Frank Lloyd Wright's Palmer House

As a FLLW-o-phile I appreciated the personal rememberances, and the amount of useful information for anyone thinking about building a usonian-style house was a huge bonus. I loved the story that the Palmers gave him a low budget figure, knowing that he always went over budget, and he was able to figure out that they had more money than they let on! Leave it to Mr. Wright to spend it all. But the house is stunning, as you will see from the beautiful quality photos. Be prepared though, as soon as the book comes and you open it, you'll probably be useless for anything else until you turn the last page.

This is a beautifully illustrated book on the Palmer House in Ann Arbor, Michigan, one of the most interesting and most beautifully constructed and finished of Mr. Wright's houses. The landscaping and gardens provided a proper framework for the architecture, and the personalities of Mary and Billy Palmer are evident throughout. Your collection of books on Wright's work is not complete without this volume.

A good small book about one of FLW's Usonian house with some interesting information about the building and it owners.

In this wonderful book the authors detail various aspects of the bringing into being of this perfect example of Frank Lloyd Wright's organic architecture. Starting with background information on the town of Ann Arbor, Michigan we are introduced to the clients, neighborhood and specific site on which their dream house would be erected. The process of selecting and securing Wright as their architect is explored in depth. We then learn of the give and take between client and architect during the design stage. The search for a suitable contractor and the attention to detail required of him in the building of this unconventional house are presented. The Palmer's experiences of living for over 50 years in this masterpiece of residential architecture are explored and bring the building to life for the reader. The book is well illustrated with color photos, some b & w construction photos and plans that are large enough to study. In addition, a wonderful word picture tour of the house and surrounding landscape is presented. The technically minded may perhaps wish for more information on the construction aspects, but most things seem to have proceeded so well as to go unremarked. This book is more than anything a tribute to the remarkable clients whose faith in Wright's vision, as well as their own personal artistic vision in creating the surrounding landscape, caused one of his most unknown gems to be built. Highly recommended!