Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Wright Plus Tour
Die-hard fans of the architect will want to plan to be in town the third
Saturday in May for the annual Wright Plus Tour, during which the public
can tour several Frank Lloyd Wright-designed homes and several other
notable Oak Park buildings, in both the Prairie School and the Victorian
styles, in addition to Wright's home and studio and the Unity Temple. The
tour includes 10 buildings in all. Tickets go on sale March 1 and can sell
out within 6 weeks. Call
&
708/848-1976
(Frank Lloyd Wright Home and
Studio) for details and ticket information.
Tips
and tone and placement was akin to that of an exceptionally gifted woodworker.
And his stunning, almost-minimalist use of form is what still sets him apart as a rel-
evant and brilliant artist. Unity Temple still feels groundbreaking 100 years later—
which Wright might consider the ultimate compliment. Allow a half-hour.
875 Lake St.
&
708/383-8873.
http://unitytemple-utrf.org. Self-guided tours $6 adults, $4 seniors, children
5-12, and students with ID. 45-min. guided tours Sat-Sun on the hour 1-3pm at no extra charge. Mon-Fri
10:30am-4:30pm; Sat-Sun 1-4pm. Church events can alter the schedule; call in advance.
ON THE TRAIL OF HEMINGWAY
Frank Lloyd Wright might be Oak Park's favorite son, but the town's most famous
native son is Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway himself had no great love for Oak
Park; he moved away right after high school and later referred to his hometown
as a place of “wide lawns and narrow minds.” But that hasn't stopped Oak Park
from laying claim to this great American writer. The first stop for literary fans is
the
Hemingway Museum,
200 N. Oak Park Ave. (
&
708/848-2222;
www.
ehfop.org). A portion of the ground floor of this former church, now the Oak
Park Arts Center, is given over to a small but interesting display of Hemingway
memorabilia. A 6-minute video sheds considerable light on Hemingway's time in
Oak Park, where he spent the first 18 years of his life, and is particularly good on
his high school experiences. The museum is open Sunday through Friday from 1
to 5pm, and Saturday from 10am to 5pm ($7 adults, $5.50 seniors and children
5-12).
For the same admission price, you can also visit the
Ernest Hemingway
Birthplace Home
(2 blocks north at 339 N. Oak Park Ave.). This lovely Queen
Anne house—complete with wraparound porch and turret—was the home of
Hemingway's maternal grandparents, and it's where the writer was born on July
21, 1899. Its connection to Hemingway is actually pretty tenuous—he spent
most of his boyhood and high school years at 600 N. Kenilworth Ave., a few
blocks away (the house is still privately owned). But the birthplace has been care-
fully restored to replicate its appearance at the end of the 19th century, making
this an appealing stop for fans of historic house tours (whether they're Heming-
way fans or not). The hours at the Hemingway Birthplace Home are the same
as the Hemingway Museum (above).
THE NORTH SHORE
Between Chicago and the state border of Wisconsin to the north is one of the
nation's most affluent residential areas, a swath of suburbia known as the North
Shore. Although towns farther to the west like to co-opt the name for its pres-
tige value, the North Shore proper extends from Evanston, Chicago's nearest
neighbor to the north, along the lakefront to tony Lake Forest, originally built
