Why not a weekend in Chicago?

How does a June weekend in Oak Park, Il, touring private residences designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and his contemporaries, sound? Pas mal, non? Here, then, is a suggestion for an early summer weekend getaway.

The FLW Preservation Trust will host in June  Wright Plus 2012  in Oak Park, just west of downtown Chicago, and famous for having private residences and buildings designed by the Great Man. Also, please note, that it is the birthplace of crack Toronto Star reporter (and, yes, novelist) Ernest Hemingway.

There’s an interpreted walk that includes interior tours of three landmark Wright buildings, tickets for which are $85 for members, and $100 for non-members. If you’ve got a wad of cash, you can buy a fancy-pants weekend package that includes a party at the Rookery Building, dinner with a “celebrity” chef and a behind-the-scenes tour of Wright's Robie House. Or you could combine it with a whirlwind tour of Chicago,  a city I have, sadly, never visited — even though my husband and father-in-law were born there. But every friend I’ve ever known who’s gone to Chicago has loved it.

The pictures above show the William E. Martin House, which FLW designed, and the George Sharp House, designed by an anonymous contemporary.