The Kinney House in Lancaster, Wisconsin will be open for a limited number of tours next weekend (Sept. 10 11). The event is part of “A Frank Lloyd Wright Weekend”, a fundraiser for the Grant County Historical Society. Tickets must be bought in advance; more information o and tickets call the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce at 608-723-2820 or the Platteville Chamber at 608-348-8888.
The Kinney House is a single story Usonian designed in 1951.
Unlike conventional houses with corners at 90-degree angles, the single-story Usonian-style Kinney House was built on a 60-degree/120-degree grid.
“If you looked at a floor plan, you would see that everything in the house, rather than being based on a square, is based on a parallelogram,” said Bob Boyd, a Wright aficionado and retired designer who has visited the 1,500-square-foot home, built in the early 1950s.
“Wright liked that module because it gave the impression of greater space without building a large house,” Boyd said. “It feels much less box-like than most homes of that era.”
The house is still owned by the children of the original owner. One of the owners, Anne Kinney, is a rocket scientist (she’s the director of the Solar System Exploration Division of the Goddard Space Flight Center) who attributes the beginnings of her interest in math and science to growing up in a Frank Lloyd Wright home. Another sibling, Janes owns J. Kinney Florist in Madison.
Along with the one-hour tours of the house and garden Saturday and Sunday, “A Frank Lloyd Wright Weekend” will include a presentation by Wright grandson Tim K. Wright, a Boston-based documentary filmmaker, speaking about his grandfather’s relationships with his clients — including some of Wright’s own relatives.
Rob Jackovich, an apprentice at Taliesin who is restoring a Wright house, and Anne Kinney also will speak. Proceeds from the weekend’s events will be used to improve the Cunningham Museum in Lancaster, the official Grant County historical museum.
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