Dana-Thomas House Art Glass Restoration

301 East Lawrence Avenue,Springfield IL 62703

17 April, 2023

Description

Join us for this presentation about the restoration of the art glass elements in the Dana-Thomas House. Originally completed in 1904, the home contains more than 550 original art glass elements designed by renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Ralls Melotte, co-founder of Melotte Morse Leonatti Parker, Ltd., Architects and Melotte Morse Leonatti Stained Glass, will discuss his firm's role in the 9-year effort to restore the art glass in the 1980s. The presentation will take place in the gallery/studio of the historic home, located at 301 E. Lawrence Avenue in Springfield. Please enter using the door on Lawrence Avenue. The program is free but reservations are required as seating is limited. Please note stairs are required to access the program location. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate please contact our Site Superintendent at [email protected] or 217-524-3971. Photography and video recording are NOT permitted inside the Dana-Thomas House. Parking Two free parking lots are available; one at the corner of Fourth Street and Lawrence Avenue, directly across from the house (former YMCA parking lot); and one behind the house just west of the railroad tracks (enter from Cook Street). About the Site The Dana-Thomas House was designed and built between 1902-1904 by renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It was constructed for Susan Lawrence Dana, a Springfield socialite, philanthropist, and activist who collaborated with Wright on his first "blank check" commission to design a home in which she could advance her ideas about democracy and education. At 12,600 square feet, with 35 rooms and over 100 art glass windows, when completed in 1904 it was the largest and most extravagant home Wright had designed thus far in his independent career as an architect. Today it is managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources; with most of its original furnishings and art glass still intact, it is one of the most complete of Wright's Prairie style homes in the United States.