Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tours cannot be booked in advance by phone, but a select num-
ber of tickets for each day can be reserved online. Allow 1 hour for
the tour, more time if you want to browse in the bookshop.
951 Chicago Ave. & 708/848-1976. www.wrightplus.org. Admission $12 adults,
$10 seniors and students 11-18, $5 children 4-10; combined admission for Home
and Studio tour and guided or self-guided historic district tour $20 adults, $10 sen-
iors and students 11-18, $5 children 4-10. Admission to home and studio is by
guided tour only; tours depart from bookshop Mon-Fri 11am, 1, and 3pm; Sat-Sun
every 20 min. 11am-3:30pm. Closed Jan 1, last week in Jan, Thanksgiving, and Dec
25. Facilities for people with disabilities are limited; please call in advance.
Unity Temple After a fire destroyed its church around 1900, a
Unitarian Universalist congregation asked one of its members, Frank
Lloyd Wright, to design an affordable replacement. Using poured
concrete with metal reinforcements—a necessity due to a small
$40,000 budget—Wright created a building that on the outside
seems as forbidding as a mausoleum but inside contains all the ele-
ments of the Prairie School that has made Wright's name immortal.
He wanted Unity Temple to be “democratic,” but perhaps Wright
was unable to subdue his own personal hubris and hauteur in the
creative process, for the ultimate effect of his chapel, and much of
the building's interior, is grand and imperial. This is no simple meet-
inghouse; instead, its principal chapel looks like the chamber of the
Roman Senate. Even so, the interior, with its unpredictable geomet-
ric arrangements and its decor reminiscent of Native American art,
is no less beautiful.
Wright was a true hands-on, can-do person; he knew the materi-
als he chose to use as intimately as the artisans who carried out his
plans. He added pigment to the plaster (rather than the paint) to
achieve a pale, natural effect. His use of wood trim and other deco-
rative touches is still exciting to behold; his sensitivity to grain, tone,
and placement was akin to that of an exceptionally gifted wood-
worker. His stunning, almost-minimalist use of form is what still sets
him apart as a relevant and brilliant artist. Unity Temple still feels
groundbreaking 100 years later—which Wright would consider the
ultimate compliment. Allow a half-hour.
875 Lake St. & 708/383-8873. http://unitytemple-utrf.org. Self-guided tours $8
adults; $6 seniors, children 6-12, and students with ID; free for children 5 and under.
Free guided tours weekends at 1, 2 and 3pm. Mon-Fri 10:30am-4:30pm; Sat-Sun
1-4pm. Church events can alter schedule; call in advance.
ON THE TRAIL OF HEMINGWAY
Hemingway Museum Frank Lloyd Wright might be Oak
Park's favorite son, but the town's most famous native son is Ernest
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