Monday, November 2, 2009

LCC-LMR Fall Driving Tour 2009

Finally...a weekend without rain! A few weeks ago, the LCC-LMR hosted the last official driving event of the year that combined two great interests of mine. Cars and architecture!

Mario and I met at the garage where the Clenet is being stored, lifted the overhead door and pushed it out into the driveway. The garage being located under a lakefront home has a pesky CO detector in an adjoining room that enjoys hampering our day by quietly phoning ADT Home Security Services should we dare turn the ignition key with the car parked inside.

With the Clenet outside and the overhead door closed, we fired up our baby and headed for the far western suburbs of Chicago to meet with the LCC-LMR guys. We drove just under two hours & over 90 miles to enjoy a 1-hour driving tour...go figure!



Bright and early this wonderful crisp & sunny Sunday morning, about 50 guys met up at a riverside park at Batavia, IL. We enjoyed hot coffee & cider with our morning pastries while gossiping and checking out the fabulous cars brought out for this drive. They were all quite wonderful and ranged from the 50's through modern. Mario and I were nearly the last to arrive and quickly parked behind a white-on-white Cadillac Eldorado Convertible.

A good hour of lively morning banter had passed with the guys were ready to assemble the caravan for our drive to Farnsworth House in Plano, IL. This would be my third visit to Farnsworth, the first being in the late 90’s just after Peter Palumbo finished an extensive renovation. The driving tour was somewhat uneventful and the fall colors were mostly hues of yellow and gold due to the very wet fall season. Along the route, we passed through several small villages with interesting architecturally-significant homes and wide open farmland.


We arrived at Farnsworth and enjoyed a private tour of the home and grounds. The home is now owned and operated by Landmarks Illinois, a not-for-profit organization that purchased the home in a much-hyped auction back in 2003. http://www.farnsworthhouse.org/



I want to copy and build this home for myself out here in Michigan! I have become a fan of the mid-century style even though my taste has leaned towards traditional architecture and decorating. The home is basically a sparsely furnished glass box with travertine floor and white plaster ceiling yet surprisingly retains a feeling of warmth. It’s very calming.




The group toured the home and grounds for about two hours before departing for a late lunch. Mario and I said our goodbye’s after dining and drove through the southern suburbs of Chicago into Indiana towards Michigan. We returned the Clenet about twelve hours after meeting earlier in the morning and truly enjoyed our day.

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