During my trip to Chicago, I had the great opportunity to visit the Farnsworth House. It is located in Plano, a west town not too far away from Chicago. If you rent a car you can be there in an hour and a half. Plano was converted into “Smallville” when they filmed some scenes of Man of Steel in this town. It is located in an endless plain, surrounded by high cornfields. I was not expecting this landscape when we were driving to the house but suddenly the ecosystem changes completely when you arrive at Fox River. They have built a new Visitors Center 0.4 miles away from the house. You will find really interesting books and souvenirs here. They also have the restrooms and a projector where they explain the history of this wonderful Landmark. Also, they have the original wardrobe (designed by one of the architects of Mies) in a separated room. After this quick visit, one of the guides leads you to the house through a beautiful riverside forest.
Unfortunately (and fortunately at the same time) they were renovating the lower terrace so the house was a construction site. They removed and stored all the travertine marble not too far away. As you can see in the image of this post, they installed also a provisional wood stair in the backside to access the house, and the dialogue between the steel structure of the house and this rudimental stair is so strong. The furniture of the house is not the one designed and planned by Mies. Dr. Farnsworth decided to furnish the space choosing great modern pieces from some of the top designers at the moment. The core with the bathrooms, HVAC, and kitchen designed by Mies have been restored several times because of the floods. He built the house 5´-3” above the floor but it was not enough to protect the house from the water. As you know, the relationship between Dr. Farnsworth and Mies became worse and worse over the years and despite being the most famous work from the architect, he never visited again the house after the construction. It was great to see in person one of the most important icons in the last century and I recommend you to get tickets if you have the chance to visiting the wind city, I am sure you will enjoy it!
