When my sister Susan, Cousin John, and I visited Clear Lake, Iowa, the city where our Grandfather Claire Hoyt grew up, a few weeks ago, we took an after-dinner drive to nearby Mason City to see the Historic Park Inn Hotel, the last remaining Frank Lloyd Wright designed hotel. Wright designed this hotel along with the attached City National Bank (now also part of the inn) back in 1910. After falling on hard times, a group called "Wright on the Park" was formed to restore the building, which reopened in 2011.
The interior of the hotel is very nice, although there were not many people around. I guess late May is not peak tourist season in Mason City. Of course, this begs the question of whether there is any peak tourist season in Mason City. But after reading a handout I picked up at the hotel, I was surprised to learn that Conde Nast Traveler Magazine has named Mason City, Iowa the 8th most important architectural destination in the world. The World No Less! The city has two Frank Lloyd Wright designed buildings, and there were plans to build more. Unfortunately, Wright had to leave for Europe (why I don't know, but it sounds like it was kind of sudden), which brought these plans to a halt. However, in his place, other Prairie School architects came to Mason City, many of them former Wright associates, and they created a neighborhood called Rock Crest/Rock Glen, located on both sides of Willow Creek, which represents the largest collection of Prairie-styled homes in America. So there!
The hotel contains two restaurants, including Leadlight, an upscale "American Eatery." I tried the door to this restaurant so I could take a photo, but it was locked, even though it was supposed to be open Monday thru Friday from 5:00 until 9:00. I have no idea why it was closed but did not want to quiz the person at the reception desk about it, since I had no intention of eating there (even if I hadn't already had dinner, I don't do upscale). Therefore, I went back outside and took the photograph on the left through the front window. It looked very cozy, but empty. Perhaps the place is hopping in August. I'll have to check that out this coming summer.
The other Frank Lloyd Wright home in Mason City is the George Stockman House, seen in the photograph on the right. It is a Prairie-school styled home that was commissioned by George Stockman. He met Wright and convinced him to design it while Wright was in town working on the Park Inn/City National Bank project. This house was slated for demolition back in 1989 (no doubt to make room for a parking lot) but was moved to its current location and is now a museum, open for tours. Years ago, I saw a Ken Burns documentary about Frank Lloyd Wright, and I remember a story about the time he addressed some sort of women's group back in the 1950s (I think). The woman who introduced Wright referred to him as "America's greatest living architect." He was so insulted, he put aside his prepared speech and spent the entire time explaining why he was not just America's greatest architect and also not just the greatest living architect. It sounds to me like he didn't have any issues with self-esteem. That, of course, can be both good and bad. Is anybody else thinking Donald Trump here?
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