Ultimate Plus℠ Weekend Package

ULTIMATE PLUS WEEKEND PACKAGE TICKETS

$2,675 | $2,525 Trust Member
Pricing is based on double occupancy. An additional $350 is added for single occupancy.
Become a member now to take advantage of discounted rates.

Your all-access ticket to an exclusive, truly memorable weekend, jam-packed with extraordinary Wright-centered activities. The 3-night package includes:

  • Friday Excursion: Private Passage - Wright’s Glencoe – an exclusive-access day tour
  • Fast Pass (priority entry) to the all-day Wright Plus Housewalk
  • Private luncheon at Oak Park’s historic Nineteenth Century Club
  • Exclusively Wright Dinner
  • Deluxe hotel accommodations at the historic Carleton of Oak Park
  • Transportation to and from all events

Friday Excursion: Private Passage - Wright’s Glencoe
Friday, May 17, 8 am to 6 pm

Ravines Bluff sculpture

Frank Lloyd Wright’s early reputation was secured through residential architecture in the suburbs around Chicago. While Oak Park and its surrounding neighborhoods feature the greatest concentration of Wright’s work, Chicago’s North Shore is home to more than a dozen Wright buildings.

Join us on an excursion to Chicago’s North Shore, beginning with a drive to Glencoe and its Ravine Bluffs Development. Wright designed this housing subdivision under a commission for his lawyer, Sherman R. Booth. In his original design, Wright envisioned not only a residential community, but a train station, town hall and art gallery. While the entire set of structure was never fully realized, Ravine Bluffs stands today as the third largest collection of Wright structures in the world. The majority of these homes were built in 1915, though Glencoe has two additional Wright homes that pre-date the Ravine Bluffs subdivision. We’ll explore the area on foot before touring a private residence with its homeowners.

Following our time in Ravine Bluffs, you’ll enjoy a delicious lunch at a neighborhood favorite before continuing to the Writers Theatre, a premier cultural destination of the North Shore. In 2016, the Writers Theatre opened a new state-of-the-art facility designed by internationally renowned Studio Gang Architects and award-winning founder Jeanne Gang. Learn about the LEED-certified green building on a tour with the Writers Theatre’s Director of Production and Facilities, before heading back to the Carleton Hotel in Oak Park.

Excursion includes light snacks, lunch and transportation. Ultimate Plus Exclusive.

*** The Friday Excursion is a full-day tour with multiple walking experiences. We encourage guests to dress in weather-appropriate clothing and wear comfortable walking shoes. The sites are not wheelchair accessible. Water bottles will be offered on the bus.

Photo: Glencoe Historical Society

Wright Plus Housewalk and Luncheon
Saturday, May 18, 9 am to 4 pm

Harry Adams House

With your Fast Pass, walk right into each Wright Plus home with the next available tour group. Enjoy a private luncheon at the historic Nineteenth Century Club.

 

Exclusively Wright Dinner℠
Saturday, May 18, 6:30 to 10:30 pm

Wright dinners

Join current owners in their Frank Lloyd Wright home and enjoy an exquisite dining experience prepared by an acclaimed chef. The evening will include a private tour and cocktails, in addition to a gourmet dinner. Experience moments of glamour as you encounter a living space as a work of art.

Avery Coonley House (Frank Lloyd Wright, 1908), Riverside, IL
The vast financial resources of heiress Queene Ferry Coonley and her husband Avery, combined with Wright’s creativity, resulted in one of the most impressive residential designs of Wright’s career. The Coonley estate was a sprawling complex made up of a house, stable, and gardener’s cottage, situated around a central courtyard. Today, the meticulously restored home shows the qualities of a mature Prairie residence, including Roman brick walls, built-in shelving, and abundant leaded glass, 80% of which is original.

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Melissa Elsmo

Chef Melissa Elsmo
Part storyteller and part chef, Melissa Elsmo makes you believe you can enjoy every meal just as she does – fully and enthusiastically. A trained chef and ardent food lover, Mel's passion for a good meal peppers her life. As part of Chicago’s underground supper club scene, she creates intimate multi-course dining experiences featuring her own recipes and artful approach to plating. Guests wait months for a seat around her table, but savvy food lovers can often locate her at pop-up events around the city. She is as comfortable plating up inventive nibbles at a brewery as she is serving a fine meal under a cantilevered porch. Sure, she’s cooked for a Nobel Prize winner and former First Lady, but all guests around her table become key ingredients in her whimsical menus. In her above ground life, Mel, a 25-year Oak Park resident, is a devoted food writer, passionate volunteer, and professional fundraiser.

 

Gourmet Breakfast
Sunday, May 19

Enjoy a gourmet breakfast at the hotel. 


Please note that most venues on Ultimate Plus are private residences that are not physically accessible. Program subject to change due to unavoidable circumstances. Ultimate Plus tickets are non-refundable.

Proceeds support the education, restoration and preservation programs of the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust.

Questions about Ultimate Plus? Contact info@flwright.org.

Sponsors

Carleton of Oak Park hotel logo The Nineteenth Century Club