The Sky is Falling

Literally. Last year, a chunk of plaster fell from the ceiling of this great structure.

Each year, the National Trust for Historic Preservation creates a list of places in America that it deems "most endangered". It is their kick-ff event for May, National Preservation Month. I am very much into preservation but am not sure how much these types of lists help. I am also always overly critical of some of my favorite places that seem to never show on these lists.

This year, to my great surprise, Oak Park's own Unity Temple was listed. The "church", designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is still occupied by it's original congregation but restoration fundraising and work is overseen by it's own foundation (linked above).

It blows my mind that a Wright structure could appear on such a list. Now, I am not Frank Lloyd Wright nut. I admit that have a small soft spot in my heart for his Usonian homes but beyond that, when folks begin talking to me about Wright, I am sure you'll see my eyes begin to roll before the completely glaze over. With all of the great American architects and designers to admire, I just don't get it. Anyway, I am shocked because everyone else seem to just adore Wright. If you are around the OP at any given time, tourists are crawling all over these buildings like ants at a picnic. Folks just love to ogle at these things.

So why is one of them seriously endangered? The answer is actually quite simple. These buildings cost a lot of money to upkeep (staff, programming, cleaning). They cost even more money for minor repairs (plumbing, painting, tuckpointing). The cost of restoration and major structural work is, for lack of a better word, staggering. If a restoration organization is lucky, it has volunteers and general support so that upkeep is not an issue. This is where volunteers and local landmark lovers come in handy. If it is very fortunate, it gets a ton of tourists and other support to make repairs easy. This is where those oglers come in. For restoration to occur, it needs some major funds. In the case of Unity, something to the tune of $20 million. This can come in the form of a major "sugar daddy" or it can be publicly funded.

As I mentioned, I am not a Wright fan. But I can't lie to you and say I don't admire this building. It is safe to say that it is one of the greatest buildings in this country, if not the world. No, I am not exaggerating. So, you're likely not a sugar daddy, nor are you likely overseeing appropriations of government funds, what can you do? Well, for starters, education is everything. If you have not been inside Unity Temple, you should go. All of our historic places can stand to gain a few more oglers. It also has to be one of the most affordable Wright Tours you will ever take at $8. I think that tours of Martin, Robie, or Home and Studio are almost twice that much. If you feel inclined to do more, you should volunteer for a local preservation organization as they could really use the help.

Each year, millions of Americans travel abroad in order to see great buildings yet they fail to appreciate the great architecture in their own back yards. May is National Preservation Month. Take the time to visit a landmark or historic site in your area and show your support.

Is inclusion in the historic district appropriate for our home?

It is ironic that I am dealing with this issue. I am a proponent of and have been active in historic preservation for over 12 years. When we first purchased the Tiny Bungalow, we thought it was funny that we had moved to a community that is known for its historic architecture and filled with designated landmarks and historic districts but we were in a home that was excluded from designation.

All of this seems to be changing as the OP is considering expanding their Frank Lloyd Wright – Prairie School of Architecture Historic District to include our home. Under typical circumstances I would feel honored and would be all for the designation. Unfortunately, I can’t help but have reservations about this.

Oddly enough, my reservations have less to do with how this affects the tax assessment, property values, and other issues that owners seem to get their panties in a bunch about when it comes to historic designations. Instead, my concerns are a bit more academic and conceptual and the more I dwell on it, I can’t help but wonder what they are up to in the OP.

The OP is FILLED with historic districts and landmark properties. I can't argue with them and I believe it is one of the reasons that the community is so physically attractive. With Unity temple, Pleasant Home, Wright's Home & Studio and the countless other Wright homes and beautiful structures, I would even argue that architecturally, it is one of the most significant places in America. That said, there are many modest parts of the village. If there weren't, we wouldn't be living here.

Our home, along with many others on the street, was built in 1914 by developer Raymond Hancock. If someone told me there would be a “Hancock’s Bungalows Historic District”, I might laugh at them to the point of choking but I probably wouldn’t disagree. Hancock was responsible for the development of a large number of EXTREMELY modest, though nicely detailed, bungalows on the western edge of Chicago and eastern edge of the OP. I appreciate the bungalow as a housing form and am concerned that these minor players in the history of American housing are endangered. Thematically, it seems to makes sense.

To take these same homes and jumble them into a district that seems to celebrate the work of Wright seems a bit odd though. I’m not a Wright scholar and not at all a fan of his lifestyle so forgive me if I get any of this wrong but I believe that Wright “left” the OP in 1909. In 1911, he built Taliesin and I believe he worked from there (and eventually Arizona) for the rest of his career. It would seem that it would not make sense to include homes that are NOT in the Prairie School vein and NOT built before or during Wright’s tenure in the OP. This logic would seem to exclude Hancock’s ventures.
What in the world does Frank Lloyd Wright have to do with bungalows anyway? Contrary to what you might think while leafing through an issue of American Bungalow, the connection is tenuous at best. With it's countless publicity of Wright properties up for touring and images of Prairie Style designs, AB would probably have you believe that Wright invented the bungalow in order to see more magazines. On the contrary, I don’t believe he ever designed one and the simple and rustic Craftsman tradition that is associated with bungalows seems a sharp contrast to the complex constructions and refined designs that Wright produced. Maybe in proposing an expansion of the district to bungalows and foursquares currently excluded, there is a broader goal on someone's part to connect Wright to everything related to the Arts & Crafts. I still can’t make sense of it.

One might argue that it is logical to include these structures because they “preserve a view” by including homes on both sides of a street in the district. Currently, the homes across the street are in the district and our side is not. What would happen to the streets character if someone came and tore down all the homes on our side of the street? Well, that’s ridiculous thinking. The chances of someone doing that are pretty slim. It’s also somewhat laughable since most of the homes, on both sides of the street; bear little resemblance to what they were when originally constructed. Though the Tiny Bungalow, clocking in at just over 850 square feet is an exceptional case, all of these homes are very modest. Inappropriate exterior cladding and terrible new windows and storms aside, considerable modifications have been made to make them amenable to our modern lifestyles. One driving down the street would hardly call it “historic”.

I could spend an equal amount of time remarking on the economic concerns I have about the designation but won’t elaborate at this point. I will say that I hardly doubt that anyone with such a modest home will be taking advantage of any of the economic benefits of a historic district in order to historically restore their home. Getting a permit in the OP is enough of a pain in the ass without having to deal with a historic designation on top of it. Don’t get me wrong I am a huge fan old houses and a big fan of bungalows but I can’t jump on the historic district expansion bandwagon just yet. The draft has been submitted to the state. We'll just have to wait and see how things play out.