Frank Lloyd Wright home marks 40 years of tours

When Ann Marohn led the first tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park, Ill., 40 years ago, she entered through a garage on the building's south side. Green shag carpets, water-damaged walls and uneven floors greeted visitors inside.

"All of the rooms needed a great deal of work," Marohn, 78, said recently.

A middle-school English teacher who had developed an interest in Wright, Marohn was selected to lead that first tour in July, 1974, after the building came under public ownership. She typed up some notes and led visitors into a maze of a building that over the next dozen years would be meticulously restored.

"I just tried to tell the story I knew and tell them what the house would ultimately look like," said Marohn, who still conducts tours.

Marohn has been part of a celebration in connection with the home marking marking 40 years of tours.

The restoration of the Home and Studio, a massive volunteer-led effort that took 13 years, also started in 1974, said John Thorpe, 69, one of three architects who led the restoration.

He and other volunteers worked to restore the 1889 building to the way it looked in 1909, the last year Wright lived there, Thorpe said.

Wright used the Home and Studio as a testing ground while developing and refining the unique architectural style that would come to be known as the Prairie School of Architecture, Thorpe said.

A group of around 10 volunteers gathered most Saturday mornings to help restore the home, Thorpe said.

The restoration cost about $2.5 million, Thorpe said, noting the amount was in 1987 dollars and would be much more in today's dollars.

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Frank Lloyd Wright home marks 40 years of tours