Loving Frank

“It was either an outrageous aberration or a stroke of brilliance, depending upon how you felt about its architect, Frank Lloyd Wright.”

Frank Lloyd Wright is a controversial architect, and it takes time for the public to appreciate his work—especially given his affair with translator Mamah. Mamah is drawn to his unorthodox style, seeing herself in his willingness to think outside the box.

“Well, Sullivan was a marvelous teacher, and I was the pencil in his hand. He was continually talking about making American buildings. By the time I left him to start my own practice, I was bent on doing something new—making houses that speak of this prairie land rather than some French duke’s notion of what a house should look like.”

Frank envisions a different kind of American architecture than his classically trained contemporaries. For him, the key to his style is a marriage with nature, in which one can move between an interior building and its exterior near seamlessly.

“I couldn’t think of anything more noble than making a beautiful home. Still can’t.”

Frank looks to bring people together by creating unique designs. However, he is criticized for his commitment to the home after leaving his wife, Catherine, and living with Mamah. To him, the home is a space where he finds healing, which is especially evident when he builds a new Taliesin after Mamah’s death.