A Tour of the Dana-Thomas House in Springfield, IL

 

Are you aware that right here in Springfield we have an architectural treasure designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It is called the Dana-Thomas House.

My family and I were recently invited to tour the property and during our 45 minute visit, we learned a lot. Photography is not allowed inside the home, so the only photos we could take were outside.

The house was built between 1902-1904 by Frank Lloyd Wright.  It was built for Susan Lawrence Dana. Mrs. Dana was the first and only person to give Mr. Wright a blank check to create her new home.  Mrs. Dana was the daughter of a Mayor of Springfield and when he passed away she wanted Mr. Wright to take the existing home and build around it.  The original home was in the Italian style and because of having to make changes to an already built home as well as building new areas this project was twice as expensive as any other home he built.

It is believed that it cost Mrs. Dana between $60,000-$120,000 to build her home which included architectural fees.  What Frank Lloyd Wright built was a home using the prairie style of architecture which features long sweeping horizontal lines which mimics the prairie's horizon. He took the existing structure and added on to it and it ended up being 12,600 square feet. An interesting effect he created is actually on the outside of the house.  The gutters appear to tip up towards the sky, but that is in fact an optical illusion, they run straight off from the roof.

One thing that makes the Dana-Thomas house different from others he designed can be found right at the front door.  We learned that Mr. Wright preferred to hide the front door so that visitors would have to walk around the property and experience it before finding a way in. Mrs. Dana was opposed to this idea because she was building her home for entertaining purposes and wanted her guests to have no trouble finding their way in.

What you notice as soon as you walk in the front door is the openness.  Mr. Wright limited the doors and walls to make it seem more open.  He opened the space up vertically and uses changes in height to signal to the visitor that they are entering a new area. What you end up with is a home that has 35 rooms and 16 different levels.

The other major thing you notice in this home is the use of glass and designs in the glass.  There are two themes that run through this home, butterflies which were a favorite of Mrs. Dana's and sumac trees.  Plus, no two panels of glass are the same, because in nature the trees and butterflies are never the same.

We also learned that this is the first home in Springfield designed with electricity and running water. It also has the first standalone shower in Springfield.  It was also explained that Mrs. Dana lived in the main residence for 24 years before moving to a private room at St. John's where she lived for four years until she passed away.

Before she passed away, something tragic almost happened'; a bank declared Mrs. Dana incompetent and wanted to tear the home down and build apartments, however, the Charles Thomas Publishing Company paid $17,000 under the condition that everything be left in the home.  It was used by the printing business for 37 years.

The State of Illinois purchased the home in 1981 for $1 million. Then between the years of 1987-1990 approximately $5 million was spent restoring it.  Since being restored, 300,000 people have visited.

I have only shared a small portion of the facts and details about this amazing property because I strongly encourage you to go and experience it for yourself and see and hear about them for yourself.  For more information, check out the Dana-Thomas House site.

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