This morning we pulled out of the RV park and pulled the Villa into central Wichita. We are heading to another Frank Lloyd Wright house – the Allen house…
You remember the neighborhood of nice houses I posted yesterday as we walked near the French bistro where we had dinner. The Allen house is in the same neighborhood, a few blocks over…
We pulled up in front of the house and parked along the curb…
The Allen House is a Prairie Style home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1915-1916 for former Kansas Governor Henry Justin Allen and his wife, Elsie. Construction was complete in 1918.
It was one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s last Prairie Houses. The design influence of the prairie and Japanese architecture (FLlW was working on the Imperial Palace Hotel in Japan at the time) is apparent on both the exterior and interior.
Also included in the forward-thinking house were such modern conveniences as a central vacuuming unit, an alarm system and gas fireplace logs. Another innovation was the first firewall in a residential home. The bricks are considered “Chicago Common Bricks”; the bricks actually are comprised of five different colors.
(An interesting side note here is that in 1916 Wright started designing the Hollyhock House in Hollywood, where I am a docent. It was mostly completed in 1921. Hollyhock House is definitely NOT a Prairie style house; Hollyhock House is definitely FLlW’s first non-Prairie style house…)
Anyway, the house is about 4,000 sq. ft., and it cost $30,000 to build, including Wright-designed furniture and full landscaping. This seems like a very low price for such a fine house.
(Unfortunately, interior photos were not allowed…)
The porte cochere. Where is the front door? It’s around the corner to the right…
That man is at the front door…
The door itself is VERY crooked. There is about a three inch settlement of the foundation near here…
These repetitive windows are in the Living Room…
These spherical planters are made from concrete using crushed oyster shells in lieu of gravel and sand… They are over 100 years old and there are no cracks…
This is the rear of the house. This parking lot was originally a kitchen garden and a cutting garden of red roses…
This projection is oddly not symmetrical – it really bothers me…
The classic feature of all Prairie houses is their horizontality. This is reinforced by mortar joints, a plynth row of limestone, and a water-table of limestone…
The square motif is repeated in light fixtures throughout the house…
The kitchen windows feature “pie-cooling” iron grates…
The ice goes here for the large kitchen ice box…
Beautiful planters…
Many of the house’s eaves contain these hidden rain gutters…
The built-in downspouts for the hidden gutters; also note the security alarm…
The terrace and courtyard was used for entertaining as often as two-three times per week…
The tea house beyond…
We had a great tour. I only caught the docent in one error – she was talking about how Wright had invented the casement window for the Hollyhock House, and then used it again here. Really? The casement window was “invented” thousands of years ago… Wright used them almost exclusively in his houses; in fact, what he did say was, “If they had not already been invented I would have invented them…”. Also, the Hollyhock House was designed and built AFTER the Allen house…
So we drove off, pulling the Villa; Allen house was our last “tourist” stop. From now on we are streaking straight home…
We left Wichita on Hwy 54, heading southwest, towards New Mexico…
Kansas looks like this:
And this:
Hwy 54 parallels the railroad tracks, build in the late 19th century as the prairie lands were homesteaded…
They grow dandelions big around here…
We stopped in Liberal, KS, at about 5:00 pm, at a very basic campground. We were tired. Happy Hours and a light supper ensued, an enjoyable time was had by all…
Adventures in the Villa 