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Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House.
Tucked away in the University of Chicago’s campus in Hyde Park, the Robie House is one of Chicago’s oldest treasures. Completed in 1910, this house was an ingenious glimpse into the future of modern home design. The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust provides walking tours throughout the house for a mere $15; the tour a more unbelievable exploration than I could have imagined.
A former professor at U of C led us around the house grounds and the stories we were told were completely engrossing.
Designed for owner Frederick C. Robie, Frank Lloyd Wright is said to have conceptualized the design for the house in his renowned studio in Chicago’s Oak Park.
The house has had many owners throughout its “lifetime,” and, as our tour guide explained most cryptically, may in fact be cursed. Marriages fell apart, and men lost their jobs all while living under Robie’s roof. I remained a bit skeptical of the curse. As a journalism student facing the uncertainty of a writer’s job market, I was unfazed by the tale.
In recent years, the house fell into disrepair and is currently undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation not only to save the infrastructure, but to establish the home as a historic landmark (As declared by Hilary Clinton while First Lady of the United States.) In lieu of this construction, many of the rooms and the entire top floor of the home are off-limits to viewers of any kind.
The Robie House was an unbelievable feat for its time. Modern homes as we know them today were not a readily available design in the early 1900′s and Wright was, in many ways, a pioneer.
The inside of the house (of which no photography is permitted) harks back to an earlier time. The flow, the design, and the space of the rooms seem to speak of a medieval era. All wood, straight-backed chairs, and stone fireplaces, the home’s interior did not appear to reflect it’s modern, Japanese-style exterior. In fact, it almost appeared dark and cold (perhaps due to the rainy weather on this particular day?) and I wondered with a shiver about long winter nights.
If you’re looking to experience history first-hand, or think that there isn’t much in the world of modern art outside of the Art Institute’s new Modern Art wing, then you are in desperate need to a visit to the Robie House.
Frank Lloyd Wright has a big presence in the city of Chicago and there are many walking, home and studio tours available to the public. Chicago is an old, historic place and one would be remiss to ignore all the wonderful architecture and culture open to explore.
Purchase tickets to the Robie House at:
1-800-514-ETIX (3849)
Public tours are available Friday – Sunday from 11 am to 3 pm and advance ticket purchases are recommended.
-Ileana
Apologies for the belated post. But I still really want to share the crazy events of Thursday afternoon with our readers!
The day began very slowly. As one of my story ideas fell-through that morning, I found myself unable to file–and soon resulted to taking candids of Dev and I in the newsroom. Blame it on spring fever, but the weather outside was an absolute delight and I couldn’t stop thinking about long walks in the warm breeze.
Lurking.
Where my brilliant story ideas originate.
Paparazzi shot of Devin hard at work.
The best part of Thursday was my mistaken excitement over meeting with the Chicago Apartment Finders in Belmont to begin my apartment hunt. (Read: sarcasm.) If our readers gather anything from this post, please let it be that everyone knows NEVER to visit this organization for leasing assistance.
Knowing my time in Evanston is quickly coming to a close, I am looking to move on to bigger and better apartment prospects. I began my search with a search…how to go about finding a deal on a decent apartment, while not paying an exorbitant amount in rent. Google is a tricky beast. The first suggestion that popped up was to visit the Chicago Apartment Finders. So excited to move ahead with the process, I ignored my better judgement and made an appointment without looking up reviews of the agency online.
That afternoon was my time of reckoning. I should have known it was a mistake mere minutes after walking in the door. Our pesky broker sat me down and explained to me, with the intensity of an annoyed babysitter scolding a child, that she “works very hard,” and was not interested in helping me if the fruits of her labor would not be rewarded with commission. I retorted that, contrary to popular belief, I actually understand how commission works, but would not be pressured to sign a lease on an apartment just to make her happy.
That didn’t make her too happy either.
Ignoring all my online research and requests to see apartments that I had picked out, she explained that she knew best what would work for me and would wow me with her choices. What did I know, I went along.
Our first stop–and the resulting following stops– were in Andersonville/Edgewater. A very nice area, but not at all the areas where I wanted to live. The first place she took me to was a seemingly abandoned house. Ignoring signs saying “Beware of the dog,” my glorious broker kicked in, literally, kicked in the front door exposing a dark, dusty room. The wall looked as if it had blood stains, the bathtub with mold so fierce it was crawling out of the tub at me. The back window was cracked.
The day continued along similar lines. However it truly pinnacled when Ms. Angry Apartment Finder blamed my “glamorous taste” on the fact that I would never be satisfied with any listing. I wish I could say I laughed it off, instead I demanded that she take me back to Belmont–that I’d had enough.
She then had to audacity to kindly ask me not to write a bad review about her on yelp, all while she was texting on the blackberry and running through stop signs.
So essentially, the search is still on. Any suggestions (aside from Craigslist) for how I should go about continuing my hunt? I’m at a bit of a dead-end.
Hope everyone has been enjoying their weekend!
-Ileana
On our last day in the Chinatown bureau, there’s an eerie calm among the remaining six students who decided to attend.
The view from the bureau window.
For some bizarre reason, there’s a documentary crew in the newsroom who says they are making a film about Medill that will be aired on local TV. Everyone will get a chance to see me stuffing my face with a bagel. Ah, my claim to fame!
In retrospect, I’m not really sure why I was ever apprehensive about the whole methods program. It’s a bit like boot camp, but I find it absolutely unbelievable how much I’ve learned about Chicago over the past three months. It has been especially telling hearing about the “inside scoops” from the people who are covering the local government beat. Or as our professor said on camera today, “Is Mayor Daley going to watch this? SCREW YOU.” Best ever.
Another famed Chinatown strip mall.
It’s been an interesting few months, but I have to say, a pleasantly surprising one. I’m looking forward to my pseudo-Friday today, and the potential for a lot of interesting stories to come during the rest of this week :).
-Ileana
