Milwaukee writer offers up a tour of 'Frank Lloyd Wright's Wisconsin' | Lit Wisconsin

Lit Wisconsin is a sporadic series of stories in which we highlight the work of writers of Wisconsin or those with ties to the state.

Today we look at Milwaukee author Kristine Hansen and her new book, "Frank Lloyd Wright's Wisconsin: How America's Most Famous Architect Found Inspiration in His Home State," due to hit the shelves June 1.

About the book, 'Frank Lloyd Wright's Wisconsin'

Fans of "America's most famous architect" will find a lot to love about this multifaceted book. It's part guidebook, part biography and part coffee-table photo book. Hansen takes readers on a tour of nearly 40 individual Frank Lloyd Wright creations throughout Wisconsin, including some that have been demolished, and some that were designed by designers who learned directly from Wright and followed in his aesthetic footsteps.

The Wright sites are organized by region. Milwaukee has the most with eight; Madison has six. Four sites are profiled in Racine; Delavan and Lake Geneva; the Driftless Area; and central Wisconsin. Wausau has three.

Hansen offers up detailed profiles of each site, and notes whether Wright fans can visit, tour or stay overnight in building. There are many indoor and outdoor photos for each site as well, many of which feature the deep reds that come from natural wood and brick. Hansen interviews current residents, caretakers and managers of the Wright sites as well, offering readers insight into what it's like to live and work in them. (Leaking roofs seem to be a common refrain.)

The buildings are all works of art and carry with them the historic heft of greatness. Two of the sites, a house in Madison and Wright's Spring Green homestead, Taliesin, are UNESCO World Heritage sites. Hansen explains that Wright's design style, often called "organic architecture," means that "the outside is seamlessly brought into the interior spaces through natural light and intentional choices for building materials."

But those who commissioned Wright had to deal with the architect's vision and eccentricities, "if you wanted a Wright house you bought into his design, not yours," Hansen writes in her introduction. "While on a visit to Wingspread (a Prairie-style mansion just north of Racine, now used as a convention center), Irene Purcell Johnson was startled to wake up and see Wright had rearranged all of the artwork and furnishings overnight."

About the author, Kristine Hansen

Based in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood, Hansen is a freelance writer who specializes in food/drink, design and travel. (No surprise there are elements of each of those topics specialties in "Frank Lloyd Wright's Wisconsin.")

Hansen was born in Illinois, and lived in Nevada and California, but on her website (kristinehansen.com) she said she's become a true Wisconsinite by writing books on cheese, "Wisconsin Cheese Cookbook," and an agritourism guide to the state, "Wisconsin Farms and Farmers Markets: Tours, Trails and Attractions."

In other topics, Hansen has written about Mennonites in Belize, winemakers in France's Bordeaux, dogsledding in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Her work has been published in TIME magazine (a piece about a hotel that loans out pets), CountryLiving.com and the websites of Travel+Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler.

"When I'm not writing for others I write for myself," she said on her website. "My current project is a novel set in the French art world, largely inspired by my travels and love for the French language."

How to buy the book

"Frank Lloyd Wright's Wisconsin" will be released and available in stores and online book sellers after June 1. It can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com for $24.95 for the hard copy of the book, or $17.99 for the Kindle version. The book also can be pre-ordered through its publisher, Globe Pequot.

Features reporter Keith Uhlig is based in Wausau. Contact him at 715-845-0651 or kuhlig@gannett.com. Follow him at @UhligK on Twitter and Instagram or on Facebook.

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