In The Beginning, There Was Man-Venture

In search of Usonia, Luke Stern and I set out on a six-week, 18,000km road trip in May and June of 2008.

Significant organized visits included:

-Los Angeles: Hollyhock, Freeman and Ennis Residences, as well as Eric Wright's home under construction, and meetings with Martin Weil, an FLW restoration architect and Melvin Green, an FLW restoration engineer
-Palo Alto, CA: Hanna Residence
-Bartlesville, OK: Price Tower
-Florence, AL: Rosenbaum Residence
-Washington, DC: Pope Residence
-Western Pennsylvania: Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob
-Detroit: Turkel Residence
-Okemos, MI: Goetsch/Winckler Residence
-Chicago: Robie House
-Racine, WI: Johnson Wax Headquarters
-Madison, WI: Jacobs I and Jacobs II Residences
-Two Rivers, WI: Schwartz Residence

We were also able to informally view the exterior of an equal number of additional FLW buildings, including the fabulous Price Residence in Paradise Valley, AZ; the dramatically cantilevered Sturges Residence in Brentwood, CA; the elegant Millard Residence in Pasadena, CA; the Affleck and Smith Residences in Bloomfield Hills, MI; the Galesburg and Parkwyn communities in suburban Lansing, MI; a series of American System Built homes in Milwaukee, and a pair of Erdman Pre-fabricated designed by Wright in Madison, WI.

A review of our travel blog is a recommended first stop, as it provides the experiential context for this project. Specific "Usonian" locations featured on the blog include:

Taliesin West, Scottsdale AZLykes, Adelman and Boomer Residences, Paradise Valley AZ
Jester Residence (at Taliesin West), Scottsdale AZ
Freeman and Hollyhock Residences, Los Angeles CA
Price Tower, Bartlesville OK
Rosenbaum Residence, Florence AL
Kentuck Knob, Mill Run PA
Weltzheimer-Johnson Residence, Oberlin OH
Goetsch-Winckler Residence, Okemos MI
Johnson Wax Headquarters, Racine WI
Taliesin, Spring Green WI