NEWS

Frank Lloyd Wright house in West Lafayette part of auctioned tour

Deanna Watson
Lafayette Journal & Courier

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A local treasure of world-renowned architectural greatness will be part of an online auction that will take visitors to celebrated Indiana landmarks.

The John E. Christian House — a Frank Lloyd Wright home located in West Lafayette — is part of an auction benefiting Indiana Landmarks. The nonprofit’s annual fundraiser, Rescue Party, will be via Facebook Live at 7 p.m. April 29.

Indiana Landmarks’ President Marsh Davis will auction exclusive experiences and overnight stays, the nonprofit detailed in a release, including getaway packages to the historic West Baden Springs Hotel and the recently opened Bottleworks Hotel in the former Coca-Cola bottling plant near downtown Indianapolis. 

In this May 3, 2007, file photo from the Indianapolis Star, John Christian, a retired Purdue University professor, is shown in his Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in West Lafayette. The late Christian served, in effect, as the docent of his own home, a 2,200-square-foot Usonian house in West Lafayette designed by famed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in the mid-1950s. The house, which Dr. Christian and his late wife, Catherine (cq), moved into in 1956, is named Samara (cq), "winged seeds."

In addition, a silent auction, which opened at 12 a.m. Monday and goes until 12 p.m. May 2, offers a chance to bid on other getaways, including a private tour of the restoration in-progress at Samara, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed John and Catherine Christian House.

Other visits include a private tour of the Miller House and Garden in Columbus and a stay overnight on a hilltop at the restored Beem House in Spencer.

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“We might not be able to gather in person for Rescue Party, but we can come together virtually to raise funds to invest in important landmarks, places that bring economic opportunities to neighborhoods and communities around the state,” Davis said in the release.

A look at SAMARA, The John and Catherine Christian House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020 in West Lafayette. The 2,200-square-foot Usonian house in West Lafayette was designed by famed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in the mid-1950s.

The John E. Christian House, designed by the famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1954 for John Christian, a  Purdue University professor, and his wife, Catherine, and their daughter, Linda.

The Christians, according to Home of Purdue, a website devoted to Greater Lafayette attractions, wanted a place ideal for entertaining friends, faculty, students and community members.

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The couple lived there until their deaths — Catharine in 1986, and John in 2016 — according to previous Journal & Courier reporting.

Called Samara House, named after the winged seeds found in pinecones, the house consists of 15 interrelated areas totaling 2,200 square feet on one acre of land. The house, designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2015, is open to private tours, for parties up to six people, by reservation only.

Inside the living room of SAMARA, The John and Catherine Christian House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020 in West Lafayette. The 2,200-square-foot Usonian house in West Lafayette was designed by famed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in the mid-1950s.

Last fall, Samara House received a $1 million grant to repair damage on the house found at the end of a cul de sac on Woodland Avenue in West Lafayette. Nationally known architect Gunny Harboe is overseeing the repairs, a fact that curator Linda Eales celebrated Monday.

"I would want people to know that we have Gunny Harboe as the architect," she said when reached by phone, "Just Google him."

We did.

According to Harboe's website, his projects include: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West; Robie House, Unity Temple and Beth Sholom Synagogue; Mies Van der Rohe’s Crown Hall; Louis Sullivan’s Carson Pirie Scott Store; Holabird and Roche’s Marquette Building; and Holabird and Root’s Chicago Board of Trade Building and Lafayette Building.

As with Samara House, all of these buildings are listed as National Historic Landmarks.