Rebuilt Wright house nearly open

Museum to start tours of architect’s creation in November

The Bachman-Wilson House designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright is being reassembled on the grounds of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. It will open to the public on Nov. 11.
The Bachman-Wilson House designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright is being reassembled on the grounds of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. It will open to the public on Nov. 11.

Seeing the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Bachman-Wilson house for the first time was an unsettling experience for Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Executive Director Rod Bigelow.

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Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville has set an opening date of Nov. 11 for Frank Lloyd Wright’s Bachman-Wilson House.

Crystal Bridges announced Wednesday that it will open the rebuilt home for public viewing beginning Nov. 11, an announcement that led Bigelow to reflect on his first in-person encounter with the home. Bigelow's first look came after the 1,800-square-foot structure had been disassembled in New Jersey and piles of mahogany and glass were waiting to be shipped to Bentonville in 2014.

"I looked at it and instantly thought, 'What have we done? We've made the biggest mistake ever by destroying this house,'" Bigelow said. "But it had to be done. It was the right thing to do to preserve it."

Crystal Bridges purchased the house in 2013 as part of an effort to save it from repeated flooding. Restoration became increasingly difficult for owners Lawrence and Sharon Tarantino, and the house was disassembled.

Crews are nearing the final stages of reassembly and, beginning Nov. 11, the house can be toured Mondays from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m.; Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. and from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Crystal Bridges is closed on Tuesdays.

No more than 10 people will be allowed in the house at one time.

Originally the home was scheduled to open in spring of 2015 and, within the first few hours of Wednesday's announcement, the museum had received more than 100 calls to reserve tickets for a member preview scheduled for early November. Crystal Bridges added staff to its call center to assist with the anticipated volume of calls, museum chief engagement officer Niki Stewart said.

While there is no charge, tickets are required to tour the home and will be made available to the general public beginning Nov. 2. Guided and self-guided tours will be available every day except Tuesdays and Fridays. Patrons can choose an hour-long guided tour that includes exhibits inside the museum, plus the house and the property which overlook Crystal Spring.

Tours will evolve over time, depending on feedback from visitors.

"It really gives us a launching point to talking about architecture in a more complete way," Stewart said. "We're offering different ways to experience the house, not just one way. We're trying to connect to the experience you want."

Crystal Bridges began rebuilding the house after it arrived in Northwest Arkansas in 2014.

Wright built the Bachman Wilson House in 1954 for Gloria Bachman and Abraham Wilson. Bachman's brother, Marvin, was an apprentice to Wright.

While the rebuilding project has been slowed by weather and the painstaking attempt to reconstruct the home as accurately and carefully as possible, UA associate architecture professor Greg Herman said the wait will be worth it. Herman led students through a project last year that created a model of the home. Currently the model is on display in the south entrance of Crystal Bridges Museum.

"I'm absolutely thrilled that it's there. This will raise the level of architecture consciousness in the community and the region," Herman said. "Crystal Bridges hasn't compromised at all in the quality of the reconstruction. Though, perhaps, it's taken a little bit longer than they initially expected, I think the wait is well worth it, relative to what we're going to see there forever, really. This is for the ages."

Because the completion date of the house was a moving-target, Crystal Bridges only recently selected the opening date. While there was some internal debate about opening the house to the public on Nov. 11, something the museum did with its grand opening of 11/11/11, Bigelow said the date made the most sense in the end.

"The date really backed into itself, honestly," Bigelow said. "It was somewhat serendipity. We're excited to have the opportunity to celebrate our fourth year with the opening, but it really was a matter of making it available as soon as possible, but completing the house in a quality manner."

Metro on 08/27/2015

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