Frank W. Thomas House
210 N. Forest Ave., Oak Park
1901, Frank Lloyd Wright
1922, Rear addition, Tallmadge & Watson
1975, Restoration
Turning a blind eye to the Victorian timidity on its flanks, the Thomas House is considered Wright’s first constructed Prairie School house. “First thing in building the new house, get rid of the attic, therefore the dormer,” Wright wrote in An Autobiography. “Get rid of the useless false heights below it. Next, get rid of the unwholesome basement, yes absolutely-in any house built on the prairie. Instead of lean, brick chimneys bristling up everywhere to hint at judgement, I could see necessity for one chimney only.” This house meets the ground with a simple water table above which the walls rise unbroken to the line of dazzling art glass. The entry sequence is complex and unpredictable. The round-headed portal appears to shield a door but actually conceals a stair.
Image courtesy Teemu008, via Flickr, Creative Commons.
