5. In 1926, Wright was arrested in violation of the Mann Act, a stipulation that made it illegal for men to transport women across state lines for “immoral” purposes
Though his divorce with second wife Miriam Noel was not yet final in 1926, Wright was already in a committed relationship with the woman who would become his third wife, Olgivanna Lazovich Hinzenburg. The pair had met at a Russian ballet and had a daughter together, Iovanna, in 1925. In 1926, Wright drove with Olgivanna to a cottage in Minnesota, crossing state lines and leading to a night in the county jail. The charges would later be dropped, and the pair would be formally married in 1928.
From collaborations with Kith to partnerships with Maya Brenner, America’s favorite architect remains a steadfast source of inspiration for designers of all kinds
6. Wright dabbled in fashion design
Wright was known for his obsessive eye for detail, insisting on specific furnishings and challenging clients who threatened to compromise his vision for their homes by trying to inject their own taste into the spaces. According to Wright biographer David Hanks, this interest in the total environment led him to create select clothing as well. The architect designed dresses for his wife Catherine Tobin Wright and female clients. Though little documentation exists around the designs, two images are shown in Hanks’s book The Decorative Designs of Frank Lloyd Wright.
7. Richard Neutra briefly worked for Wright
After seeing Wright’s Wasmuth Portfolio, Austrian-born Neutra was transfixed. “Whoever he was, Frank Lloyd Wright, the man far away, had done something momentous and rich in meaning,” Neutra wrote, per Secrest’s biography. “This miracle man instilled in me the conviction that, no matter what, I would have to go to the places where he walked and worked.” Neutra spent a brief stint at Wright’s practice with his friend, architect Rudolph Schindler, before ascending to modernist fame himself.
8. Wright was a prominent dealer in Japanese art
Until his death in 1959, Wright managed a prosperous business dealing Japanese block prints. It’s been said that at times during his career, Wright earned more from this operation than his architectural practice.
9. The architect’s son John Lloyd Wright invented Lincoln Logs.
Wright’s second eldest son, John Lloyd, followed in his father’s footsteps to a career in architecture, designing and building numerous buildings in San Diego County, where he lived in adulthood. Still, his most remembered creation is the invention of Lincoln Logs, which are still in production over 100 years later. The toy was named after Abraham Lincoln as a reference to the president’s boyhood log cabin home. However, Wright’s original middle name was also Lincoln, changed to Lloyd only after his parents divorced to underscore the young boy’s connection with his mother’s family, the Lloyd-Joneses.