Frank Lloyd Wright's Neighborhood

Japanese art and culture, and a desire to bring the outdoors inside, heavily influenced Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie Style of architecture, which typically included wide, overhanging eaves, long horizontal lines, a central chimney, tall windows topped with bands of smaller windows, and low pitched roofs.

Nowhere is the Prairie Style more evident than in Oak Park, on Chicago's outskirts. Wright and his wife lived in the area from 1889 to 1909 and he built 25 structures there by 1913. His open, light-filled home and studio still draw approximately 100,000 admirers to the city, each year.

Although Wright's buildings can be seen in many places, from rural Pennsylvania (Fallingwater) to Phoenix (Taliesen West and Arizona State University), Spring Hill, Wisconsin (Taliesen), and New York City (the Guggenheim Museum), this is, by far, the greatest concentration of his architectural designs. Here, in a single afternoon, you can appreciate Wright's genius, imagination, and passion for his life's work.

Architectural Inspiration at Powell Gardens

My husband, Mark, and I revisited Powell Gardens in Kingsville, Mo., last summer, and stopped by the Marjorie Powell Allen Chapel for the first time since our daughters were in middle school (they're now 20-somethings). As soon as we stepped through the doors and looked towards the front of the quiet, peaceful non-denominational sanctuary, I remembered our older daughter declaring she would get married there.


The view of serene water through soaring windows, and natural wood, have also inspired me during each visit to the chapel. I've been a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural style since my teens and the architect of this beautiful structure, E. Fay Jones, was an apprentice to Wright.


After a few minutes, we finished our tour. A fountain rushed into a shallow pool near the chapel entrance as we returned to the steamy summer heat, where butterflies and bees ate from vibrant blooms that covered the gardens in a riot of color.