Ticking items off my "Chicago" bucket list - today I drove out to Plano, IL to see the Farnsworth House - one of Mies Van der Rohe's most famous creations. I purposely wanted to visit in the fall, so I've been saving this one for a while and boy did I luck out today! Sunny, 70º and peak foliage made for the most perfect experience. The only thing that would have made it better is if I had known that they only allow photographs inside the house on the weekends after the 3pm tour - oh well, I managed to snap one with my iPhone anyway. ( rule breaker... oopsie! )
Upon arrival you are in this little gift shop/office building, greeted by our guide and then walked down a half mile path to arrive at the house. The guide talked about the size of the property, how the owner came to choose this location along the Fox River, how she met Mies and the relationship they had during the several years of planning and building. Unfortunately their relationship ended in a lawsuit. The house was projected to cost $45K and ended up around $75K and at that time apparently could have bought you any house in the greater Chicagoland area (wow!). The house took somewhere around 5600 hours of architectural planning time - the fee for that today would build you a skyscraper! And the saddest part of the whole thing to me was that the owner, Edith Farnsworth, didn't like staying in the home she spent so much time and money to build with Mies. The house became so famous that she would find people lurking around the property - looking in on her! I wouldn't love that either, but I would love sitting in a chair watching the leaves or snow fall - kind of like being in a giant snow globe! Dreamy! Simply dreamy! 
Isn't it just amazing? Now you know why I wanted to visit in the Fall... 