Samara, The John and Catherine Christian House — Attraction in West Lafayette

Amazing we have a FLW house in West Lafayette! This one is well-maintained and very closely preserves the original layout, making it a fascinating look at Wright's intent for the interior space that other houses often lose as furniture and other elements are moved/removed/updated. The main lounge in this one is uncharacteristically colorful for a Wright design, but makes it feel a lot more playful/warm than his houses with more restricted color palettes imo. The exterior is nice, but honestly underwhelming compared to his other designs. The fascia, while oxidized green, is beautiful, and is my favorite part of the exterior. The rest is very subdued, with deeply recessed main windows and large overhang casting shadows over a large portion and walls which block line-of-sight into many of the windows from the surrounding ground (it is built on a hill). Most of the visible portion is uniform red brick. It's amazing how such a dark looking exterior has such a bright interior. Though not as spectacular as many of his other designs with more prominent/spectacular main windows, this exterior seems to allow for more privacy without sacrificing the feel of the living space, and would honestly seem preferable for everyday living. The rest of the house features the classic narrow passageways and cramped secondary rooms to funnel people out to the shared main space. The main bedroom, however, feels open and spaceous to me, and has a lot more of a typical Wright color palette which, while not as fun as the main lounge, is more calming. The dining room is near the lounge and feels like an extension of it, in theme and proximity. This was one of my favorite Wright houses to tour, in part due to its unique and vibrant lounge space and in large part due to the caretakers' dedication to preserving it in its...

Highly interactive, detailed, and engaging tour of a Usonian home. Guests are encouraged to ask questions, lounge in the living room, and learn about Wright's design process as well as how that intersected with the budgetary limitations of two young but driven homeowners. The tour is wonderful for better understanding Wright and the clients who commissioned the home, the Christian's. Dr. Christian not only dedicated himself to gradually carrying out Wright's vision but more importantly to advancing public health with his pioneering studies in bionucleonics at Purdue. Definitely recommend to anyone interested in Frank Lloyd Wright, mid-century modern design, or...

I had the pleasure of touring FLW's Samara House for the first time last weekend, and it was beautiful. The curator, Nathaniel, was an excellent tour guide and very knowledgeable in the history of the home and the finer details of the architecture. He was also in charge of staging the home, and it shows that he put a lot of thought and care into it. I highly recommend taking a trip out to West Lafayette to see this work of art. I will...