Pleasant Home

Oak Park has an outstanding plethora of cultural gems within such a small geographic radius. A lesser know landmark within the Village of Oak Park is Pleasant Home. Noted as an early example of America's prairie style homes it offers a fascinating insight into life over a hundred years ago and the innovations of technology within domestic life. Pleasant Home was originally owned by John Larson and was later purchased by the Mills family (the house is within Mills Park), and is situated within walking distance from Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple and his home and studio. 

Most notably about the actual house is its elaborate hand carved architectural details, stained glass, and overall craftsmanship. I think that Pleasant Home is a real treasure to Oak Park and surrounding area and I'm really hope to get more involved in supporting it. 

Creepy Museum Mannequins

DISCLAIMER: This blog entry contains mature and graphic photographic content. 

Part of being passionate about museums is embracing all weird, unique, and sometimes awkward moments exhibited inside museums and historical places (whether they're intentional or not). From large to small organizations you can encounter creepy or uncanny situations that many museums sometimes display. Even some contemporary artists have contributed and examined the disturbing irony of mannequins (two examples below), and how museum displays can sometimes be off-putting. I love discovering these moments, because part of educational experiences that become memorable can happen when things are unplanned.

My first example is a historical house in Alexandria, VA, which I visited in grad school and confronted a very uncomfortable introductory visitor's video with a mannequin watching me, all by myself, from a dark corner.

The Field Museum portrays a Native American rite of passage ritual, while floating hands pull on some hemp:

Examples from a museum in the Mid-West:

A tortured 'witch' from the National Museum of Sweden:

At a military museum in Stockholm, Sweden the sitting mannequin portrayed an upper-class aristocratic with syphilis:

Contemporary artist Yinka Shonibare:

Contemporary artist Paul McCarthy:

 

 

Pittock Mansion

The Pittock Mansion is a historical home located on top of a hill that overlooks the entire city of Portland and the Willamette valley.  The view is spectacular.  Built in 1909, by paper industrialist Henry Pittock, the home is free for the first part of February, and I felt it would be a good time to take a look inside one of the fanciest homes in the city.  The actual house is designed in a French-Renaissance style "chateau", and the 'open house' was crowded with families and people eager to look into Portland's fancy past.  

The entire construction of the house is literally focused on one objective--the view.  The whole house meets at an apex that points to the outstanding Eastern view.  The lower basement of the house exhibited several floor plans of the house, which definitely showcased the architect's intention of getting people to look at the amazing view of the valley.  Inside the house features many great lighting fixtures, a very grand staircase, and very unique architecture features.  
 

Educational road signs!

A special airy porch for good health; one of two inside the house.

Henry Pittock