In the 1920s, Russell Barr Williamson saw more opportunity than just design: he could finance, he could invest, he could speculate, and he did it well. In less than 10 years, he complete over 54 sometimes opulent projects, including his own in Whitefish Bay. Things began to unravel in July of 1927.
It was Arthur Richards, Wright's partner-developer from 1916-1917, who decided to cover the American System-Built Homes (ASBH) in Magnesite pebbles, not Frank Lloyd Wright. And where does one get Magnesite before 1917?
The documented evidence tells us that Pebble Dash was an alteration of Frank Lloyd Wright's American System Built Homes designs -- something he hoped to cover up and forget about.
Why do the vintage American System Built Homes (ASBH) plans exist at all? Frank Lloyd Wright didn't plan to re-use or show them. Was his decision to store almost 1000 drawings based on nostalgia or pride, or something more practical?
I dropped the Fibonacci spiral on Wright's floor-plan for our house. To my amazement, the focus of the spiral - the balanced center of the nautilus - falls perfectly in front of the hearth, marking the most important place in this space.
It took some time to forgive but we're going to start sharing again on Instagram.
We're excited to share that Frank Lloyd Wright's Forgotten Elizabeth Murphy House will be featured on the 2023 Wright and Like Tour
Hello again Wright-o-files and friends and fans of organic architecture. It's been a while since we've shared new information here. But stewardship never pauses. Here's an update.
The Forgotten Elizabeth Murphy House has been hiding the clues that explain why Frank Lloyd Wright cancelled the American System-Built Home program and covered his tracks - never speaking publicly about the designs again. Read more.
In the latest phase of the kitchen restoration at the Elizabeth Murphy House, our goal was to rid the room of inappropriate materials and tie together the old and recent cabinets. But we found some lost details worth restoration.
The Elizabeth Murphy House 