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The Wright Stuff

A guide to Frank Lloyd Wright homes to see in the Midwest

At least a million times, and I’m not exaggerating by much, I’ve crossed the Buck O’Neil Bridge from downtown Kansas City heading into the Northland. Each time I’ve looked up at the magnificent home on the bluff overlooking the Missouri River and thought “wow, what a great house that must be.”

Finally, after all these years, I was able to peek inside.

The Bott House, as it’s known, was designed in the late 1950s by Frank Lloyd Wright for Frank and Eloise Bott. It was this bluff and the magnificent view of the Missouri River that attracted America’s most famous architect to the site.

Eloise often consulted Homer Williams, an architect and former principal with WSKF in North Kansas City, about the unique demands of caring for an FLW home. After Eloise’s death in 1987, Williams was given the first right to purchase.

Furnishings are original to the house, although some plumbing has been updated. And there’s that portion of the mahogany woodwork in one bedroom. A clogged drain flooded the room, so Williams replaced the original Honduran mahogany, which is no longer available, with Philippine mahogany. You can’t tell the difference.

Williams is quick to point out that one of the showers is made of mahogany and the unique tile in the bathrooms. On a tour of the house, you’ll see mitered glass windows and wall-hung toilets, both FLW inventions.

Fireplaces are central to an FLW home design, but the Bott House has something a little special. The stones in this massive structure came from a fence in the Kansas Flint Hills. More than 150 years ago, ranchers would build fences from stone, because it was the most readily available resource. But by the 1950s, with the advent of metal fences, ranchers were begging people to remove the rocks.

The Bott Home is available for tour with advance notice at botthouseflw.com. There is a fee.

The Bott House is one of FLW’s last designs before his death in 1959. To see one of his earliest designs, visit Wichita and the Allen House, completed in 1916. It is the last of his prairie-style designs and his personal favorite living room.

The airy room features six French doors that open onto a terrace and a magnificent garden. A 20’ X 40’ lily pond is surrounded by yellow iris, hollyhocks, Lady in Red ferns and more. A hydrangea is original to the house.

Tea on the Terrace is one of many special events held at the Allen House. For more information, visit flwrightwichita.org.

Continuing our FLW tour, let’s head north to Oskaloosa, Iowa for a look at the Alsop House. Dating to 1947, the house was recently purchased by Mia Reed, an artist who is in the process of restoring windows, doors, flooring and furniture. Reed’s father was a Wright contemporary. She plans to create an art gallery featuring her father’s architectural archives, as well as those of FLW.

The Alsop Art Gallery will also celebrate local artists in individual exhibits. Until then, she invites the public to come in to see the restoration process or at least follow along on Instagram @FLW_Alsop_house, or you can e-mail Mia at theartdeck@gmail.com.

Sleep in a FLW Design

If you love FLW so much that you want to overnight in his designs, there are two options for you within an easy drive.

North on I-35, visit Mason City, Iowa, home of the Music Man, but that’s another story. The Historic Park Inn opened in 1910 as part bank, part office building, part hotel. With 27 rooms, the space has been upgraded with modern amenities without losing the FLW design components that place it on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the only remaining FLW-designed hotel in the world. Book a room at historicparkinn.com

Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma is FLW’s only skyscraper. It’s called “the tree that escaped from a crowded forest,” because it is based on a design for a skyscraper to be built in New York, thus the crowded forest.

Price Tower was built for the Price Oil Company in the 1950s as a 19-story office and apartment building. It was remodeled in 2003, turning six of the upper floors into a hotel. The 22 guest rooms include three two-story suites. The bathrooms are original, so rather small by today’s standards. Each room has a full wall of windows and heated floors.

The first floor houses an art gallery and restaurant. Floors 15 and 16 are home to the Copper Bar restaurant and one of the best views in all of Oklahoma. The entire building is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tours are twice a day. Visit pricetower.org.
 

Other spots to see

The Community Christian Church at 4601 Main Street, Kansas City, is also a FLW design. It is one of only 10 religious structures he designed. Built in the 1940s, Wright claimed it would be “fireproof, earthquake proof and vermin proof.” Learn more at wrightonmain.com.

If you’re going to Iowa for Frank Lloyd Wright, you might as well plan a visit to Cedar Rock State Park, east of Waterloo. The park includes the home created for Lowell and Agnes Walter. It is one of his rare structures that includes the red tile FLW imprint. friendsofcedarrock.org

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