|
YEAR |
DESCRIPTION |
ST# |
|
ARTIFACTS |
1894
 |
Roloson
Rowhouses Baluster. By the late 30s these houses had long been forgotten as Wright's work. They were rediscovered in 1940 when Grant Carpenter
Manson "happened upon them while driving along Calumet Avenue looking for
some early Adler and Sullivan buildings". According to
William Storrer, Robert W. Roloson purchased four rowhouses and commissioned Wright to remodel them in
1894. This was Wright’s 26th project (Storrer 026).
Manson indicates that Roloson commissioned
Wright to "design the houses... on property which he wanted to improve.
The idea of erecting identical row houses..." Henry-Russell Hitchcock,
"In The Nature of Material" Page 108, says
they were "Remodeled as apartments". This
baluster is very similar to the design used in the Nathan G. Moore
Residence (1895). Wright often used identical or similar forms in
commissions of approximately the same date. An example is the same
wall sconce used in the Little Residence, Peoria (1902) and in the Dana
Residence (1902). In 1981, fire gutted the interior and the structure
was neglected. Under the assumption that the building would be torn
down, the building’s ornamental items were scavenged. "Robert
W. Roloson Houses" was published in 1979. Grant Carpenter
Manson writes extensively about the Rolson Rowhouses in “Frank
Lloyd Wright to 1910", 1958. Pp 69-71. Robin
Langley Sommer also wrights about it in "Frank
Lloyd Wright, American Architect for the Twentieth Century" 1993, Pp
36-37. 8" in diameter. |
0016.01.0606 |
1908
 |
Bitter
Root Inn Remnant (Bitter Root Inn S.145). Concrete foundation remnants from the Bitter Root
Inn. Designed in 1908, the Inn opened in October of 1909. The "apple boom"
was on in the Bitterroot Valley, Montana. Investors from the east were wined
and dined. They were given free rail passage and transportation where they
were lavishly entertained at the Bitter Root Inn. Lodging, dinner and golf
were free. So was the French wine. The boom was short lived. Blight
destroyed much of the valley’s crop in 1913. Law suits plagued the company.
They filed for bankruptcy in 1916. It ceased as an inn, but was used as a
dance hall and roadhouse. Finally on July 26, 1924, fire destroyed the
Bitter Root Inn. 5 x 6.5 x 2.25. For more information on the
Bitter Root Inn see our Wright Study. |
0085.06.0909 |
1902/1990
 |
Dana
House Roof Tile. Original 1902 clay tile removed during the 1981
restoration, and silk screened with the Prairie Sumac window design.
Illustration by R. Raymond, 1983. Silk screened in September 1990.
#31 out of 275. 6 x 14. |
1990.45.0406 |
C1914
 |
Midway Garden Dish (Midway Gardens, 1913 -
S.180). Silver serving dish. Manufactured by Meriden Britannia Company. 5.5"
x 1". Inner bowl 3.75". Circa 1914. For more information see our Wright
Study. For more information on
Midway Gardens and this dish see our Wright Study. |
0124.11.0110 |
1924 |
Ennis House Concrete Block - 16
x 16. This was purchased at a garage sale in LA. It had been
stored for quite some time, it was covered with spider webs. I added
the rebar to the display to show how the blocks were tied together. (Excellent
close-up picture of block in "Frank Lloyd Wright Design", Costantino, Page 15) |
1924.00.0900 |
1936
 |
Original Bricks from the S.C. Johnson & Sons Administration Building (1936)
(S.237). Five straight and two curved. More than 200 sizes and shapes
of bricks were used to form the angles and curves designed by Wright. For
the color he specified Cherokee Red. The brick was trimmed with a
lighter colored Kasota stone. The mortar in the horizontal joints was
raked. The Great Workroom covers nearly one-half acre. Johnson
chose a friend Ben Wiltscheck to build the new building (Frank
Lloyd Wright and the Johnson Wax Building, Lipman 1986, p32.4).
After Johnson and Wiltscheck rejected the brick factory in Racine, Wright
selected the Streator Brick Company in Streator, Illinois (p38.1).
In 1947 construction began on the 14-floor Research Tower. In 1947
construction began on the 14-floor Research Tower. In
2007 restoration to the Administration
Building was initiated and these were carefully salvaged and cleaned.
9 x 3. |
0404.13.0907 0404.14.0907 0404.15.0907 0404.16.0907 0404.17.0907
0404.18.0907 0404.19.0907 |
1939
 |
Pauson
House Remnant. Concrete foundation remnants from the Pauson Residence.
Constructed in 1939, destroyed by fire in 1942. “Desert Rubblestone”
construction. For nearly 40 years the concrete foundation, walls and
fireplace remained in ghostly ruins. These were destroyed in 1980 to
make way for an extension of 32nd Street. Architect Edward M.
Jones salvaged the 70 ton fireplace chimney mass and relocated it 200 yards
to the south and incorporated it in the entrance to Alta Vista Park Estates
where the Boomer and Benjamin Adelman residences are located. Chimney
mass measures 9 x 11' at the base and is 26' tall. A) 11.5 x 8 x 3.5.
B) 11 x 5 x 2.25. |
0501.07.0404 |
1958 |
Guggenheim Elevator Sample:
W.S. Tyler Company. Actual Enameled metal sample (Color: Rust) for
the Guggenheim Museum elevators. Remarks: Solid color Rust enamel
for the wainscot, coved corners, transom and car doors. (Also for
ceiling & Lt Grill.) Approved and Initialed by William Wesley Peters.
Approved 3/5/58. Envelope plus two sides of sample. |
1958.00.0502 |
1981
 |
Dana House
Frieze. Plaster of Paris section of exterior
frieze created from original mold. Created during the
1981 restoration of the home. 5.5 x 6.5. |
1981.11.0406 |
1982
 |
Ennis House Concrete Block Prop. Plaster reproduction of the Wright designed
concrete block used in Deckard’s Apartment in the Movie “Blade Runner”. Produced by Michael Deeley, Directed by Ridley Scott. The
Ennis Residence was designed in 1923. Blade runner was produced in 1982. It
depicts Los Angeles in 2019. It is a tribute to the timelessness of Wright’s
designs, that a design from 1923 could characterize 2019. 15.5 x 15.5. |
1982.31.0707 |
2000
 |
(Side
Note) Sullivanesque Frieze Wall Relief. Louis Henri Sullivan
(1856-1924), whose early designs for steel-frame skyscraper construction led
to the emergence of the skyscraper as the distinctive American building
type. He exerted an enormous influence on 20th-century American
architecture. His most famous pupil was the architect Frank Lloyd
Wright, who acknowledged Sullivan as his master. This panel is a
reproduction of the Sullivanesque original which is part of a frieze from
the Carnegie Library in Rochelle, IL. This is a fiberglass resin
reproduction with an aged stone finish. According to “The Prairie
School Review” Vol XIV, page 15, note 66, Gordon Orr indicates that in “the
1928 catalog of the Architectural Decorating Company (ADC) of Chicago, this
is Design No. 3024A”. This relief was used on the Hoquiam (1911),
Merrill (1911), Flagg-Rochelle (1912), Detroit Lakes (1913) and Barron
(1913) Libraries. Even though this is a reproduction from the 1912
Flagg-Rochelle Library, it was used in the earlier 1911 Hoquiam and Merrill
Libraries. The ADC catalog does not specifically indicate whether
Sullivan designed this piece. A second frieze was used on the
Evansville (1908) and Tomah (1916). In a conversation with Bill
Hasbrouck, I asked him his impression about the frieze. His response
was that it could very well have been Sullivan because the detail was so
close to his work. He may have designed it as a side job, but did not
have it attributed to him. I would agree, but would add that if Claude
& Starck could design building so similar to a Wright, that someone else
could have designed the frieze to look like a Sullivan. I have not
found any additional information to date that would verify that Sullivan
actually designed the piece. |
2000.45.0200 |
2004
 |
Samuel
Freeman House Concrete Block (S.216) (1923). The Samuel and Harriet
Freeman House is one of the four textile-block houses designed by Frank
Lloyd Wright in California. During construction, dirt was mixed in
with the concrete to give it a more natural look but the compound proved to
be unstable. Wright was out of the country at the time working on the
Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. He dispatched his associate, Rudolf Schindler
to come up with a solution. Schindler filled the gaps in the textile
blocks with mortar as a means to stabilize them, however the changes
compromised the design aesthetic and infuriated Wright. Schindler's
"transgressions" brought about the end of their relationship. In 1986,
the house which the Freemans lived in for 61 years was given to the
University of Southern California School of Architecture. The house
was badly damaged by the Northridge Earthquake in 1994. The home is
under going a major restoration. This block is poured from the
original mold for the restoration. 16 x 16". |
2004.37.0207 2004.38.0207 |
