Arkansas' Crystal Bridges Loves Frank

"I have been standing on the side of life, watching it float by. I want to swim in the river. I want to feel the current."

        So writes Mamah Borthwick Cheney in her diary as she struggles to justify her clandestine love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright. Four years earlier, in 1903, Mamah and her husband, Edwin, had commissioned the renowned architect to design a new home for them. During the construction of the house, a powerful attraction developed between Mamah and Frank, and in time the lovers, each married with children, embarked on a course that would shock Chicago society and forever change their lives. 

Prior to retirement in 2012, I participated with a Book Club that read fascinating books. This is one. In a one sentence review, I commented, "Hide your eyes to the stark realities, if you must, but read every word."

             Architecture as an art form is a concept I appreciate. Attracted to the Mission Style, the clean lines of Stickley Furniture and FLW inspired design-lighting, that architecture holds appeal. Such was the case of architecture in the early 1900's in America. I remember learning about and liking FLW designs while in Art class at Henderson State University.

Light Fixture in the WYOMING WELCOME CENTER

            I am looking forward to Fall-2015 when the FLW House will open to the public at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.  The Bachman-Wilson House that was originally built in 1954 by FLW was endangered because of its location near a flood-prone river tributary in New Jersey. It had been flooded and repaired too many times.

LAMP in Wyoming Welcome Center

    After years of pursuing the best option for the house, the couple who owned the house and lived in it for 25 years sold it to Crystal Bridges.

Now,the house has been purchased, disassembled, moved to Arkansas (in 2013), and is being rebuilt/reassembled so that it overlooks the Crystal Spring that runs through the Bentonville property.

It's exciting to plan a visit to Crystal Springs mid-summer and again in the Fall.