Have you ever seen a Dream House featured in a publication and said to yourself,
“I need to own this.” Hi everyone, Ken here, welcome to "ThisHouse"! Today we
are exploring Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Still Bend” in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Make sure
to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an exciting episode of "ThisHouse"
In 1938, Life Magazine reached out to several prominent architects and designers to commission
a series of dream houses for an article titled “Eight Houses for Modern Living.”
The article would feature 8 houses designed for typical American families
with household incomes ranging from 2,000 and 10,000 dollars per year,
setting the maximum to the modern equivalent of 213,000 dollars.
When Frank Lloyd Wright was contacted by Life Magazine, he jumped at the opportunity.
After evading scandal and tragedy, which we covered in depth during a previous video,
his career came to a screeching halt. After many years had passed and people’s memories started to
fade, he made his way back into the lime light, taking on as much media exposure as possible.
He quickly set out to design a set of house plans to showcase his mastery of architecture.
Per Life Magazine’s parameters, he was to design a house for the Blackbourn family who
would require a large area for entertaining while on a budget. Their total combined annual income
was around 5,000 dollars per year, the modern equivalent of around 100,000 dollars per year.
The house would be themed around the concept of a “social club” with a large living room
measuring 65 feet long which would blend indoor and outdoor spaces, spilling onto a
terrace with a massive inground swimming pool. Additionally, the house would feature several
guest rooms and boast brand new technology such as a purely theoretical in-floor heating system.
Unfortunately, the project went far beyond the Blackbourns means and they declined to
build the house. But, all the while, the plans were circulating in one of Life Magazine’s most
popular issues of the year, catching the attention of successful businessman, Bernard Schwartz.
He and his wife Fern swooned over the house plans, and when news broke that the Blackbourns
had rejected the plans, they hopped in their car and drove to Wright’s office at Taliesin.
They excitedly told him that they would like to have the house built for themselves,
and Wright agreed to take them on as clients.
He offered several modified versions of the house plans, but Bernard and Fern wanted the house to be
built exactly as they had seen it in the magazine, only choosing to raise the ceiling height in the
living room and change out a handful of finishes to include red brick and red tidewater cypress.
Entering the home, you would arrive in the foyer, finished out with Cherokee red floors below red
brick walls and a red tidewater cypress ceiling. In his signature style, Wright incorporated low
ceilings and planned for a limited amount of lighting to create a dark, tight compression
of space before dramatically releasing the space. Continuing on, the space opens up,
placing the ceilings at double height as the stairs to the second floor sneak out of sight.
From here, we can turn around to see the living room glowing in a
red hue as sunlight hits the Cherokee red floors.
Wright played with lighting in this room, having it appear golden by night. And at sunrise,
sunlight interrupts the shadows with perfect parallelograms extending across the floor.
As we make our way through the living room, we will notice that the fireplace
is L shaped with two openings, each kept out of sight from eachother.
Rounding the brick chimney, we find it’s other opening cozied up to built in seating. We are now
in the library with floating bookshelves extending from the secondary strips of wall paneling.
We can now cut back across the living room towards the foyer and turn to the
left to find the Dining Room tucked away in its own corner of the house.
Wright used linear elements to make the space feel larger, exaggerating and emphasizing the
size on the vertical axis by wrapping the room in floating shelves perfectly flush
with the unique and geometric windows which he designed specifically for this house.
Across the foyer from the dining room was Bernard and Fern’s bedroom which
included a private terrace. While it was still somewhat uncommon for the time,
Wright included a full, private bathroom suite off the bedroom.
Upstairs, we will find a balcony overlooking the living room and begin exploring the
maid’s bedroom.
The maid’s room, though simple, contained plenty of multifunctional space for storage
and was flooded by natural light from floor to ceiling windows opening out onto a terrace.
Up here we will also find another full bathroom, though, if you notice,
the door opens into the toilet, a direct result from a later to change to the house plan.
Bernard and Fern loved their dream home and made the difficult decision to sell
it in their later years. Thankfully, the house has been cared for and well maintained by its
owners throughout the years. Today, though the house is privately owned,
it available for tours and can be rented out as a vacation rental.
When Frank Lloyd Wright reflected on his design for Life Magazine’s article,
he wrote, “American (I prefer to say Usonian) Family is unlike any other in
the world and I think this plan recognizes it for pretty much what it is- a little private
club – with special privacies, ultra conveniences and style all the while.”
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