6 Frank Lloyd Wright Must-See Buildings

Imaginations soar effortlessly on a tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Wingspread. One by one, visitors walk up a tightly coiled spiral staircase and  pop their head into a glass-enclosed lookout. They see the rolling and woodsy Racine, Wisconsin, property, but Wright designed the crow’s nest so that the son of SC Johnson president H.F. Johnson could watch his dad fly over on his way home from his travels.

Inspired, occasionally personal, details like this crow’s nest show up throughout Wisconsin-born Wright’s portfolio of about 500 structures, a good portion of which still stand in the Midwest. His signature Prairie School architectural style aims to create harmony between a building and its natural surroundings. Take Taliesin, his 1911 estate in Spring Green, Wisconsin, built with native yellow limestone and cypress wood and topped with slanted roofs to resemble the slope of the surrounding hills.

But concealed beyond his style’s harmonious exteriors are elements of discord. They come to life in stories of murder, affairs and Wright’s larger-than-life ego on tours of the six following structures, which provide insightful glimpses into the man who was as one of a kind as the buildings he crafted.

Fires twice consumed the residence on this 800-acre estate: one caused by an electrical problem and the other by a disgruntled employee who set the house ablaze, killing Wright’s mistress and six others. But the third iteration still stands. Overlooking the Wyoming Valley, the orientation of the 37,000-square-foot home results in sun streaming into every room at various points of the day. Wright lived and worked here for 48 years while experimenting with design principles in the Hillside Studio, where a group of architecture students carry on his work.

If you go Guides lead tours between May 1 and October 31. We recommend the two-hour Highlights Tour ($62), covering the home and studio, plus exteriors of the cathedrallike Midway Barn and 1896 Romeo and Juliet Windmill (the oldest Wright structure in Wisconsin). taliesinpreservation.org

In the hall shape, lobby tile pattern, pew placement and other elements, triangular forms subtly speak to the Unitarians’ philosophy of unity and equality. Wright draws eyes to the heavens with a swooping ceiling, which resembles, as he says, “the wings of a bird in flight.”

If you go Take a guided tour at 10 a.m. or 2:30 p.m. on summer weekdays. For more information on tours, see fusmadison.org

From the sky, the largest single-family home Wright designed looks like a four-bladed windmill. Long, narrow hallways extend from the two-story living room, warmed by a fireplace of Cherokee-red bricks (his favorite color). On an overnight stay, Wright awoke at 5 a.m. to haul all of the home’s original furniture and artwork out of a storage room to replace the new accents and adornments that owner H.F. Johnson’s wife had added. He was never invited back.

If you go After a short film about the history of the home and the tense relationship between Wright and Johnson, explore the gardens and home visited by VIPs like Eleanor Roosevelt. scjohnson.com

With soaring arches and curvy forms, Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center sprawls out like a rounded buffer between Lake Monona and downtown Madison. Wright and the city struggled to agree on the building’s function (he wanted a place for great minds to discuss pressing issues; the city wanted a transportation and governmental hub). In fact, 60 years passed between his design submission and the structure’s completion (in 1997, 38 years after his death). A 2014 renovation includes touches honoring Wright’s style, including leaf-pattern carpeting in his favorite autumn palette of reds, oranges, russets and golden tans.

If you go Visit the free Beyond the Drawing Board exhibit to learn more about his commitment to finishing this project. Then head to the rooftop Lake Vista Cafe to toast his efforts with crab cakes and beer. Guided tours of the building ($5) are also available. mononaterrace.com

Because of Wright’s physical legacy here, the town of Oak Park claims fame as the birthplace of Prairie School architecture. His 1889 home contains early evidence of the style, including his experiments with ribbons of windows. One element you won’t find in any of his other buildings: the two-story children’s playroom with vaulted ceilings and a skylight that causes sunlight to dance across the oak floor.

If you go Multiple tour options are available, including guided tours of the home and tours that combine the Oak Park Home and Studio with other Wright-designed properties. flwright.org

The architect was reluctant to design two buildings on the SC Johnson campus downtown because he liked to set his work in nature. But he reached a compromise with the CEO by building nature indoors. A forest of dendriform (treelike) support columns steals the show in the Administration Building. Windows and ceilings made from more than 43 miles of Pyrex glass tubing allow the sun to shine in while distorting the view of the industrial campus outside.

If you go Free 90-minute tours lead you through a Willy Wonka-like world of underground hallways to the Administration Building and the 15-level Research Tower (also designed by Wright), where scientists developed products like Raid, Glade and Pledge. Check the website for tour dates. scjohnson.com

The Wright Around Chicago tour visits some of the Windy City’s most famous Wright buildings. The bus tour starts at downtown’s Rookery, home to a two-story lobby he remodeled in 1905 that glistens with gilded white carrara marble. It continues at the Unity Temple in Oak Park, Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park and the Frederick C. Robie House. A gourmet lunch at Winberie’s (housed in a Prairie-style building in Oak Park) is included. The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust conducts the seven-hour tours, which depart at 9 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from June through October ($150). cal.flwright.org/tours/WACbustour