That second one is from Frank Lloyd Wright.

Didn’t I say that? oh, and I think the person asking about the leak was Mrs SC Johnson, at Wingspread in Wisconsin.

This is why while many people admire his houses, so very few people actually want to live in one of them. Even if they can afford it.

But were the leaks due to bad design or bad execution/construction of the design?

The design tended to outstrip the technology of the time to waterproof it, was one of the big problems. He also did not always account for maintenance.

I heard that he put fixtures in a house that you could not change the bulbs as designed. They had to break the glass to get the bulb out. I beleive it was a cemented in place piece of glass sent in stone. I don't know 100% that this is true.

At Wingspread, he designed or selected all of the furnishings and artwork. Mrs J put some of them in closets and put up artwork of their own selection. FLW came to visit, and after everyone went to bed, he switched them back out. In the morning he said, ”there, isn’t that better?” He was never invited back. (at least, that’s one of the tour guide stories)

I think sometimes he didn’t account for how materials behave in their environments.

I love visiting and roaming his buildings. They are like big, expensive, immovable art. And some cool ideas to spark the imagination (hopefully with better execution).

Most "ordinary " furniture looks out of place in his later period houses.

I had a neighbor who was an FLW apprentice and designed and built his own house here. He also designed nearly all the furniture, most of it was built-in. He did, however, end up buying two Stressless chairs for the living room. They looked fine, but clearly ”after-market” purchases, so to speak.

One of the best books I read on Wright was Apprentice to Genius: Years with Frank Lloyd Wright (1979) by Edgar Tafel. The copy I owned and read was signed by Tefal and owned previously by another apprentice.

I have had the honor of meeting a handful of Apprentices and people that have known Frank Lloyd Wright. None of them could be described as ordinary.

I had the pleasure of working with a partner of Alden Dow's (an apprentice of Wright) on an addition for what we will call a very special client. He did the initial design and I finished the design, prepared the construction drawing, and observed the construction while he golfed down south over the winter. One of the best architectural experiences of my career.

The Kalil house (1955) looked completely untouched with identical fabric covering almost everything save two chairs, which Wright may have liked the idea of, but it looks rather Great Expectations, and seating for about 25 albeit very upright and not comfortable looking

It looks like a dance hall, seats along the wall and a big dance floor! My neighbor the FLW apprentice liked to go dancing, so he’d have loved it.

I also think these are those stretch Real Estate photos so it makes the floor space seem enormous.