour through a beautiful neighborhood!
Frank Lloyd Wright's Office
A park in downtown Oak Park
Frank Lloyd Wright was 38 years old when he received the Unity Temple commission. It was his first major public building and one of the most significant projects of his lengthy career. Near the end of his life, after having completed more than 1,100 designs and 532 built projects, Wright said of Unity Temple, "That was my first expression of this eternal idea which is at the center and core of all true modern architecture. A sense of space, a new sense of space."
The American Institute of Architects named Unity Temple one of Wright’s most influential buildings. In 1971, the U.S. Department of the Interior designated Unity Temple a National Historic Landmark. It remains one of the most exciting and influential buildings in 20th century architecture.
Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899, in Oak Park, Illinois. In the nearly sixty two years of his life that followed, he forged a literary reputation unsurpassed in the twentieth century. In doing so, he also created a mythological hero in himself that captivated (and at times confounded) not only serious literary critics but the average man as well.
Ernest was born in this family home, which was built by his grandfather.
(This home is within a couple blocks of the Frank Lloyd Wright district.)
(This home is within a couple blocks of the Frank Lloyd Wright district.)
