Experience a Prairie residence exactly as Frank Lloyd Wright intended when the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust takes a day trip from Chicago to Grand Rapids, Mich. to visit the restored Meyer May House, plus a private home designed in Wright's studio and more.
The excursion, A Michigan Masterpiece and More, is part of the Trust's Wright in the Region day tour program. It departs 7 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, from The Rookery Building, 209 S. LaSalle St., Chicago. For more information, visit flwright.org/grandrapids. Transportation is a luxury coach bus. Lunch and snacks are included.
Considered Michigan's Prairie masterpiece, the Meyer May House was completed in 1909, when Frank Lloyd Wright was at the height of his career, designing and building homes with distinctive characteristics that became known as Prairie style. The Meyer May House interior is noteworthy for its combination of leaded glass and electric lighting, which creates an ever-changing effect of colors and light throughout the day and into the night. A mural by George Niedecken greets guests in the entrance hall.
Current owners of the neighboring J.H. Amberg House — commissioned to Wright's studio and designed in 1909 by his assistants, Marion Mahony and Herman Von Holst — will open their home for a private tour.
The tour will stop for lunch at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, followed by a guided tram tour and visit to the special exhibition,Rodin and the Contemporary Figurative Tradition.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust is a leading national Frank Lloyd Wright nonprofit organization based in Chicago, where the largest number of original Wright sites is located. Dedicated to preservation and interpretation of Wright's design legacy, the Trust operates public tours at five Chicago area sites and offers both in-school and on-site programs for youth, families and adults. Owner, operator and preservation steward of Wright's Oak Park Home and Studio ( 1889/1898 ), where Wright established his career and created the Prairie-style of architecture, the Trust also operates the iconic Frederick C. Robie House ( 1908-10 ) in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood, and offers public tours and programs at Unity Temple ( 1905-08 ) in Oak Park, The Rookery Light Court ( 1905 ) in the Chicago Loop and Emil Bach House ( 1915 ) in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood. For more information, visit flwright.org .