Frank Lloyd Wright: New UNESCO World Heritage Site

This weekend, a selection Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings joined the Unesco World Heritage List. The listing, named the 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, includes eight buildings across the United States: Unity Temple (Oak Park, IL) Robie House (Chicago, IL) Taliesin (Spring Green, WI) Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House (Madison, WI) Fallingwater (Mill Run, PA) Hollyhock House (Los Angeles,… Read More Frank Lloyd Wright: New UNESCO World Heritage Site

July 8, 2019July 7, 2019 Susie2 Comments

Landscape Design Meets National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park is located in southern Utah and is notable for stunning landscapes. The Park sits along the rim of a steep-edged valley that drops away to reveal a maze of sunset-toned hoodoos, ridges and nobs of rock that form an alien and endlessly interesting landscape. Trails zigzag down into to the… Read More Landscape Design Meets National Park

May 14, 2018November 18, 2018 Susie8 Comments

A Century Ago on First Street

I started off my summer with a road trip from Seattle to Chicago and featured my favorite roadside motel in July. So now that it’s Labor Day and summer is winding down, it’s only fitting to share this little gas station I stopped to visit on my trip to Reno/Tahoe last week. Rocovits’ Gas… Read More A Century Ago on First Street

September 4, 2017September 3, 2017 Susie7 Comments

Vikingsholm: Tahoe’s Piece of Scandinavia

Tucked close to the water between steep granite slopes and the azure water of Lake Tahoe is a 1929 Scandinavian estate known as Vikingsholm. The wood and stone castle-like summer home was commissioned by millionaire Lora Josephine Knight. The estate sits within Tahoe’s picturesque Emerald Bay, which reminded Knight of the Scandinavian fjords. Although… Read More Vikingsholm: Tahoe’s Piece of Scandinavia

August 28, 2017August 28, 2017 Susie4 Comments

Spotted: Joseph Lyman Silsbee in Lincoln Park

I came across this cottage-like building on a walk through Lincoln Park recently and ventured over for a closer look. Turns out this modest cottage packs a punch: not only was it built in 1888, it was designed by Joseph Lyman Silsbee. Silsbee designed a wealth of buildings in Chicago and beyond but… Read More Spotted: Joseph Lyman Silsbee in Lincoln Park

August 21, 2017August 20, 2017 Susie12 Comments

If You Ask Frank Lloyd Wright for Tudor Revival

If nothing else, Frank Lloyd Wright is known for his role in creating the Prairie style. His house designs, particularly the later ones, all have similar look to them: horizontal lines, overhangs, hidden entrances. By the end of his career, it was these designs for which people flocked to Frank Lloyd Wright. But in… Read More If You Ask Frank Lloyd Wright for Tudor Revival

August 14, 2017August 14, 2017 Susie9 Comments

Chicago’s Water Tower: Five Facts

The Chicago Water Tower is a welcome, Gothic Revival surprise amidst the towering glass skyscrapers of Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. The building was completed in 1869 and has the appearance of a sandcastle with its yellow-toned, turreted design. The Water Tower and accompanying pumping station located across Michigan Avenue are not only unique physically but have… Read More Chicago’s Water Tower: Five Facts

August 7, 2017August 6, 2017 Susie5 Comments

Searching for Paul Revere Williams in Reno, Nevada

On one of my recent visits to Reno, Nevada, I put aside a morning to visit all the Paul Revere Williams buildings I could find. Williams (1894-1980) is best known for his work in Los Angeles, where he designed hundreds of private and commercial buildings and became an architect for Hollywood, including celebrities like Frank… Read More Searching for Paul Revere Williams in Reno, Nevada

July 31, 2017July 30, 2017 Susie3 Comments

Hemingway: the House Behind the House Museum

House museums have a bad rapport in the preservation community, where creativity, adaptive reuse, and sustainability are key. The main concern: will enough people visit them to keep them running? Does anyone really like house museums? At least for the great people in American history, the answer seems to be yes. The Frank Lloyd… Read More Hemingway: the House Behind the House Museum

July 24, 2017July 23, 2017 Susie6 Comments

Reno’s Mission Revival Quartet of Schools

McKinley Park School is a recognizable feature to those who frequent Reno’s riverwalk. The Mission Revival beauty sits just west of Wingfield Park, with its central tower and two welcoming wings facing the Truckee River. McKinley Park School, built in 1909, is one of a quartet of Mission Revival style schools in Reno from the… Read More Reno’s Mission Revival Quartet of Schools

July 17, 2017July 16, 2017 Susie9 Comments