One of the gems of the city of Kankakee (and Kankakee County as a whole) is the B. Harley Bradley House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Situated in the Riverview Historic District of Kankakee, the structure was Wright’s first-ever Prairie-style home.
After a storied past, the home now is under the care of Wright In Kankakee, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the building and its history.
Also helping preserve its history is Kankakee resident Laura Golowski, who penned the book “The B. Harley Bradley House – Frank Lloyd Wright’s Flagship Prairie Design.” A retired Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School teacher, Golowski has been a volunteer with Wright In Kankakee for 14 years.
She and her husband, Doug, live in a Limestone home on the Kankakee River the couple built 20 years ago. Other family includes her nearly 97-year-old mother; her brother, Mitch; and his wife, Judy, who all live in Florida.
Golowski partook in a Q&A with the Journal and shared information about her book.
What inspired you to write “The B. Harley Bradley House – Frank Lloyd Wright’s Flagship Prairie Design”?
My inspiration for writing this book was to create a pictorial and historical book about the Bradley House (as none existed solely about the Bradley House). This house was designed in 1900 by Frank Lloyd Wright, perhaps one of the most well-known architects in the world, for the family of B. Harley Bradley, in Kankakee.
B. Harley was the grandson of David Bradley, inventor and manufacturer of farm implements and plows, who moved his Chicago-based plant to this area in 1895. Bradley is named for this family, for bringing industry and jobs to the area. I gathered piecemeal information, recorded the history that was known and investigated and discovered new information that was added to the history of the Bradley House.
Also inspiring me were the Halls, Gaines and Sharon, who restored the Bradley House from 2005-10. The idea of the Bradley House speaking and telling its own story came from Gaines Hall. I wanted to pay tribute to the Halls for their meticulous and total restoration of, and for saving, the B. Harley Bradley House.
I also wanted to pay tribute to the many Wright In Kankakee volunteers who have given their time, energy and funds to fulfill the Halls’ dream of making the Bradley House a world-class tourist destination. The volunteers preserve, present and operate the Bradley House museum.
When did you become interested in Frank Lloyd Wright and/or architecture?
I became interested in Frank Lloyd Wright and his architecture when in 1960, my family moved into the neighborhood of the Bradley House. Our house was halfway down the 600 block of South Indiana Avenue, where the street dead ends at the Kankakee River.
Aside from Mrs. Jaenicke’s Root Beer stand, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Bradley House was the most interesting structure in our neighborhood. I frequently walked over to the Bradley House just to look at it and to play on its grounds.
What was the process of writing your book?
As a volunteer tour guide, board member, archive collector, gift shop manager and operations manager, I used some of the many hours a day I tended to the Bradley House pouring over and digesting the archival materials that local historians — Mardene Hinton, Jack Klasey, Vic Johnson, the Halls and many others — contributed to enhance the historical archives of the Bradley House.
I read many books about Frank Lloyd Wright, visited many of his other architectural masterpieces, interviewed many visitors to the Bradley House, and photographed the interiors and exterior of the Bradley House. Because of my experiences and exposure to Frank Lloyd Wright and the Bradley House, I had collected a great deal of knowledge that was used in creating storylines for the book.
My goal was to tell the most significant stories that made up the history of the Bradley House, show its architectural details pictorially, and feature the original artworks, (mostly) by local artists, who were inspired by the beauty and intrigue of the Bradley House.
Do you recall your first visit to The B. Harley Bradley House? What was that like?
My first visit inside the Bradley House was in 1979 when I attended a luncheon at the Yesteryear restaurant for the bridesmaids of an upcoming wedding. In my recollection, there was such a difference between viewing the Bradley House from the outside (as I had always seen it, since 1960) and seeing the interior and windows from the inside. It was a mesmerizing experience and I hated leaving.
Are there any books/projects you’re currently working on?
I am not currently working on another book and may be a one-and-done author. However, I have already given several talks about Frank Lloyd Wright’s Flagship Prairie Design, with a few on the distant horizon. Doug and I are both retired and enjoy travel with friends and visiting family.
Where can people purchase the book/learn more about you?
“The B. Harley Bradley House: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Flagship Prairie Design” book can be purchased in the gift shop at the B. Harley Bradley House, 701 S. Harrison Avenue, Kankakee, or online at the wright1900.org or B. Harley Bradley House websites, following the link to the gift shop.
Do you have any upcoming events or book signings?
Currently, there are not any speaking engagements about the book on my calendar that are open to the public, but I hope this article might stimulate some local interest in knowing more about the Bradley House book.
Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
I would like to let people who want to purchase this book know I have purchased the books and donated them to Wright In Kankakee, so all proceeds from the sales of the books benefit the B. Harley Bradley House. As Kankakeeans, we have a precious resource in the Bradley House and need to ensure it will be present for another 124 years and beyond.
Generations to come should be able to continue to fall in love with the Bradley House, learn locally about the most famous architect of our time, and that the Bradley House that he built here was the very first in a decade of prairie architecture to follow.
The B. Harley Bradley House has been the No. 1 tourist attraction in Kankakee County for a number of years since it has been operated as a museum and brings untold revenue to this area. Visitors representing all the 50 United States and more than 27 countries have spent their tourism dollars here.
