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Course: The Metropolitan Museum of Art > Unit 1

Lesson 5: Family and community

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Wright, Living room from the Little House, Wayzata, Minnesota

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Met curator Amelia Peck on modern living in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Living room from the Little House, Wayzata, Minnesota, 1912–15.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Room was originally the living room of the summer residence of Frances W. Little, designed and built between 1912 and 1914 in Wayzata, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The room epitomizes Wright's concept of "organic architecture," in which the building, setting, interior, and furnishings are inextricably related. The house is composed of a group of low pavilions interspersed with gardens and terraces, which, in plan, radiate from a central symbolic hearth. The Frank Lloyd Wright Room also exemplifies one of Wright's most important contributions to modern architecture: the idea of spatial continuity. Low overhanging roofs and geometric window "grilles" with stylized plant motifs once linked the interior visually and spatially to the wooded site overlooking Lake Minnetonka. The living room itself is not merely a single, enclosed volume but a series of horizontal levels surrounded by glass, which allows the interplay of natural light and the rich, earthy tones that Wright employed throughout the room.

This room achieves tonal harmony through the combination of ocher plaster walls, natural oak trim and flooring, the use of the exterior reddish brown bricks for the fireplace, and leaded windows with an electroplated copper finish. The bold forms of the oak furniture were likewise conceived as an integral part of the composition. The center of the room is empty and furniture groupings enliven the peripheral space. Many of the accessories are similar to those original to the room, and others recall objects that appear in period photographs. The use of Japanese prints and natural flower arrangements are characteristic Wright touches.

View this work on metmuseum.org.

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Emile
Posted 9 years ago. Direct link to Emile's post “Was the piano a standerd ...”
Was the piano a standerd piano or one designed by Wright as well, like the other furniture?
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cliftoo
Posted 8 years ago. Direct link to cliftoo's post “Can anyone tell me the ba...”
Can anyone tell me the background story to this? How did this room come to be at the Met? What happened to the rest of the house?
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(1 vote)
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trek
Posted 9 years ago. Direct link to trek's post “Where would the piano hav...”
Where would the piano have been placed?
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- Rebecca Fitzgerald
  Posted 9 years ago. Direct link to Rebecca Fitzgerald's post “Most likely not to far fr...”
  Most likely not to far from the window, so around the center of the room.
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  (1 vote)

Video transcript

The Frank Lloyd Wright living room was built overlooking Lake Minnetonka, outside of Minneapolis. From the window you would see a distant view of the lake and lots of sky. The room is so permeable that you are almost outdoors, while you feel protected and safe, you almost are in a large tent in the woods. This was sort of my first step into Modernism, which after this I began to appreciate more and more. Wright had gone to Europe; his designs became simpler. The chairs and the tables have no moldings, they tend to be a lighter wood. It’s using very much just the vocabulary of line, rather than the vocabulary of naturalistic forms. This is the only room, I would believe in the period rooms, that actually had electricity. There’s this technological change that’s happening. Mrs. Little was trained as a pianist in Cologne, was apparently quite good, and wanted to use this room for dual purposes: both to have the family live there and use it and enjoy it, but her piano was firmly planned as part of the room. She always meant to be able to give small concerts. Although it’s probably about fourteen feet high, it comes off as low, horizontal room. You’re both in a space that feels comfortable, but at the same time feels very grand. Wright is working with piercing every wall and trying to get light from all directions. A lot of people do think that the skylight is the sky. It isn’t a skylight, it’s a light fixture. He intentionally made the living room, a free-standing pavilion. The most important room in the house, is gonna be its own structure. It’s a country house, you’re there to relax, and the space somehow transmits that. It is a room that engenders great relaxation, great calmness, great peace. I don’t think there’s any other room that I know that makes me feel quite like this. This is a work of art meant to be lived in.