Frank Lloyd Wright's Hardy House

The Thomas P. Hardy house in Racine, Wisconsin, is one of the best-known and most admired residential buildings of legendary American architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959). A prime example of Wright’s “organic architecture,” the house perches on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, perfectly integrated with the sloped and architecturally challenging site. Built in 1906, the avant-garde house looks nothing like the other homes of its neighborhood and has always been an object of fascination and curiosity.

Author and photographer Mark Hertzberg's extensive research has uncovered previously, unpublished plans and drawings for Wright's original (and unbuilt) conception of the house, along with vast amounts of correspondence between Hardy and Wright. He has documented the house in all seasons and from many different perspectives, inside and out. His virtual tour includes interviews with various people who have lived in the house or had firsthand knowledge of its history--from Hardy's grandchildren to the present owners. The result is an intricate story of an architectural marvel interlaced with remembrances by its residents.