Small Business Boomers

Frank Lloyd Wright, the Power of Authority, and our Current Financial Mess

by Jean on September 27th, 2008

I recently visited a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Iowa.  On the wall, there was a little red plaque about 8 inches square.  The guide said that Wright only would put one of those plaques on a house if the owners agreed to let him design it exactly as it wanted.  They couldn’t change anything. Nothing.  These owners wanted this “Wright seal of approval” so badly they agreed to let him tell them how they would live in their home.

I was appalled at the stuff they let him dictate:

• Wright didn’t believe in garages (in Iowa! in the winter!), but he let them have a covered open place for their car.
• He was a small man, so everything was designed for his size.  Good thing the owner’s weren’t tall.  All the ceilings are low and the furniture is slightly smaller than you would expect.
• He designed the dining “room” not to be able to be used for large dinner parties. And they loved to entertain.
• The furniture, the dishes, the floor coverings, etc. were all part of the design.  The kitchen, in particular, would horrify most of us in its un-usefulness.  He even told the owner how many pots and pans she could have.  She was allowed to keep one item that was precious to her, if she would put it back in a remote corner of the kitchen, where no one could see it.
• The owner’s previous cabin on the property, which they wanted to keep, Wright wanted torn down.  He finally agreed to let them keep it, but they had to move it to a corner of the property, and he put lots of foliage around it so it’s hard to see.
• The master bathroom was a tiny place, and one fixture served as bath, toilet, and sink. You have to see the thing; it’s quite innovative, but it would take a lot of work to maneuver the fixtures.
• The one demand that made me most upset was the bed.  He put in twin beds.  When the woman said they had always slept in one bed, he said, “You’ll get a better night’s sleep in your own separate bed,” and he refused to budge.

Now THAT is the power of authority. We let people who are judged as “experts” tell us what to do without question.  Maybe that’s what got us into this current financial mess.

I recently watched Wright’s appearance on the old game show “What’s My Line,” on the Game Show Network.  Watch here and notice his response to the question, “Do people come to you?”

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POSTED IN: A Boomer Rant, Finance