When Kim and I were visiting our friend Aberdeen in Riverside, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), we had just enough time to visit the "Frank Lloyd Wright walking tour" area in Oak Park.  The building above is the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, where Wright lived and worked during the first twenty years of his career (1889-1909).

It is a really interesting building, though I didn't get to tour it and really explore.  My request was to stop in the Frank Lloyd Wright gift shop (you know my weakness for paper buildings and museum gift shop fare), but the crowd was so thick it was difficult to really shop and in the end I gave up trying to buy a paper FLW Home and Studio 3D pop-up card, due to the long check out line. I have added the link to shop the store and feel better now that I know that I can buy it online.

What was the one item in the gift shop that surprised me? Lego.  Did you know that you can buy Lego sets of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings? I thought that was really interesting.

I completely understood the crowds.  It was a gorgeous Fall day in Chicago and the home and self-guided walking tours were just where I would want to be if I had more time.

As we walked down the street from the FLW Home and Studio, we saw the Arthur Heurtley House (1902) - look that the giant planters built into the facade of the house.  The lush and colorful plantings are a great natural compliment.  

This gray and black home is the Hills-DeCaro House (1906/1977).

This is the Nathan-Moore House (1895/1923) - imagine how heavy that enormous A-line roof is.  It feels like a Swiss gingerbread house to me.  

When you are in an area with this many architectural treasures, you have to go exploring on foot.  What a day.