Samara House by Frank Lloyd Wright

On Thursday morning Andy and I drove up to Lafayette, Indiana to visit the Samara House, designed for John E Christian and his wife by Frank Lloyd Wright and 'completed' in 1956. In fact the couple moved in then but spent the following decades adding all the touches in the plans they hadn't been able to afford at the outset. This place felt like a real affordable and cosy family home. A samara is a winged fruit from a tree (rather like a sycamore seed). This was chosen by Wright as the motif as the Christian's had already planted a number of samara bearing trees on the property.

The house was designed to deflect sound from the busy road behind it and it was indeed very quiet despite all the traffic. 

Copper detail from on the roof. FLW deplored guttering. The water is channeled to a select few down points then pours down on strategically placed rocks. These had holes worn or bored in them.

You can see one of the rocks to the far left of the picture. The central windows are the dining area with the master and guest bedrooms to the right.

Sitting room with fire place. Samara motif on the rug and the clerestory windows. The cubes stools stack if you remove the cushions - to make steps to reach high shelves. The tops of the coffee table sections lift off as trays and the legs fold away. FLW didn't want carpets or bright colours but Mrs Christian prevailed.

Very comfy and we were allowed to sit anywhere.

As money was tight Mr Christian tried to make some savings but FLW was having none of it.

The dining chairs have angled feet so if you slouch too much the chair will tip!

The master bedroom felt like a ship's cabin. It even had a small weather sensor which would adjust the underfloor heating at the first sign of a coming temperature change.