Frank Lloyd Wright’s Florida College & Home Designs!

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Florida College & Home Designs!

Frank Lloyd Wright's Florida College & Home Designs!

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Though not as widely heralded as they should be, the State of Florida is honored to have two very special jewels of Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs. The circumstance that makes them so special, is that they were designed and constructed toward the end of his illustrious career and were a culmination of what he felt to be his best design elements. These are the only two properties in Florida designed, and construction supervised, by Mr Wright in his lifetime.

When two good minds have the same dream, that’s when the fireworks start. Sometimes the completion of the dream also leads to other things. That is what happened when Florida Southern College president, Ludd M. Spivey, wanted to increase his Depression Era enrollment and thought "a college of tomorrow" might be the key to encouraging potential students to enroll. At the same time in Wisconsin, Wright had been thinking that college campuses were architectural nightmares and wished he could design one his way. It was a fateful day when Spivey went to Wright’s Wisconsin office to inquire if Wright would be interested in designing his school campus. It was the right time, right place, and the deal was sealed on the spot. Wright immediately started designing. Today, that Methodist college in Lakeland, Florida, has one of the finest collections of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the country, worthy of Wright’s Cherokee red signature tile.

In 1950, when Wright was attending the World Federalist Conference at Florida Southern College, a couple walked up to him and said, "We have a lot of children and not much money," but we would like you to design a house for us. Wright agreed and first told them to find some land. Not a lot, mind you, but some land. George Lewis and his wife, Clifton, found five acres of beautiful land with a spring that fed into Lake Jackson on the outskirts of Tallahassee. Wright finished the plans for the passive solar "hemicycle," curved designed in 1952 and the house was completed in 1954. The couple raised their four children at "Spring House" and received many dignitaries there over the years. George died in 1996 and Clifton and others immediately formed the Spring House Institute, Inc., to preserve the historic property. Although Clifton died in 2014, donations to the Spring House Institute will preserve the home for the public to visit and appreciate well into the future.

Admirers of Frank Lloyd Wright worldwide can learn about Spring House and what they can do to take an active part in the restoration and preservation of Wright’s only Florida residential architecture, by following the link provided.

Photo credits: Stuart Rochford, Krystyn Pecora and Alan Spector.

Source: www.indiegogo.com