On our way to my old hometown of Independence (Iowa) to take the Underground Independence tour, we visited Cedar Rock, the Frank Lloyd Wright house in Quasqueton, Iowa. I had always known that this example of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian homes was near my old hometown, but I only became aware of the specifics of its location when driving to Independence for the “Mini Reunion” mentioned in a previous post.
Kitchen at Cedar Rock.
The owners of the Quasqueton house wanted Cedar Rock to be a retirement home, with their winters being spent in Des Moines, where Lowell and Agnes Walter lived and where Lowell had offices for his company, the Iowa Road Building Company. The Walters sold their road building company in 1944; they owned the patent on a chemical that helped keep the dust down on country roads. The family invested profits into Buchanan County land and owned 17 farms and 3,800 acres of land. The building site for Cedar Rock was 11.5 acres, The Kucharo Construction Company of Des Moines were general contractors and builders for the site. Budgeted amount was initially $50,000 in 1945, but it is estimated that it ultimately cost $120,000 to $150,000 to build the house, which was completed in 1950.
The Walters wrote to Wright on January 25, 1945, and asked if he would design this home for them. Even then, they had the idea of deeding it to the state, as has been done.
Wright obviously agreed and used materials he is known for, including glass and concrete. The design called for 17 tons of reinforced concrete. The roof would be flat, like many of Wright’s designs.
Wright also designed the furniture within the house. On the exterior of the house appears a red tile, which was Wright’s seal of approval, stating that the house had been completed to his specifications. Of the 10 Frank Lloyd Wright structures in Iowa, Cedar Rock is the only signed one. (Other Wright structures in Iowa are the Stockman residence in 1908 in Mason City; the National Bank & Park Inn Hotel in 1909 in Mason City; the Miller residence in 1946 in Charles City; the Meier residence in 1917 in Monona; the Sunday residence in 1955 in Marshalltown; the Grant residence in 1946 in Marion; the Alsop residence in 1948 in Oskaloosa; the Lamberson residence in 1948 in Oskaloose; and Cedar Rock (1948) in Quasqueton.)
Living room at Cedar Rock.
The Cedar Rock house also has a boathouse that has the ability to sleep inside it, which most do not have. The house and the boathouse are both situated high above the Wapsi Pinicon River, which, according to the guidebook, was a place that many selected for picnics and swimming and had indigenous importance. The architecture is of such major national significance that Cedar Rock was accepted for nomination prior to the buildings being 50 years old, by notable two-time exception of the National Parks Service. (Only a few sites with this distinction are listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2 listings prior to meeting the age pre-requisite.) The building design is Wright’s only executed design of its particular type and construction: solid brick masonry and cast-in-place concrete used structurally and three-dimensionally, with lots of red brick. It is the only Wright design in which concern for treating a site already of historical importance, significant to indigenous American history, influenced Wright’s design and placement of the buildings. It is said that the layout of the house is like a tadpole. William Wesley Peters and John deKoven Hill, two of Wright’s most trusted students from the Taliesin School of Architecture, oversaw the building of the Cedar Rock house.
Dining area with inter-locking table(s).
Among characteristics of the house that are known to appear in Frank Lloyd Wright homes, the entrance is dark, but opens to a very light room with sky lights helping bring nature into the space. The bathrooms were very small and the design of the movable sink, which swiveled, was odd. (We were told it was not Wright’s bathroom design, however.)
The bedrooms were very small and the hallway that led past the bedrooms were dark, with built-in cabinetry. However, Wright did not believe in having basements or garages or attics. He also nixed the use of an attached garage and the family had a car port, instead, with a small house that they lived in during construction later being moved to the perimeter of the site and used for housing cars. There was also a maid’s quarters, although the couple did not employ a maid.
The entire house seemed very small and it didn’t look like there would be much of an opportunity to escape from each other to any rooms within the structure. In the original letter to Wright, the letter suggested 30’ x 60.’ The closet space was sorely lacking. The bathroom and hallway outside it were less than optimal and very small.
On a positive note, the tables that Wright designed that were made to fit together were quite ingenious. Also, the overall site on the river is unique and beautiful, with a winding road leading up to the house through gorgeous trees.
Wright designed more than 1,000 structures over 70 years. He lived from 1867 to 1959, so Cedar Rock was near the end of Wright’s career, as it was only 9 years before he died.
I had the opportunity to play the Steinway piano in the living room of Cedar Rock, which was unique.
Although most of us are aware of the significance of Frank Lloyd Wright in architecture, the tragedies of his life included two divorces, an intentionally set fire tat led to the murders of 7 people, including Wright’s mistress, Mamah Cheney, her two children, studio and site employees, and the carpenter’s son by an ax-wielding handyman, Julian Carlton. Wright continued to be plagued, years later, by a second fire ignited by a lightning strike and lifelong financial struggles.
While taking in “Tommy: The Rock Opera” on my birthday, I became aware that “M.J.: The Musical” would be opening soon at the Niederlander Theater (formerly the Oriental Theater) on Aug. 1st and running only until September 3rd.
I secured tickets to the musical online and it said we were in Row B to the right side of the stage in the Orchestra section. It turned out that Row B was actually the first row and the musicians were playing almost directly beneath us, which means that we had an unobstructed view and our seats actually vibrated to the beat and pulse of all of the Michael Jackson hits through the years.
All of the actors were fantastic. It sometimes became a wee bit confusing to have multiple actors playing the same role and to have one actor portraying two parts simultaneously. For instance, the very talented actress playing Michael Jackson’s mother held down a couple of roles, as did the burly gentleman portraying Joseph Johnson, who had a great voice.
It was a wonderful uplifting play, if slanted to highlight only the positive P.R. of Michael Jackson.
The party included son Scott and wife Jessica and my twin granddaughters, Ava and Elise, age 14. Among other things, we’re celebrating my birthday on 7/23.
My surgeon on August 7th suggested a Ki67 test, which would have determined the aggressiveness of the tumor and might perhaps given me some peace of mind. I asked the oncologist about it repeatedly through the patient portal. No dice.
We went out on the Mississippi River on the Celebration Belle Riverboat tonight, with old friends (and my husband’s classmates) Bob and Judy DeJonghe and Bob and Marvis Hafner.
I spent a day or so wondering what to wear. Remembering the bad weather that I encountered with my parents decades ago and the fact that the A/C inside can get cool, I settled on a new outfit from the Four Seasons that had a matching light blue sweater. The store, my favorite, had sent me a coupon for my 7/23 birthday to purchase one item at half price, and, when I drove over to select it, learned that they were having a truly great sale of summer items. Since we spend the winter in Texas, summer weight is year-round weight. When I learned that if you bought 2 items that had been marked down twice, you got an additional 40% off the sale saved me $182.33 on my final bill. I’m all set for celebrating this weekend in Chicago with the family gathering from Texas, hitting a Cubs game, a play at the Goodman Theater, and the Signature Room atop the Hancock Building. Can’t wait!
A discussion broke out concerning “our song.” Judy said that “A Summer Place” was their song. I managed to tear a piece of paper off an envelope, write a phonetic pronunciation of “DeYoung”, and give the D.J. a request that he play the song and announce the 57th wedding anniversary of our host couple, Bob and Judy DeJonghe. I have always remembered their anniversary, because it occurred on my birthday, although I did not know Bob and Judy at the time. (My spouse was in the wedding party, as was the other male member of this unholy trio, Bob Hafner).
Still, it was a lovely idea to have this “celebration’ and I’d like to thank Bob (DeJonghe) for his efforts in thinking this up and getting all of us, including the just-out-of-the-hospital Bob Hafner, onboard.
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The last 3 games against the Wisconsin team Elise’s team won, which was nice.
The weather here has been very smoky due to the wild fires burning in Canada. There is rain predicted for tomorrow and that may carry the smoke out of the area. Everything is gearing up for the NASCAR race that will put cars on Columbus and Lake Shore Drive and Roosevelt and other Chicago city streets for a race that will see the cars traveling 120 mph through the streets of the city. Much of this race goes on near me, so, as you can imagine, getting around during this preparation is chaotic.