We decided to explore Manchester, NH this day. First stop was the Aviation Musem. It is small but a lot packed into it.
All hand made out of balsam wood--no kits.
There were younger people at the museum that could not believe that at one time smoking was allowed on planes.
Next up we were going to the Currier Museum to see some special art pieces. I had read that there was also a tour from the museum to a couple of houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Well, we arrived at the museum at 11:50 am. The tour started at noon and you needed reservations. They were waiting for two people who hadn't showed up yet. They said if they don't come by noon, then we could take their place. They didn't show up. The museum let us have their $35 tickets for free that also allowed entry to the museum! That was quite a God wink on us. I checked later because I would have felt badly had the people come later, but they never showed up.
The tour of the two Frank Lloyd Wright houses was two hours long. Now, to be honest, I know the name and that he was an architect, but that was the extent of my knowledge of him. In our group was a woman who had seen 50 of his buildings and was just so excited to be there. We got to tour 2 houses. She said she plans her vacations around seeing his buildings. There were other people on our tour more knowledgeable about Frank Lloyd Wright. I kept my ignorance to myself.
The first house was the Zimmerman House built in 1950, 1700 square feet. The Zimmermans left the house and the furniture and other belongings to the museum, so everything was what was in there originally. Basically, I'm better off letting the photos talk.
Of note were the corner windows with no frame. Makes a better view and open feeling.
They took pains to match the corners.
What I liked best about this house was the shelvings.
Look how the shelving matches up with the corner.
They aimed for perfection matching the woodwork.
Backyard
The Zimmerman's ashes are buried on the property.
It was an interesting house. I did like the openness of the windows, the privacy from others with the landscaping and I liked the shelves. I preferred this house over the next one but I was in the minority in the group. Most liked the next one better. To be honest, neither house was my cup of tea.
This next house was the Kalil House built in 1955. This one was built with various shaped concrete blocks. It was supposed to create a sense of lightness. To me, it was more of dreary and dark. I thought the outside looked like a prison and inside I thought if you ever tripped and fell and hit your head against the concrete corners.... Certainly not a childproof house!
After that we returned to the museum and grabbed a late lunch. George wanted me to take a picture of his pretty fruit and yogurt.
By now we were getting tired and didn't have a lot of time to enjoy all the art exhibits, but we did see the one I most wanted to see. When I heard there was a Monet and Picaso, I made sure we found them. I was especially excited to see an actual Monet. Here it is along with a few others.
Tiffany Lamp
This is the outside of the Currier Museum. They have a nice collection and it's too bad we couldn't see it all. It's not that huge, but unfortunately we didn't have the time to give it all justice.
Thus ended that day.
September 8, 2023.
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