Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, Wingspread was completed in 1939 for the president of S.C. Johnson, Herbert Fisk Johnson Jr. It’s located north of Racine WI, in Wind Point. WI. Wright designed it as a family home, but since 1960, the property has been a conference center operated by the Johnson Foundation.
Great Hall: Main Hearth
The focus of the whole building is the hearth in the Great Hall. Indeed the entire plan literally radiates out from it, with the four wings forming a pinwheel around this hub. In the brick masonry, the horizontal joints are deep and thick while the vertical joints are thin and flush with the surface. This horizontal emphasis balances the verticality of the overall hearth structure. And it has four fireplaces on the first floor with an additional one upstairs.
Great Hall: Spaces
The Great Hall has both large, open spaces like the dining area and the living room; but it also uses dividers and small elevation changes to create more intimate spaces, like the music room or the library.
The free public tour lets you see the bedroom wing, which has a lot of Wright small details. But the showpiece of the site is the Great Hall, with its, now leakproof, roof windows.
We visited in January. Both the Wingspread tour and tours of the SC Johnson campus in Racine, which also features Wright buildings, are free.
