The Robie House

It was a rainy day on my recent visit to Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House.  It was built between 1909-1910 for the Frederick C. Robie family.  The house is located in the Hyde Park Neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois.  The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973 and was recently listed on the World Heritage List in 2019.  The original budget was $60,000 and Wright was about to come in under budget at $58,000 including the land the design services, the home and even the furniture.

The Robie House is considered the finest example of Wright's Prairie Style Architecture.

The Robie house utilizes a long slender "Roman brick" and two colors of mortar to help accentuate the horizontal lines of the house.

Our tour started in the garage which has been converted to the office/gift shop.  The large overhangs were great for keeping us mostly dry in the rain.  Note the roof drains working - this one drains into a metal lined planter above the garage doors.  Wright didn't want any vertical rain gutters.

This was a back stair near the garage that went up to the staff quarters.  The large overhand also had a opening that might provide some interesting light if it wasn't raining.

Up the back stairs was the staff and delivery entrance.

Our "rainy day tour" led us to the upper porch which is normally off limits to the public.  I was surprised to come across this glass block skylight to a room below the porch.  Our tour guide shared that Wright skirted around the neighborhood set-back regulations by calling this a porch and not part of the house. The porch is just off the second floor living room and offers great views of the neighborhood.  

This is the angled bay window of the second floor living room.  The Robie house underwent an extensive $10.5 million exterior restorations in 2019 and a $3.5 million dollar interior restoration. Current restoration is being complete in the kitchen, so that area was off limits.

The leaded glass in the front door was recently rebuilt using photos and the original plans as a guide.  The original door was damaged during anti-Vietnam protests.  Note the built-in bench and radiator cover.  This photo by James Caulfield, Frank Lloyd Trust.

The light fixtures are designed to project shadows that mimic the pattern used in the stained glass. All of the light fixtures have been restored to the original design, a lot of which were a bare Edison bulb.

A view of the main stairs - our tour guide said that this arch in the ceiling was the only curve in the house.  The lower level floors are made from a product called magnesite. 

Just off the entry was the billiard room.  

Here is a detail of the magnesite floors with an inlaid border and custom rugs.

The billiard room contains a few built-in shelves and a vault.

The other main room on the lower level was the children's play room.  Both the billiard room and play room had matching doors off the entrance hall.

I came across a historic photo of the billiard room (the vault is behind the curtain)

Here is a historic photo of the play room - is that a dollhouse?  The fireplace and built-in seat are scaled down since this space is designed for children.

The stairs enter a large open plan space on the second level between the living room and the dining room.  An open plan was new and unheard of in 1910.  

This is the landing at the top of the stairs (standing in the living room looking towards the dining room) The floors on this level are oak.  Note the stairs to the third floor.

The area at the top of the stairs had some great built-in cabinets.

Here is a closer view of the light fixture above the area at the top of the stairs.

The stairs are located behind the fireplace which separates the living room and dining room.

Here is a historic look at the same fireplace

Here is a view of the space today.  This photo is from Dwell.

This view of the living room faces the street and has doors on each side to the front porch.

This photo is from Jame Caulfied Frank Lloyd Trust and was featured in House and Garden UK

This a view of the living room/dining room wall that runs the length of the space.  

This photo is from AD.

The dining room has a large buffet that was reconstructed during the restoration.

Note the butler's pantry on the right and the stair hall on the left.

Here is a historic photo of the dining room and original furniture - note the built-in light fixtures at each corner of the table so that nothing would have to be hung from the ceiling.

A view of the dining room looking toward the living room over the stairs.

Here is a peek of the butler's pantry from the dining room.

The kitchen is currently closed for restoration, but I found a historic photo of it online.

This is the top of the stairs at the third floor.  

Note the built-in child gate as the Robie family had toddlers.

The main bedroom is at the top of the stairs and had some original chairs on display.  

Here is a view of the fireplace.

The bedroom features built-in drawers and radiator covers.

This is the ensuite bathroom in the main bedroom. 

Both the bedroom and the bathroom have vaulted ceilings.

Here is another view of the original shower.

The third floor has another bathroom in the corridor to serve the other bedrooms.

Here is one of the other bedrooms on the third floor.

You can see the low slope tile roof from a bedroom window.

There was a master light switch at the top of the stairs so that all the lights could be turned off without having to go downstairs and check!  Note the texture of the plaster walls.

Here is a view of one of the other bedrooms.

The last bedroom had some of the original furniture.

Note the exposed Edison light bulbs.

Here is a close-up view of one of the billiard room windows.  

The Robie house contains 175 art glass windows

Sadly the Robie family only lived in the house about a year.  The home was sold again in 1911 to David Lee Taylor who died shortly after the purchase.  The house was then sold to the Wilber family in 1912.  They lived there until 1926 when the residence was sold to the Chicago Theological Seminary.  The seminary announced plans to demo the house a couple of times and finally sold it to a firm in 1958 who donated it to the University of Chicago in 1962

A George Niedecken rendering of the living room from 1909 before the house was built

Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle

On a recent trip to Chicago, I had the opportunity to visit Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle.  The Fairy Castle is located at the Museum of Science and Industry behind a plexiglass case.  This masterpiece was the creation of Colleen Moore, a silent movie star during the Hollywood's early days.  The structure is made from aluminum and is 1:12 scale.  The tallest tower stands nine feet tall and the whole structure weighs approximately one ton. The castle measures 10'-3" X 7'-11".

The project took 7 years to build between 1928-1935.  More than 100 craftsman were hired to work on the castle which includes working water spigots and electric lights.  Colleen spared no expense and hired architects, interior designers, engineers and even scene and lighting designers from movie studios.  She spent over five hundred thousand dollars to complete the project (in the 1920's)

Each room and section of the castle are built as separate sections so that they can be unassembled and put back together.  Once the house was complete, it toured the country.  Tickets were sold to raise money for children's charities.  (see the attached video link at the end of the post)

The library measures 2'-3" X 3'-3" The small dictionary on the stand in the middle of the nautical themed library, was a gift to Colleen from her father and started her love for tiny things.  The library's shelves are filled with miniature books from famous authors of the time. The most valuable book in the library is an autograph book which contains autographs of some of the most famous people in the world including six American presidents, Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth, and other world leaders.  It is also signed by Frank Lloyd Wright, JP Morgan, Henry Ford, Eleanor Roosevelt, and many more.

The chapel measures 2'-6" X 4'

Note the metal grill below and to the left on the second level.  It represents Ali Baba and his Forty Thieves treasure trove.  It is filled with make-believe treasure.

The chapel floor is made from inlaid ivory, and the chapel features real stained glass and an alter made of gold.  There is also a "bust of the pope, which is actually a seal that belonged to Pope Pius IX which Colleen won in an auction.

The Great Hall measures 3'-6" X 4'-3"

Moore inside the Great Hall.

The great hall serves as the formal entrance and also an art gallery/museum.  This floor is also made from etched ivory tiles and the walls and ceilings adorned with fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm.  The hall features a Gothic vaulted ceiling and a dramatic staircase that floats to the upper regions of the castle.  Art pieces include real ancient Egyptian statues, Greek and Syrian pieces and antique miniature Chinese vases.  There is also a painting of Mickey and Minnie Mouse - a gift from Walt Disney.

The Prince's bedroom (top) and the Drawing Room (below)  The Drawing Room features a chandelier made from Moore's own diamond and emerald jewelry and the floor is made from rose quartz tiles and borders made from jade.

The Prince's bedroom is painted Russian blue.  The furniture includes Russian motifs and Japanese chests inlaid with precious metals.  The polar bear rug features real fur and mouse teeth.

A detail of the Prince's bathroom showing the translucent alabaster tub and wall panels.

The dining room design is based on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.  The table service is gold.  The plates were a gift from her parents and the cutlery was from her brother and are engraved with Moore's monogram.  The Wine glasses are over 100 years old.  The tapestries were commissioned from a master needleworker in Vienna.

The Princess' bedroom has a mother of peal inlaid floor and the pale pink walls are adorned with scenes from Peter Pan. The Sleeping Beauty themed bed is made from gold and features bedding with a spiderweb theme - a reference to her long slumber.    The attic above contains miniature items that were donated but didn't find a place in the other parts of the castle.

The princess' bathroom is themed with a sea nymph and decorated in crystal and silver.  The stairs to the working tub contain decanters of perfume and scented oil. 

The kitchen is 2'-3" X 1'-9" and features a loft for storage.  The walls of the kitchen are adorned with images of Jack & Jill, The Lazy Grasshopper, The Three Little Pigs, and Humpty Dumpty.  There is a tiny purple glass on the table that is the sole surviving piece from Moore's first dollhouse.  The Royal Doulton dinner service that is an exact copy of the set made for Queen Mary's Dollhouse.  The table legs are painted to look like the king and queen of hearts.  The kitchen features miniature three blind mice and a copper stove reminiscent of Hansel and Gretel.

As a side note, another display in the museum featured this working vintage plastic molding machine.  The machine injects melted plastic into a two sided mold.  A blast of air removes and cools the plastic as the aluminum plates part and drop out a toy. They change the dies out to make different toys.  One of the past toys, (in green) was Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle.

I added some details to this blog from these books in my personal collection.  The white hardback book is undated, the full color book in the center contains many details and stories and was produced in 1997 and the blue pamphlet on the right is from tour of the house and was published in 1935.

Checking another item off my bucket list!

Here is a video about the restoration that took place a few years ago: