'The Bear' Spotlights Frank Lloyd Wright's Home and Studio in Oak Park

The Bear is famous for spotlighting beloved Chicago landmarks, and the new fourth season is no different. In episode five, protagonist Carmy drives to the western suburb of Oak Park to visit the legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio. Carmy wanders through the connected buildings, admiring such details as the octagonal, double-height drafting room; the barrel-vaulted second floor playroom; patterned windows and skylights of Wright’s own design; and some signature high-backed chairs in the dining room. Interspersed throughout the shots are blueprints, historic photos of the home, and a photo of the Wright family there, which a docent shows to Carmy. (The home and studio are open for tours.) Unsurprisingly, the chef Carmy lingers in the kitchen at an antique stove.

Wright designed and built the initial house when he was in his early twenties, working under architect Louis Sullivan in Chicago, borrowing money from Sullivan to buy the land. He expanded upon it over the 20 years he lived there with his first wife, Catherine “Kitty” Tobin, and their six children. He bought the site in 1889, added rooms such as the playroom in 1895, and built the attached studio in 1898. He left Tobin for another woman in 1909, but Tobin remained living in the studio until 1918. After a period of varied ownership, it was bought and restored by what is now the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust, which continues to operate it today.

While Wright lived in the Oak Park home, he designed numerous houses throughout Chicago and Oak Park, including two that are featured in The Bear. After visiting Wright’s home, Carmy walks down the block and looks at the 1902 Arthur and Grace Heurtley House, an exemplar of Wright’s horizontally oriented Prairie Style. Carmy also pauses across the street at the unusual Nathan G. Moore House, which adopts a half-timbered Tudor style but gained idiosyncratic features such as Mayan- and Gothic-inspired motifs after a fire in 1922. Carmy’s Oak Park tour concludes as he smiles outside the Moore House.

Another Chicago fixture appears in season four of The Bear: restaurateur, sommelier, and former Check, Please! host Alpana Singh. If you haven’t seen the popular show yet and want to know what all the fuss is about, visit our explainer.