It can seem strange to think of a Frank Lloyd Wright dwelling as a standard product - something that could be built with interchangeable parts and pieces - but American System-Built Homes were exactly that. One of those pieces was Byrkit Lath.
The March 2021 issue of MKELifestyle is on shelves all over town and features interior and vintage images of Frank Lloyd Wright's Forgotten Elizabeth Murphy House, along with an interview by Don Butler about our upcoming book.
Wright's statement chimney was meant to welcome a visitor like a smoke signal emerging from the heart of the house and saying, "we're home, it's warm in here, and you're invited." But in 1918, it leaked.
Imagine a couple of kids - one hundred years ago - sitting at the table, back to the warm morning sun, sipping milk while one parent flipped breakfast eggs and the other buttered toast and they all planned the weekend. It's not only about seeing things, but about living and being together in an American System-Built House.
The Shorewood Historical Society and Boswell Book Company will co-host an evening with Nicholas D Hayes and Taliesin's Catherine Boldt (Educational Outreach Docent) as they discuss Hayes' findings in the new book FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S FORGOTTEN HOUSE: How an Omission Transformed the Architect's Legacy.
A group of ASBH owners have been meeting and collaborating in the last few years (first physically and then virtually), sharing ideas, tours, parts and pieces and pictures to study, and have even been purchasing materials for renovations in bulk to ensure affordability and continuity. Six of the homes are represented!
You don't see many pictures of the kitchen in our gallery because we've not yet solved an aesthetically-complex issue: a sight-line destroyed by a modern appliance. We have a fix.
The level of Wright's brilliance and forethought contained on this one page seems stunning - out of this world - to us amateurs.
As we assembled the proper tools and processes to make Frank Lloyd Wright's window sashes as Arthur Richard’s factory might have made them, we uncovered evidence of a decision to slow production in order to ensure quality, made a century ago.
Our goal is to mix historic-appropriateness with modern energy efficiency. We're going back to Wright's framed casement design, but will allow for double-paned glass and proper weatherstripping. We will make the stiles, rails and beads in Cypress and have organized a shop in which to mill, fit and assemble the windows in batches.
