The Houses of Frank Lloyd Wright Or Oak Park, The Most Beautiful Suburb Of All

I didn't want to stay overnight in downtown Chicago for several reasons, the most important one, I had rented a car. And parking in Chicago is definitely not easy or cheap.

After arriving at the airport, I drove to Oak Park, a suburb on the Western side of Chicago. We stayed at "The Carleton of Oak Park", an historic hotel that has three parking sites surrounding the hotel. After parking the car we took the subway, walked or used bikes during our entire stay there. 

Coming from our day trip from downtown, we took the Green Line to Harlem (don't get out at the Oak Park stop!) where it was a few minutes walk to the hotel.

The Carleton is right in the middle of Oak Park, surrounded by little shops, ice cream parlors and an old fashioned movie theater. And Starbucks and Whole Foods. :) There are a few little parks where one can have picnics or play baseball. It is an incredibly charming place.

One of the things Oak Park is know for are the large amount of houses "larger than life" architect Frank  Lloyd Wright designed there. Having lived and worked in Oak Park for many, many years Wright's Prairie style houses can be find all over town. Figuring the kids would have fun doing a guided bicycle tour of Wright's houses we met with a tour guide and a few other Wright enthusiasts at "GreenlineWheels" right next to our hotel to pick a bike for the morning.

This house was one of the earliest houses Wright designed. Actually he was still a very young man, working for a company in Chicago, when he designed three houses, standing next to each other in Oak Park. The green one on top, we were told, is currently on the market for $1.3 million. If I had that much money I would buy it immediately. You can already see bits of his later designs in there plus I really wouldn't mind living in Oak Park.

 I do believe that the house on top is the house that Wright built for himself and his mistress, Martha Cheney, called "Mamah" whom he had met when designing a home for her and her husband. They had been introduced by Wright's wife Catherine, who, along with their six children, was living at the architect's home and studio close by.
Mamah and her two children by Cheney would later be brutally murdered in Taliesin, Wisconsin, another one of Wright's homes.

The Pedal Oak Park Tour (highly recommended by me!) can be booked through the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust. It is only offered on weekends from June to August.