Frank Lloyd Wright's
SAMARA
John E. Christian, Owner


SAMARAQuest


Benton Sixth Grade Team

The FLWs

Brett Butler / Brodie Terpstra
Marcus Gudeman / Greg Irby / Christa Muller

---

SAMARAQuest
    1   When your daughter was little, did she break any item
          from FLW??
    2   How will the FLW Trust take care of Samara in the future?

Frank Lloyd Wright was a famous architect and being an outstanding artist he designed many different things during his 71 years of practice.

He is best known for the houses he designed. But he also designed churches, warehouses, filling stations, garages, automobile showrooms, palaces, museums, government buildings, and banks. In addition he designed furniture, china, draperies, and weedholders.

Mr. Wright also designed clothing for the wives of some of his clients and on one occasion designed a "dog house" for the 10 year old son of one of his clients.

Frank Lloyd Wright was a very versatile artist. His name is so well known that when his initials (F.L.W.) are used, most people know that they refer to Frank Lloyd Wright. So, the name of your team, the FLWs, is a good one.

It's interesting to note that my wife and I had one child named Linda. She was four years old when we moved into our FLW designed home. We were very proud of the many items that we had made from Mr. Wright's designs and the items we purchased following his advice.

Accordingly, Linda was often reminded to be careful that she didn't damage or break anything. Linda was always very careful but in spite of that there were a few instances where damages did occur.

When Linda was about six years old, she often played with her toys and different objects on the floor. It was always warm during the winter months because the heat for the house was designed in the concrete floors. For this reason, Linda often chose to play on the concrete instead of on the carpet.

Mr. Wright had advised Mrs. Christian to purchase Fitz and Floyd, Inc. "dragon crest" designed china as the informal dining ware for the SAMARA.

As part of this design set, there were four white china dragons which were favorites of Mrs. Christian.

One day Linda was playing with the china dragons and accidentally dropped one on the concrete floor. Obviously, it broke into many pieces. And, of course, there are now only three china dragons in the set.

When she was older, perhaps 11 or 12, Linda was helping her mother polish the concrete floors with an electric floor polisher.

In the Usonian houses, Mr. Wright always specified Johnson's Paste Wax to protect the surface of the concrete. The wax also brought out the best of the Cherokee Red color.

To keep the floor looking its best, it helped to occasionally polish the wax. That's what Linda was doing in the dining room.

For some unknown reason, the handle of the electric polisher slipped from her hand and hit the dining room table making a dent.

At the time, it seemed like a major incident, but today it's almost forgotten and of no major concern.

As a rare, complete and intact Wright designed Usonian House, SAMARA affords unparalleled opportunities for education.

Individuals and groups visit SAMARA to study architecture, interior design, site planning, construction, environmental sensitivity, and philosophic issues dealing with the quality of life.

Accordingly, to provide these opportunities for current and future generations, the John. E. Christian Family Memorial Trust, Inc. was established by Mr. and Mrs Christian and their daughter Linda K. Christian Davis.

The Christian Family Trust functions in cooperation with Historical Landmarks Foundation of Indiana for the operation, maintenance, and historic preservation of the John Christian House.

Major Objectives of the Trust

• To preserve, protect and maintain the physical condition and architectural and historic integrity of the John Christian House.
• To make the House available to visitors for their education and enjoyment through group and private study.
• To disseminate information on the historical significance of the House and the important contributions made by Frank Loyd Wright to Indiana and American architecture.

A SAMARA PATRONS program has been formed to provide a means of recognizing individuals, corporations and institutions that provide financial support to SAMARA and its programs.

Accordingly, individuals and groups are invited to become SAMARA PATRONS by subscribing to membership.

Groups of all ages are welcome to SAMARA. Often the groups include elementary school children like the ones pictured here.

During this particular visit, a young student is asking Dr. Christian a question about the clerestory windows as the other students wait anxiously for a reply from the owner.

I've really enjoyed responding to your team's questions. To learn more about SAMARA, I encourage each of you to visit the other Benton Sixth Grade Team pages. You may also be interested in taking a look at the Benton SAMARAQuest Challenge.

The Benton SAMARAQuest Challenge is designed to expand your learnings beyond what you already know about Frank Lloyd Wright and SAMARA. The Challenge suggests activities for exploring things you're interested in learning more about in your studies of the world's greatest architect.

Visit another
Benton Sixth Grade Team
to learn more about
SAMARA.
The Cherokee Reds / The Waterfalls / The FLWs
The Winged Seed People / Winged Seeds / The Pinecones

Visit these other Benton SAMARAQuest Teams
Grade 3 / Grade 4 / Grade 5 / Grade 6

Return to the Benton SAMARAQuest Main Directory

---

Copyright © 1998   All rights reserved.
The John Christian Family Memorial Trust, Inc. and LEARNING ASSOCIATES Latest revision March 8, 1999