Ideas Magazine_Volume 6

Our special gratitude to curator Nathan Allaire, the John E. Christian Family Memorial Trust, Inc., and Indiana Landmarks for the opportunity to explore Samara House in such detail.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 03 Meet the Team 04 Introduction 05 Visitor Capacity at Samara House 16

Exploring Accessibility at Samara House

28 Samara House Visitor Center 53 Parking at Samara House Third-party Partnerships and 69 Exploring Integration with Samara House

81 The “Samara Experience” Project 90 Overnight stay at Samara House 102 Bibliography

TEAM Faculty Instructor and Editor: Dr. Ashima Krishna

Student Authors:

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Ola Adegbohungbe Salam Alkilani Spencer Bowles Jakaila Clay Maria Conners Francis Corvin Celesté Enriquez Mason Giacchetti Sophia Hewlett Danny Kanj EunGyn (Daniel) Lee Basil Liu Hana Mahmoud Mehr Mangat Rodrigo Mateo Joanna Miller Samarth Rastogi Alex Rodriguez-Gonzalez Eduard Tanase Lucas Yu George Ziavras

STUDENT EDITORS Annie Cash Annie Cash is a Sophomore at Purdue University, double majoring in Political Science and Philosophy. She currently is one of the two interns/editors assisting Dr. Ashima Krishna for the upcoming Honors College magazine, a publication dedicated to highlighting the work of faculty, students, and staff at the JMHC.

Karim Hijazi Karim Hijazi is a senior at Purdue University, majoring in Political Science. He is currently working alongside Dr. Krishna and Annie Cash as a media intern and editor for the Honors College magazine.

Ideas Magazine was an experiment in pandemic-era pedagogy and outreach in what was then Honors College at Purdue University. It was imagined and developed in Fall 2020 as a way for students to present interdisciplinary perspectives on a range of topics covered by visiting scholars. Each volume was created and developed by student editors and mentored by Honors College faculty. Volumes 1-4 were associated with the Visiting Scholars Program (VSP) in the Honors College, an effort to introduce Honors students to a variety of disciplinary expertise and mentor them to interpret content through an interdisciplinary lens.

Each semester, students enrolled in a 1 credit VSP course, which allowed them to engage with 4-5 invited guest speakers in a meaningful way. Volume 1 of the magazine was led by Dr. Kristina Bross in Fall 2020.

Volume 2 in Spring 2021 semester was led by Dr. Emily Allen. Volume 3 and Volume 4 were led by Dr. Ashima Krishna. Everything about the magazine in its first four iterations has been a collaborative effort between the instructors and student editors. Once the Visiting Scholars Program ended in Spring 2022, Volume 5 was adapted by Dr. Krishna in Fall 2022 to feature interdisciplinary work done by students in her Community of Inquiry course, where they explored the theme of 'The Global City' and heard from experts on various aspects of the city of New Delhi in India and delved deeper into each thematic exploration of the city.

This latest version of Ideas Magazine builds on prior efforts and reimagines the same interdisciplinary conversations, this time through the lens of HONR22000 Community of Inquiry, which focused in Fall 2023 on conservation efforts at Samara House, a historic home and National Historic Landmark designed by well-known American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1950s. Throughout the semester, students in this course worked closely with Nathan Allaire, the curator of the John E Christian House (Samara House) in West Lafayette, IN. Their exploration of the site included several in-person visits to the home, in-depth tours led by Mr. Allaire, and reviewing secondary sources of information. Students also explored other properties designed by Frank Lloyd Wright around the country and researched precedents. They also got to hear from two experts, Professor Jeffrey Chusid from Cornell University who led the restoration efforts at Freeman House in Los Angeles, CA; and Mary Roberts, the former Executive Director of the Martin House Restoration Corporation in Buffalo, NY who led the restoration and reconstruction efforts at Darwin Martin House for over 20 years. In this issue, students present their findings and recommendations on challenges identified at Samara House by Mr. Allaire and Dr. Krishna. Students worked in groups throughout the semester to analyze the issue and explore solutions to each challenge.

I would like to commend the student editors for this magazine, Annie Cash and Karim Hijazi, for designing this volume of Ideas Magazine and curating the content and layout.

Clinical Associate Professor John Martinson Honors College Purdue University

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DR. ASHIMA KRISHNA

VISITOR CAPACITY AT SAMARA HOUSE Source: https://iprofessdesign.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/a-dialogue-with-the-man/

Authors Celesté Enriquez

College of Health and Human Sciences

Alex Rodriguez-Gonzalez College of Engineering

George Ziavras

College of Engineering

Historical Summary

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In the history of Samara House, a major contribution to the creation of this historically famous Frank Lloyd Wright architectural home stems from the events that occurred after World War II. After the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 was implemented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 22, 1944, there were various governmental supplements for returning veterans to continue their education through government stipends and grants (National Archives and Records Administration, 2022). These Acts were put into place due to an influx of

unemployed veterans after World War II, and arose from the fear of a second major depression due to rising unemployment rates.

As a result of the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, Purdue’s enrollment had tripled in size and in 1946 Purdue University was forced to turn down 5,000 applicants due to limited housing and campus resources (Purdue University, n.d.). In 1948, with this influx of students to Purdue’s campus, there had been a great need for more social activities to help healthily divert these students' energies. As a result, the University hired a woman named Catherine Spooner as their social director to help come up with more activities with the intention of keeping the student population out of trouble. In response, Catherine Spooner created a committee for the social engagement for students, where she eventually met Dr. John Christian. Later Catherine and John married on July 23, 1948 (JCC Chicago, 2020). During their married life, one of their shared values was the desire to entertain faculty, staff, and students inside their home. This inspired the Christians to search for an architect who would build a house capable of fulfilling their specific needs.

In 1949 Dr. Christian had attended a conference in

New York city and brought his wife along with him.

There, during a visit to the town she and her husband fell in love with, Catherine had learned of a community in Pleasantville, New York, called Usonia, where she saw the Frank-Lloyd-Wrightdesigned Sol Friedman House (NPS, 2021). This began the process of the Christians in-depth research on the work of Frank Lloyd Wright which included visitations of his various properties. In 1948, the Christians had purchased the West Lafayette lot for their eventual home but it wasn’t until 1951 that Frank Lloyd Wright had finally agreed to accept the Christians commission to build their house (NPS, 2021). Thereafter, Catherine developed a 27 page essay called “What We Need for How We Live” which listed, in fine detail, the Christian’s plans for their new home (NPS, 2021).

supervised by one of Wright’s apprentices Edward Kipta (NPS, 2021). Considering that the Christians were newlyweds, and they had limited financial resources to build the house, they took a gradual approach, completing the characteristics of the Samara house over a long period of time— which was reflected in Wright’s design. It wasn’t until September 1956 that the Samara house was finally completed for the Christian’s to move in. As the Christians continued living their happy lives there, they were still commissioning furniture and housing details that were included in Wright’s original design. Sadly in 1986 Catherine Christian had passed away; and thereafter, John Christian inhabited the house until his death in 2015. After his death the house was passed to their daughter and was later passed on to the Samara Trust (Yu, 2015).

In the essay, Catherine listed various details of what qualities she desired for a house that she, her husband, and their young daughter needed to live.

This plan included various features, such as a short biography on each family member and a narrative of what they wanted the house to be like as well as their hopes to use the house for entertainment, which contributed greatly to how Wright had decided to design the house. One of her most impactful wishes was to include the feature of a sunken living room to help account for seating space and capacity inside the house. The sunken living room design was made in order to allow the space to be able to entertain 40-50 people within that selective space. Overall, the design of an entertainment space like the living room of Samara was formatted so the couple would be able to entertain a large quantity of people, while retaining a feeling of openness to its guests.

Issue Overview

According to Nathan Allaire; the sole employee of the Samara Trust in charge of leading tours,

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The project finally went into full production in August of 1953, in January 1955 final designs were approved, and construction came into full effect in April 1955. Construction began using a local contractor named Frank Wood who was

The context in which the Samara House will be viewed for this project is with respect to the capacity and flow of visitors through the house.

Several key factors will be taken into account when analyzing this topic including: personal (first-hand) impressions of the house, precedent with similar small houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, other tourist experiences with similar capacity limits, and Indiana fire and safety regulations. Upon viewing the Samara House for the first time, the local disparity in the relative capacities of different parts of the house became immediately apparent. The capacities associated with the house can be divided into three general sections: the outside, the communal living room, and the more private areas of the home. These sections are listed in order from the highest to lowest capacities respectively. The disparity becomes ever prevalent when paired with the precarious economic hardship the Samara Trust finds itself in (Allaire, 2023).

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monitoring the house for upkeep, and organizing new events for the house: the current limit of individuals per tour is set to 15 individuals. This decision was made for two reasons, one being the desire to keep the tour sizes smaller allowing for a more personal and fulfilling tour experience for guests, and the other being the physical constraints of the smallest room in the house: the guest bedroom. Allaire mentioned that it was challenging to fit a tour group of 15 in the bedroom and because of this doubts that, without extra help, it would be possible, or even desirable, to expand tour sizes. This apparent limitation on the tour sizes in the Samara House clashes with the need for the house to fund its efforts to preserve and share Lloyd Wright's work with the community of West Lafayette. In Allaire’s review of the Samara House budget he claimed that the house’s yearly budget deficit upwards of $90,000 is generously paid for by Indiana Landmarks—a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic structures in Indiana (“About”, 2023). During a group interview, Allaire mentioned that without these donations the house would be unable to “keep the lights on” and, while the Samara Trust is very thankful for the donations, efforts to better sustain the cost of operation for the house, while maintaining an exceptional guest experience, would be worthwhile. Assuming the Samara House can maintain high demand for its tours (Allaire stated that tours are typically at no lower than 80% of maximum capacity) increasing the capacity of tours may assist in balancing the Samara House budget, but may come at a cost to the guest experience. With Mr. Allaire’s comments, the Samara House budget, and the guest experience in mind, the following research intends to deliver the background for an eventual comprehensive solution to the capacity issues facing West Lafayette’s Frank Lloyd Wright designed home.

The Samara House is not the only Frank Lloyd Wright designed structure with a limited capacity

for visitors. For comparison, the smallest FLW designed house is Seth Peterson Cottage in Lake Delton, Wisconsin at merely 880 square feet in comparison to Samara house’s 2200 square feet.

At maximum capacity during special events, The Cottage is limited to 30-40 people and for “roundthe-table meetings” or house tours up to 12 people at a time are allowed (Baraboo Area Chamber of Commerce, n.d.). These are very similar limits to those followed by the Samara House despite the glaring difference in size between the two structures, however, it can be explained by the layout of the Seth Peterson Cottage which is a very open structure lacking hallways or tight spaces. Even a Frank Lloyd Wright Structure as large as the Robie house, with a square footage of about 9062 square feet, limits their tours to 15 individuals (Sarah, 2023).

Thus, the limit of 15 individuals per tour is not a rare or arbitrary limit, but a limit followed by many of Frank Lloyd Wright's historical homes large and small. On a phone call with the tour booking service for the Seth Peterson Cottage the answer to the question “Why set your tour size to just 12 people?” was simple: “It’s just a matter of space” (Anonymous, 2023).

Strictly from a visitor safety perspective, occupancy load is calculated by dividing the total square footage by the specific units of area described for an individual person. This varies depending on the type of structure for which occupancy is being calculated, with an example being dormitories, 50 square feet are assigned per occupant of a room (Fox, 2022). For a house “museum” such as Samara House 30-100 square feet are usually assigned per visiting person (Engineering Toolbox, n.d.). The Samara House’s floor plan (Figure 1) will be used to calculate the occupancy load of the living room and dining room floor areas. These numbers are also being calculated under the assumption that terraces and other outdoor spaces are disregarded as part of the house’s floor area in order to prepare for

scenarios where they cannot be used as escape routes during an emergency. From the schematic, it can be calculated that these spaces add up to approximately 950 square feet. Upon taking the modest restriction of 30 square feet per person, upwards of 31 people can be allowed to mingle within these areas of the house.

For the smallest rooms in the house a different method must be employed for the calculation of occupancy load. By examination of the floor plan for the Samara House (Figure 1) the smallest room (the guest room) was determined to have roughly 100 square feet of free standing space.

Using the maximum floor area allowance per occupant of fifteen net square feet per occupant (provided that it is for standing room only with chairs and objects in the way) given by Maggie Aey from the Certified Commercial Property Inspectors Association the occupancy load of the guest bedroom of the house is at maximum seven individuals (Aey, 2022). The justification for using such a small floor area allowance value per occupant relies on the fact that the guests are not intended to spend large amounts of time in the space. This highlights the difference in capacity sizes between the common and private areas of the house. Given this disparity, future research can be conducted into the possibility of catering to the different capacities of the house with different stages of the tour group sizes during a tour. Considerations will also be made for finding possible ways to increase the count and reliability of staff in the home which can increase the flexibility of breaking down group sizes during the tour (if there is only one employee the entire group must be together during the tour).

his current tour is set to include all 16 individuals attending a tour (including himself) in the room at once. While the tour does not spend a significant amount of time in the guest bedroom, this large overextension of the room capacity could cause safety issues in an emergency situation. The danger of the room exceeding the occupancy load must also be considered with the fact that in all rooms of the house (except the bathroom) there are direct exits to the outside. The calculations above were calculated conservatively, however, given that this exit was not accounted for when finding the room’s occupancy load. Exceeding occupancy load of the space can still be a dangerous endeavor especially if Allaire is unable or has difficulty in opening the exit.

While there are concerns about the experience of the guests and for the revenue generation of the Samara House, the safety of the guests in the Samara House should be the main concern. Thus, each proposal presented will attempt to mitigate the challenge posed by the limited capacity of the bedrooms and hallway during the tour.

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As previously mentioned, it was found using the International Standards of Practice for Inspecting Commercial Properties that the capacity of the smallest room used on the tour (the guest bedroom) is at a maximum seven individuals. This presents a fairly large problem for Mr. Allaire as

Figure 1: The floor plan for the Samara House. As mentioned above, there is a noticeable disparity in the relative sizes of the living room and the bedrooms of the house. Source: Frank Lloyd Wright, as published by Suzanne Stanis “Building Blocks,” 2022

The table above contains approximate (calculated using the floor plan) of the square footage of sections of the Samara House. Square footages adjusted for objects in the path of visitors. *Note that the kitchen and entryway are not further discussed due to their direct connection to the house living room

Proposal 1: Open Doors and Planned Flow

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One way to avoid safety hazards during the tour is, while a tour is in effect, to open the doors to each bedroom beforehand and follow a predetermined path which guarantees that guests will only need to move in a straight line through the rooms (no turning in on itself or going back where it came from). This method can avoid guests getting trapped at entrances to rooms or in the hallway — which is prone to happen due to the small size of the hallway and doorways. This proposal increases the load of each room by opening their direct connections to the outside (the area with the largest capacity by far) and allowing for immediate egress if necessary. It can be used for various capacity sizes, although it is not necessarily recommended that the capacity be increased beyond 15 given the added detriment to guest experience (guests will begin to block the view of others) and the increasing difficulty for a single tour guide to manage the group. This proposal also has the added benefit that Allaire need not change the other parts of his tour. He can conduct the rest of the tour as he normally does and follow this specific planned flow when showing the bedrooms of the house.

The proposal follows that when the tour begins to move to the bedrooms of the house the group exits the dining room through a set of doors which lead to the outside, this would afford Allaire a point in the tour to emphasize the outdoor features of the house — something he mentioned that he wanted to do (Allaire, 2023). After exiting the house the group can make their way into the guest bedroom through the outside door whereupon Allaire can talk to them about the room. They can then make their way, through the hallway, to the master bedroom where Allaire can give an explanation of the room. When finished the group can leave the room through the outside door and again enter through the dining room. If needed this process can be doubled with another tour guide and tours can be given successively (while Allaire is in the guest room the others are outside and while Allaire is in the master bedroom the other guide is in the guest room). The process can also be completely reversed if needed, however this route is the only route that can be taken through each room without crossing back into itself. Below is a diagram of each route:

Figure 2: The proposed path mentioned above starts in the grass lawn and ends in the master bedroom Source: Frank Lloyd Wright, as published by Suzanne Stanis “Building Blocks,”2022. Edited by Alex Rodriguez

degradation. For these reasons, especially that of the air conditioning, it is recommended that the doors are left open only when tours are in session and are open for the least amount of time possible.

Proposal 2: Breaking up the Tour

Figure 3: A depiction of the path reversed. This path starts in the master bedroom and ends the lawn.

Source: Frank Lloyd Wright, as published by Suzanne Stanis “Building Blocks,”2022. Edited by Alex Rodriguez

While this method seems to offer a solution which allows Allaire to maintain the current tour size (or possibly increase it) it does not come without cons. One of the largest issues with this method is its relative lack of accessibility for those with disabilities. Requiring the group to roam through the grass or the outside area of the home may not be possible for some. Another limitation of the design is that it is somewhat complex and restricts the freedom of guests to move between areas of the house at their leisure (at least during the tour).

It may be difficult for Allaire to coordinate that guests follow this specific path throughout the house without confusion among the guests.

The specifics of this proposal can take several forms and can vary depending on the size of the groups seeing the house at a time, and the number of students or volunteers at Allaire’s disposal. Assuming that the capacity of the house remains at 15 individuals, and assuming a full tour, all members of the tour can meet and gather in the common area of the house, whereupon they would split into three groups of 5 individuals.

Splitting these groups into groups of six (including the tour guide) will ensure that there will be sufficient space in the room, given its maximum occupancy load of seven individuals, for a safe and orderly evacuation in the case of an emergency. All visitors touring the house would begin the main room (livingroom) of the house as shown in figure 4A. The large group of 15 visitors

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There are no direct costs or expenses related to this proposal (all that is required is that guests walk through rooms in a certain order), however, there may be indirect costs. One of these is the strain on the air conditioning system of the house incurred from prolonged periods of time where the outside doors of the house are open. It may also be unpleasant for guests to step outside of the house in the presence of cold or inclement weather. Additionally, repeated use of the outside doors of the guest bedroom, master bedroom, and dining room may result in their accelerated

This proposal attempts to regulate the amount of people in the back rooms of the house by breaking larger tour groups into several small groups who will view the back of the house at separate times apart from the large group. This method also allows for a more in-depth, and safe, experience for the guests on the tour. Assistance for Allaire may also be needed given that a single tour guide cannot be with the entire group at once if the group has split. For this the recommendation could be to either expand the volunteer presence of the Samara House through increased advertising and awareness in the Purdue and West Lafayette area or to partner with Purdue’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management to recruit dedicated students to work with Samara House as a real world work experience opportunity. It is also possible with this proposal, if wanted, to take on larger capacities of tour groups although it again could add to the complexity of tours given.

would then be split into 3 groups of 5 and either be allocated to Allaire’s tour, or one of the other two student volunteers. Each group would begin in a different part of the house as seen in figure 4C, one in the common area, the other in the kitchen and bedroom area of the house, and the last group would be located in the outside area. The groups would then spend approximately equal time touring the outside, common room, and bedrooms of the house. When done touring their respective parts of the home they would switch places when finished as seen in 4B and 4D. Below is a graphical depiction of the tour structure mentioned below:

Figure 4: This figure shows a possible form which the tour splitting method can take. In this particular orientation all groups (1, 2, and 3) start in the common area, then each group cycles through different areas of the house in different order. All groups then finish the tour in the living room.

Source: Frank Lloyd Wright, as published by Suzanne Stanis “Building Blocks,” 2022. Edited by Alex Rodriguez

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Again, this proposal is not without flaws. A major problem with the method is the assumption that the tour of each segment of the house will take the same amount of time. Allaire mentioned in his interview that he tends to spend less time in the bedroom areas of the house during the tour as the

house was designed with the intention that the Christian’s would spend as little time as possible in the hallway and bedrooms of the home. Currently Allaire also spends no time during the tour on the outside of the home, which would drastically change in this method to around a third of the entire tour.

Of course these problems could be addressed by spending a larger amount of time in the common area with all groups together (either during the start or end of the tour) which would give less time overall for guests to tour the outside and bedrooms of the house. Another problem with this method is that it again relies on the tour moving to the outside of the home which may be difficult or inconvenient in the presence of inclement or cold weather. Lastly, this method relies heavily on volunteer or student assistance which can pose a risk. Volunteers have no obligation to fulfill their commitment with Samara which allows for the possibility of Allaire being left alone, or being down a volunteer during a tour which can complicate the scenario. In a partnership with the Purdue School of Hospitality and Tourism Management it would be possible to garner predictable and reliable help from students because their grades could be directly tied to their presence at Samara. The presence of other tour guides may also affect the guest experience in that the volunteer or student tour guides are likely to be inexperienced and may not deliver a tour as well as Allaire who is both more experienced in guiding tours and more experienced with the work of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Splitting tours requires that Allaire is constantly training new volunteers or students and relying on them to perform quality tours. Coordination between the guides may also pose a problem in that some guides may move faster or slower than others and it is required that all finish their respective smaller tours of a part of the house in order to rotate to different areas.

There are no direct costs associated with this method but there may be some indirect costs. One large indirect cost may be the time that Allaire may

need to spend developing and training volunteers and students about the Samara House and about Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture. It is likely that the students may be unfamiliar with the structure and possibly the architect and will need to learn quickly and deeply about Frank Lloyd Wright and the Samara House. Any time Allaire spends training and helping the students and volunteers takes away time for other tasks that the sole curator of the home could be handling.

Analysis of Tour Proposals Some challenges and problems relating to capacity include balancing profits, manageability, experience and safety. In order to address these issues, they will be treated as separate categories and assigned weights of importance. Each possible solution will be graded points in accordance to how well they address each of the specific challenges presented. Importance of each challenge is determined based on the current situation of the Samara House. For example, profits would favor maximizing capacity in order to increase the number of people who can circulate through tours, increasing tickets sold and therefore increasing profit; however, doing so would affect the experience and safety of the tour as there would be more people per tour guide, and effectively more people circulating through the narrow hallways and doorways of the building.

Analysis of Criteria Weights As can be seen in Table 2, the safety of the guests during the tour took the highest precedence in selecting a solution. The safety of guests through the adherence to occupancy load of the house rooms should be considered the first priority of tours, hence its dominating weight of 35. The experience of guests took the next precedence when deciding weights. During his time talking about Samara and the tours of the house Allaire mentioned how attempts to create a “sense of wonder” in his guests — exemplifying his singular focus on the guest experience (Allaire, 2023). The importance Allaire places on the experience of guests at Samara inspired the high weight of experience (30) in the proposal analysis.

Manageability was considered as the next most important quality of a solution because: what good is a solution if it cannot reasonably be implemented. The manageability of solutions takes into account the new load that must be put onto Allaire, and in some cases on guests, in trying to implement solutions. The profits category was given the lowest weight of 10 largely due to the relative invariability in profit margins with respect to increasing the capacities of tours in the house.

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Profits will be regarded by looking at the total possible capacity of the proposed solution. The more people a solution accounts for, the higher the available profits from tours. Manageability refers to how easy a proposed solution is to implement. Solutions with many variables and many moving parts (like the splitting of groups in proposal 2) will score lower on manageability as these solutions are harder to coordinate. How smoothly the tours and groups can be managed and proceed throughout the house, as well as how many people it would take to operate them, will determine how high this value will be for a specific solution. The experience of the guests will be determined via several factors including: the

size of the tour (smaller tour sizes get a higher experience rating), the experience of the tour guides (inexperienced volunteer or student tour guides may give tours of lesser quality than Allaire), and external miscellaneous factors (tourists may be forced to stand outside in the cold or rain while viewing the bedrooms in proposal 1)..

Safety will look at the efficiency with which an evacuation can be prepared in the case of an emergency as well as the adherence to the previously calculated occupancy load of seven individuals. The more difficult it is to evacuate the people touring, the lower the level of safety will be.

The main driver behind profits for Samara is tied to the demand that exists to see the house.

Increasing capacities may allow more people to see the house at once, but at what cost if there are not enough people to consistently fully book tours at the increased capacity. Allaire mentioned that currently tours are usually booked to an average of about 80% capacity meaning that, with a tour group size of 15 people, the Samara House is able to meet the current demand for the house well (Allaire, 2023). In order to justify increasing the overall tour capacity of Samara the demand for tours would need to increase significantly (which is out of the scope of capacity at Samara). This was the main driver in setting the profits of tours at the lowest weight and was also the reason each tour received identical scores for their profit margins.

In Table 3 the possible scores which each proposal will receive in the selected categories (safety, experience, manageability, and profits) are described. As described in the table, scores range from 0-1 with various criteria for receiving the selected score.

Analysis of Table Results

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Table 4 shows the final results of the weighted decision analysis used above. The table compares Allaire’s current tour format with the two proposed solutions discussed in this analysis. The current tour received a total score of 55 which is substantially lower than both Proposal 1 (total score of 72) and Proposal 2 (total score of 73).

The only reason that the current tour scored lower than the proposed solutions is due to its low safety

rating. The current tour requires that the bedrooms of the house contain more than double the individuals than their calculated capacity loads permit which risks harm to visitors or Allaire in a possible emergency scenario. It can be seen in the table, however, that Allaire’s current tour either led or tied with all other proposed solutions in every other category.

The profits of each solution were all scored equally given the relatively small effect of tour size on profits. The current tour led all proposals in the manageability category as the current tour is already in effect and proven to be implementable.

The next highest in manageability was Proposal 1.

This was because there may be some difficulties in managing the large group of people and constantly bringing the group through a specifically planned path through the house.

There may also be difficulties making sure that the doors from each bedroom are open before each tour and closed after each tour. Proposal 1, however, is still quite manageable in that Allaire has the freedom to keep every other part of the tour the same and that he can deliver the tour on his own. These freedoms vanish with Proposal 2 which earns it the lowest score on manageability.

The largest issue with the manageability of Proposal 2 arises from the need for precise coordination between, in the proposed case, three different tour guides during tours and the strain imparted on Allaire in retraining new students after each semester. These complicated moving parts will be challenging for Alliare to manage and may prove to make his job at Samara more difficult.

Allaire’s current tour, tied with Proposal 2, scored higher in the experience category than Proposal 1.

In the case of the current tour this was because of the high level of thought and mastery given to the tour by Allaire. What kept the experience rating of the current tour from reaching a maximum score of 1 was the fact that many of the guests must pack tightly into the smaller areas of the house which may cause some discomfort. Proposal 2 tied with the current tour in the experience

category largely due to the smaller and tightly knit tour experiences it would provide guests when the groups split. Smaller groups were given precedent for a higher guest experience rating in the analysis.

What kept Proposal 2 from reaching a full score was the potential problem caused by the relative lack of experience of a young student or volunteer tour guides which 10 of the 15 guests would view the house with. These tour guides may lack knowledge and fail to deliver a tour of the caliber which Allaire has proven capable of. Proposal 1 scored lowest in experience due to a combination of its larger tour group size, the prospect of tourists standing outside during the tours of the bedrooms (their views blocked by other tourists in the group), and the effect of harsh weather on the tour.

As a final caution it should be mentioned that the scores given to each of the proposals, and even the selection of criteria along with their weights, were not immune to subjectivity. While the above method of proposal analysis strives to deliver an objective process in weighing decisions, the exact weight to each criteria or the exact score that a proposal receives in a criteria are ultimately subject to those creating the matrix. One may rightfully disagree with some of the scores received or weights placed in the above analysis and upon changing them may receive a different final answer for total proposal scores. If this is the case one is encouraged to change scores or criteria and see the new total scores produced.

Key Differences in Proposals

A key feature about Proposal 2 is that it is a great way to both manage the tour and ensure an indepth experience for all guests, allowing larger tour groups to be split into smaller groups.

Increasing the volunteer presence would be needed in dividing large groups, however, partnering with Purdue’s School of Hospitality and Tourism management to allow student volunteers to give these tours could be problematic. Since students come and go in a volunteer program, there would be a constant cycling of new people, forcing Allaire to train new volunteers every semester. Additionally, while these students may possess some information about Samara House, they will likely be unable to match Allaire’s ability to give in-depth tours.

Proposal 1 focuses on a linear tour path and highlights the house’s outdoor features, but managing a larger group of people and unpredictable weather patterns could pose a challenge. Proposal 2 suggests that using student volunteers could help shrink group sizes, however, the constant retraining and students’ limited knowledge about Samara house creates a

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One key difference between Proposal 1 and Proposal 2 is mainly related to the flow of the tour and the emphasis on outdoor features. Proposal 1 suggests that following a predetermined path, and allowing guests to move through the rooms in a linear manner, eliminates the chance of crossover and allows guests to enter the tour through an initial door without ever having to exit out of that same door. This proposal also allows Allaire to highlight the outdoors features of the house as this

path would begin by exploring the garden, and later entering the side door to one of the bedrooms to relieve the congestion of visitors in the main hallway. However, one of the implications of this design would be the difficulty in managing a larger number of people in tour groups and could make it challenging to create a personalized experience for all visitors. These issues could prevent visitors from feeling engaged and having their questions answered by Allaire. Another implication of this design would be that incorporating the outdoor patio as a part of one of our tours paths could impose a great obstacle. Considering Indiana’s unpredictable weather patterns, such as heavy precipitation and extreme weather, could potentially cause issues in filtering people around the house using the outside patio, making this plan slightly less manageable when compared to Allaire’s current tour and further affecting the possible experience.

drawback. It is important to consider these key differences and implications of our proposals to help ensure that we build a seamless and engaging visitor experience for those who tour Samara house.

Final Proposal As shown in the tables both proposals 1 and 2 had nearly equal total scores. This allows for Allaire to use his judgment of the two choices in solving the tour capacity issue at Samara. Leading tours with 3 groups of 5 people could be quite effective. It could maximize the future number of people capable of touring the house at one time while addressing the dangers of having too many people in one small room and fully maintaining the experience of the tour. Despite its challenges with manageability, it may be worth trying to recruit extra help for Samara especially with a university such as Purdue sporting thousands of undergraduate students — many of whom could be looking for opportunities to volunteer or intern.

The planned flow could also be implemented as a possible solution, allowing Allaire to conduct tours by himself while maintaining adherence to the capacity loads of the smaller rooms of the house.

Mr. Allaire could decide to use either, neither, or even a mix of both, depending on things such as the weather forecast and volunteer availability on a given day to determine which tour method to use at a given time. The largest requirement of any proposed solution, however, should account for the occupancy loads for each space used during the tour.

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EXPLORING ACCESSIBILITY AT SAMARA HOUSE

Authors Eduard Tanase

College of Engineering

Hana Mahmoud

College of Health and Human Sciences

Rodrigo Mateo

College of Science Historical Background for Samara House Samara House was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1954 for Dr. John and Catherine Christian. The house was inspired by the Samara seed from the local West Lafayette area and has distinct and abstract resemblances and patterns throughout the house, which is shown in Figure 1.

This was the source of inspiration that made Samara House unique since it was inspired and based on the Samara seed that comes from pine cones. The design consideration and style of this home include the Usonian design, which is one of Wright’s more popular designs that was often utilized by middle-class citizens. The Usonian design is a post-World War II design, and multiple homes and communities were inspired and based on this style.

That being said, the Christians both had to agree to allow Wright to design the entire house the way

Figure 1: One of the two stairways within the living room.

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Both Dr. John and Catherine Christian worked incredibly hard to have Wright design their home, especially since they wanted a house that stood out from a traditional boxy house (Usonian n.d.).

Catherine Christian was especially passionate about having Frank Lloyd Wright design their home because she wrote a 28-page booklet titled “What We Need for How We Live,” which listed all

of her personal requirements regarding the house and family needs (“Samara.” Indiana Landmarks, n.d.). In this booklet, Catherine described each family member and how they wanted to live within the home and utilize it to their individual capacity.

She also described how she wanted to utilize each room, especially the living room for entertaining and hosting guests. Catherine also mentioned how she wanted a home that had enough storage space for her specific needs and how she wanted plenty of space for her and her family to grow (National, 2015).

he wanted over a five-year span from 1951 to 1956. These designs could be as major as choosing the wall color to the smallest design of a toilet paper holder (“Samara.” Indiana Landmarks, n.d.). Wright also picked out and created all of the furniture, plants, and decorations, leaving the Christians with a minimal say regarding furniture design in their home. There were also abstract illustrations and design elements that represented the Samara seed spinning in the air throughout the house, including on the rugs, window panes, and light fixtures. Another specific detail Wright wanted in Samara House was the disappearing television that was controlled by a remote control. Wright aimed to emphasize and incorporate nature into his homes. All of these particular designs and features of the house were Wright’s ideas that were not communicated completely with the Christians, indicating that they trusted Wright's instinct when designing their home. This also proved how passionate the Christians were about having Wright design their house because they wanted a unique house that met their budget requirement and also provided a spacious feeling on the inside (“Samara.” Indiana Landmarks, n.d.).

Structural Designs

Components

and

Intentional

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Samara House had an open floor plan of 2,200 square feet that had a circular and natural flow to the house. The living room, which was the largest room in the house, was purposely made to entertain guests, teach graduate students, and host dinner parties that could be up to fifty people (Samara, a Frank Lloyd Wright Home, n.d.). These were the distinct features of a house that the Christians were looking for in a home, which was also a specific request Catherine Christian made in her “What We Need for How We Live” booklet.

This was also one of the design concepts that Wright and the Christians both intentionally agreed on, especially since Wright designed and created a majority of Samara House individually.

When Wright was designing Samara House, he incorporated and combined Usonian architecture

and nature to make nature and the home flow into each other. This means that Wright wanted to make simple houses with low roofs for middleincome families, including Dr. John and Catherine Christian. These Usonian homes also had floors that heated up and were built on inexpensive lots of land. The homes are also typically one-story homes with an open floor plan, which allows for the maximum amount of space to be achieved within a home (Usonian n.d.). Especially within Samara House, smaller individual rooms, door frames, and hallways were built to be as small as realistically possible to maximize the interior of individual rooms and to also create a natural flow in the house by encouraging those who live in Samara House to naturally go into the larger rooms to be more connected with other people and especially nature.

Another way Wright wanted to maximize the amount of space utilized was by building furniture that was also part of the walls and making the social areas more integrated and simple. This also allows Wright to have more opportunities to incorporate the house with nature, especially since the house was created to have a natural flow within. There are large windows and doors leading directly to the outside, which makes the house feel more integrated and closer to nature.

Wright created the furniture and picked out colors that would blend in with nature, making the house feel connected and part of it. This is another example of Wright maximizing the amount of space he has to work with since incorporating nature within the home provides the perception that the house itself is much larger since it is part of nature. Wright’s homes allow for the feeling of the outdoors being part of the inside, therefore making the home feel bigger to the occupants. This is an example of Wright trying to be different from the boxy and traditional homes by incorporating nature into his homes.

Accessibility Problems Despite its artistic and architectural merits, Samara House nowadays faces significant

accessibility challenges. Although this house was initially designed to be a private residence, it is currently a public house museum. It is now open to an audience that includes a wide range of individuals with different needs, the house is not adapted to cover everyone’s physical demands.

Especially for people with physical disabilities, Samara House can be difficult to get around due to various ADA non-compliance problems. There are minor issues, such as furniture being too close to the ground, making it hard for people, especially the elderly, to get out of the chairs and couches. There are also much larger issues, including not having any ramps or handrails in areas with stairs, and having very narrow door frames and hallways.

presence of stairs allows for more opportunities for injuries and accidents to occur. Another issue is that there are stairs at the entrance of the house, which poses another issue that prevents people with limited mobility or in a wheelchair from getting into the house. There are no ramps or handrails, meaning there are no possible physical aids that are present to help increase accessibility for those who need it. This prevents people who want to physically see Samara House and experience it from having the ability to do so due to the lack of any accessibility resources.

Not having any ramps for wheelchair accessibility and for people with limited mobility is preventing people from being able to experience Samara House. As seen in Figures 1 and 2, the living room has two sets of stairs and lacks handrails, making it extremely difficult to nearly impossible for a person who has limited mobility or is in a wheelchair to physically move around. The

Frank Lloyd Wright intentionally designed the hallways and entrances in Samara House to be small, especially since Wright’s intention was to create a natural flow throughout the house.

Wright believed that if he created the hallway wing with the individual rooms to have a smaller hallway and door frames, it would naturally push people to follow the natural flow of the house and

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Figure 2: Southern end of living room with a second stairway and low furniture.

When Samara House was constructed in the 1950s, many homes had a common style of having stairs leading to lower levels of the house, especially the living room. This was a style in the mid-century and modern homes to have stairs that sank into the living rooms in order to make the living room feel larger (Samara, a Frank Lloyd Wright Home n.d.). It was especially important to have descending stairs that made a living room feel bigger because a lot of the homes during this time had low ceilings. Furthermore, it was common for homes in the 1950s to have a more open floor plan and limit the amount of walls and separation between each room. Instead, there was more of a natural flow between each room within the house, rather than a wall and a door.

For example, in Samara House, there is a kitchen, dining room, and living room that are all connected to each other and are not separated by a door or a wall. Instead, each room has its own designated area within the home. This is what creates a natural flow within Samara House and provides the opportunity for each room within the house to feel more connected to each other.

go into the larger and more open spaces of the home, such as the living room. Especially with the circular flow of Samara House, Wright’s intention was that it should theoretically push people from being in their individual rooms to move into open spaces that are lower to the ground, which would help them feel closer and more connected to nature. Another reason why the entrances and hallways are small in Samara House is because the Christians were of modest means, which is why they wanted to utilize as much space as possible within the tiny areas. Having the smallest possible hallways and doorframes maximizes the area that can be utilized in each individual room.

32 inches for door openings as well as 80 inches of vertical clearance (U.S. Department of Justice, 2010). The fireplace, which is sunken about four inches into the ground, also provides a possible tripping hazard. This should be remedied with tactile warning strips or railings. The door thresholds may also provide a tripping hazard and should comply with ADA section 303, which covers changes in level.

As the house was completed as a residence in 1956, it was not subject to ADA standards, which came into effect on January 26th, 1992. However, as it is now open to the public, it can be classified as a “place of public accommodation” under Title III of the ADA (U.S. Department of Justice, 2010).

Therefore, renovations and new constructions must follow all ADA guidelines and existing barriers should be removed “to the maximum extent feasible” (§36.402). However, as Samara House is listed in the National Register of Historic Places (U.S. Department of the Interior, 1992), it is designated as historic under ADA §36.405, and alterations should only comply to the maximum extent feasible. If physical access cannot be provided as it threatens or destroys the building’s historic significance, alternative methods of

Figure 3: This hallway is only 24” wide, while the ADA requires at least 36” width in hallways.

Structural Issues with the American Disability Act

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Unfortunately, since the dimensions of the hallways and doorframes are very small, this is not ADA-compliant, therefore causing a lot of accessibility issues. As the hallways and doorways are 24 inches wide and very short, much of the house is inaccessible to those in wheelchairs. This can be seen in Figure 4. Section 404.2.3 of the American Disability Act (ADA) standards require a minimum clear width of 36 inches for hallways and

Figure 4: "Floor Plan of SAMARA House." 2022. Digital image.

Accessed November 20, 2023. https://www.samara-house.org/wpcontent/uploads/2022/06/SAMARA-Floor-Plan-AsBuilt-1-1-1536x1274.jpg.

access, such as virtual tours, can be provided instead (§36.405). Various sections of the house do not comply with ADA standards. Section 504 of the 2010 ADA standards states that stair treads must be at least 11 inches deep from riser to riser, risers must be between four inches and seven inches high, and open risers are not permitted (U.S. Department of Justice, 2010). All of the stairways inside the house follow this regulation, as seen in Figures 1 and 2. However, the ADA also suggests providing visual contrast on tread nosings and requires handrails on both sides of stairs in section 505. The ADA Guidelines section 302 also requires carpet to be securely attached, with all edges fastened to floor surfaces with trim on the entire length of the exposed edge. As seen in Figures 1 and 2, the carpet in Samara House is not compliant with this requirement, and none of the stairways in Figures 1 and 2 have handrails.

While Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural endeavors were lauded for their innovation and aesthetic appeal, many of them are plagued by accessibility issues, especially those with a more Usonian design. An example could be the design of Fallingwater. This Pennsylvania landmark is a representation of Wright’s vision, including oversight for all types of audiences as it contains narrow staircases without ramps or elevators.

While these designs might be captivating, they were not intended for everyone. However, Fallingwater does offer virtual tours, allowing all to explore the architectural masterpiece online (Fallingwater, 2023). Many Prairie-style homes, such as the Robie House in Chicago, Illinois, and Samara House, have narrow doorways and passageways, which obstruct wheelchair movement.

Accessibility issues have been addressed at other Frank Lloyd Wright-designed homes, such as Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio. The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust has modified this

Overall, Samara House has physical accessibility issues, especially since there is a lack of wheelchair ramps, handrails near stairs, and very few Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodations. For example, the hallways at Samara House shown in Figure 3 are 24 inches wide, whereas a wheelchair ranges from 25 to 36 inches wide (Badge, 2022). This is a physical barrier that prevents anyone who is in a wheelchair from accessing multiple rooms, including a bathroom, in the house due to the small size of the hallway. Due to the house’s noncompliance with the ADA standards, this automatically excludes an entire group of people who are reliant on wheelchairs, therefore preventing people from having physical access to Samara House. Another example can include the lack of wheelchair ramps present at the house, especially since there are stairs present at the entrance of the house and throughout the house as well, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. People who want to come visit and learn about Samara House but have physical disabilities may be unable to enter the house and learn about it, which is unfair to them. Furthermore, there are no resources available to people who want or need them when they are unable to enter the house. This is why it is

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Accessibility at Other Frank Lloyd Wright Homes

home to comply with the ADA standards by adding a ramp, creating props for the visually impaired, and writing scripts for those who need interpretation of something written. They also include a video tour of the home for those who are unable to visit the home. This home, like Samara House, had narrow passageways as part of Wright’s Design.

In creating these accommodations, they had to ensure that these modifications had a “minimum impact on the historic fabric of the building” (ABC7, 2011). In designing solutions for making Samara House more accessible, this must be a very important consideration.

Fallingwater also provides wheelchairs that can access the interior and exterior of the home, as well as a 3D video tour, a shuttle service, and assisted listening devices (Fallingwater, 2023).

important to put in time, money, and effort to provide resources to ensure that equity is achieved. Accessibility and knowledge of the house will therefore be increased, allowing more people to be exposed to and experience Samara House to the fullest extent possible. In this document, we will outline five possible solutions to these issues that could be implemented independently or jointly.

Virtual Solutions

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Our first proposal is the creation of a virtual reality experience, where limitations regarding mobility in relation to stairs or narrow hallways, can be solved. Virtual reality also complies with remaining ADA guidelines and can be adapted to targeted disabilities. The Hollyhock House already has a variety of solutions present at the house to increase accessibility including wheelchair ramps to get into the house. Unfortunately, there are still limitations within the Hollyhock House because there are still places that people who have accessibility issues cannot access. Fortunately, the virtual reality experience provides the opportunity for people who have physical disabilities to have access and information to specific parts of the house that they would not physically be able to see, due to existing limitations that are unavoidable. An example of an unavoidable and unchangeable limitation can include the frame of doorways or the width of hallways, especially since there is no possible solution that could increase accessibility without tearing down and rebuilding the home. This is why it is important to utilize resources such as virtual reality to overcome these problems and increase accessibility in different aspects. An additional cost factor to consider is the approval from key stakeholders, including John E. Christian Family Memorial Trust and Indiana Landmarks, both playing a key to the project. Samara House is included in the National Register of Historic Places, meaning that standards set by the Secretary of the Interior Standards must be followed. Furthermore, given the proximity and relevance of Purdue University

collaboration with departments such as the School of Landscape Architecture or EPICS programs might also offer opportunities for volunteer support in material development and research, that is in addition to the role we are playing as students of the John Martinson College of Honors.

An example of the virtual reality tool being utilized at the Hollyhock House can be shown in Figure 5.

This is an example of targeted aid that can be shown in the three-dimensional virtual space of the Hollyhock House where a visual high contrast enables visitors to change the text display to a yellow text on a black background, as seen in Figure 6. Another example of increasing accessibility can include the “Audio On” option to enable narration while exploring the 360-degree view. ("Hollyhock House Virtual Tour," 2023) This also increases accessibility to people who have a harder time with their auditory or visual senses.

This is an excellent resource that expands beyond the purpose of increasing only physical accessibility, especially since it also increases accessibility for people who have difficulty with any auditory or visual senses and provides them with all information regarding the Hollyhock House (Creating, 2017). The unique resource of virtual reality is able to be utilized beyond a physical wheelchair ramp because virtual reality is an online resource that can be accessed and used by a larger population. Historical information is present while accompanying the visual aspects of the Hollyhock House, which therefore can

Figure 5. 3D model of the 1st Floor plan of the Taliesin West House. Accessed on November 20th. https://www.taliesinpreservation.org/tours/tour/accessib le-tour/

Figure 6. An example of the high contrast and Audio on options at the 3D model of the Hollyhock House virtual experience. Digital image. Accessed November 20, 2023. https://hollyhockhousevirtual.org/tour? start=kitchen

compensate for the inability of some people with physical disabilities from being able to physically access some parts of the Hollyhock House because they already have the virtual reality resources and information accessible to them (Creating, 2017). Additionally, this specific virtual reality tool proposes a way to organize house sections to later encapsulate and expand awareness of Samara House and Frank Lloyd architecture, bringing the house to anyone in the world who cannot make it on their own. However, from a financial perspective, this alternative can be a challenge as it raises a significantly higher effort in comparison to other alternatives. Yet, this sort of project can be funded privately by technology firms, one successful case is the Taliesin West where ‘Leica Geosystems and Multivista’ sponsored the development of 3D virtual space while prudently highlighting their used technology on the Taliesin West website.

That is the reason that in addition to a virtual reality experience, videos or podcasts of high quality can be a great alternative, targeting certain parts of the house that are inaccessible to those with disabilities, such as the living quarters in Samara house, which are difficult to access by wheelchair. This can be a cheaper alternative to virtual reality and would allow those with ambulatory disabilities to visit the house and experience the entirety of Frank Lloyd Wright’s creation, including the living quarters with narrow hallways, by watching a video or listening to a podcast while the other tour members visit this area. This prevents disabled people from feeling alienated or isolated by allowing them to have a similar experience to those without disabilities. As such, this can be provided in conjunction with a virtual reality experience, as it is inexpensive to create and provide, and it caters to those who can attend the tours but have difficulty accessing certain parts of the house.

These videos or podcasts can be created by a tour guide with simple equipment, such as a

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From our research, we have also deduced that there is not a significant negative impact with the development of such virtual space, rather, positive outcomes are often highlighted. Although specific data is not provided, in a letter of representatives of the Taliesin house, in Wisconsin, it is mentioned their virtual component, a compilation of video tours at a low cost, does not negatively impact their numbers principally because of the apart location of the house. Yet the Taliesin House also mentioned that they have not been sharing virtual content for long enough to note any significant effect (Personal Communication, Nov. 14th, 2023).

On the other hand, in a comprehensive study

published in the International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics (2022), it was found that the quality of virtual tours significantly influences tourist interest. Specifically, after the release of a high-quality virtual tour of the Kesawan area in Medan City, a survey of 184 respondents revealed a marked increase in their desire to visit the actual location. This underscores the direct correlation between the quality of virtual content and the heightened interest in physical visits to cultural heritage sites (Liyushiana, Sibarani, Purwoko, & Emrizal, 2022). Another example of this can include how an increase in visitors at the Hollyhock House has derived from the usage of virtual reality by people who use this resource.

This is another reason why the virtual reality resource was created; it attracts more visitors to the Hollyhock site, which therefore increases revenue (Creating, 2017).

smartphone, to limit the cost of this intervention.

However, the impact of this intervention is relatively large and positive, as it virtually removes the large accessibility barrier to a large portion of the house due to the narrow hallways.

Nonetheless, as the main target of this intervention is those with ambulatory disabilities who must use wheelchairs, this still requires some additional intervention to allow these visitors to access the rest of the house, including ramps on all stairways to the living room and kitchen. Once someone reaches this area, they can watch the video on a personal device or a TV screen, such as the living room shown in Figure 7, while the other members of the tour physically visit the restricted areas.

Briefly, to create a high-quality virtual tour, it's essential to first develop a selective itinerary, including only specific attractions to avoid overwhelming the audience. The ideal video length should be between two to five minutes, with a maximum of five minutes and 54 seconds, to maintain viewer engagement without causing boredom. The editing and equipment selection should focus on simplicity and effectiveness, utilizing readily available cameras or phones. The flow of tourist attractions in the video should be organized logically and naturally, mirroring the actual experience of visiting these sites in person.

This helps in creating a coherent and immersive virtual tour. Finally, publishing the tour on a platform like YouTube can ensure a broad audience reach.

This video solution was used at the Martin House.

As one floor of the building is difficult to access for many people with disabilities and could not be modified to be more accommodating, the curators of the property instead recorded a video as a replacement for touring this floor. If there is a disabled tour member, this member watches this video on a TV screen while the rest of the tour visits the floor. While relatively simple, this is an inexpensive and effective solution to the problem of wheelchair accessibility, which is a large problem at Samara House and many other Frank Lloyd Wright-designed properties, such as Martin House.

Figure 7: Hidden TV in living room. This could be modernized to play a video of the bedrooms.

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wheelchairs, this still requires some additional intervention to allow these visitors to access the rest of the house, including ramps on all stairways to the living room and kitchen. Once someone reaches this area, they can watch the video on a personal device or a TV screen, such as the living room shown in Figure 7, while the other members of the tour physically visit the restricted areas.

A benefit that can also be included from the virtual reality resource can be the usage of virtual gifts and other souvenirs from the online website. This is an excellent way to increase revenue for the house since virtual tours already attract many people and increase interest in a house. A group in the HONR 220 course is specifically focused on finding ways to incorporate gifts to encourage people to buy from an online gift shop, especially for Samara House. Especially since Samara House does not have a lot of funds because it recently underwent renovations and just opened up, having online gifts is an easy way to increase

revenue for the house. This is a perfect example of collaboration between two HONR 220 groups regarding the idea of increasing accessibility within Samara House while also increasing monetary resources by utilizing an online gift shop.

Physical Solutions Another solution to increase accessibility at Samara House could be the implementation of physical wheelchair ramps inside and outside of the house. Having a physical wheelchair ramp will allow more people to physically be able to get in and out of Samara House. Furthermore, it will aid in moving a person who is dependent on wheels, especially since it is very difficult to move a person relying on wheels up and down stairs. The implementation of physical ramps will increase equity among others by making sure everyone has the same opportunity to have access to Samara House if they choose to. It is considered to be inequitable if not everyone has the same opportunities as other people and deprives them of opportunities due to specific disabilities and physical needs that they may have. Furthermore, these ramps can be disguised and blended into Samara House so that it flows with the rest of the house and does not create any visual disturbances to the overall art and architecture. It would be the tour guide’s responsibility to make sure that they properly inform guests of where all of the ramps and specific wheelchair ramps are located within the house as they go through their tour.

problem. Building a permanent ramp at Samara House could always be a future goal because it will always benefit someone who needs that resource. That being said, there are much cheaper alternatives that could do the exact same job as a wheelchair ramp. For example, from Amazon, there are foldable wheelchair and scooter ramps that have a cost range from $75-$300, which is a much cheaper alternative. A specific wheelchair ramp from Amazon can include the “VNN Portable Wheelchair Ramp 4FT, Non-Slip Aluminum Folding Handicap Ramp, Door Threshold Wheelchair Ramps for Home” as an Amazon bestseller with a 4.3-star rating out of five stars (Amazon, n.d.). It also costs $130 and would make a great investment because it can be folded up and moved to other locations as needed. It would also make an excellent placeholder if a potential permanent ramp was going to be added to Samara House. Otherwise, this specific foldable ramp is an excellent short-term and low-impact solution to the accessibility issue.

Whenever there is a tour happening at Samara House, a tour guide could potentially set up the ramp if they are told in advance if it is needed for the tour or not. This way, it will not impact the amount of time a person has at the house since getting into and out of Samara House should be relatively quick with a foldable wheelchair ramp.

Setting up a wheelchair ramp is an easy and

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Fortunately, if the wheelchair ramps are disguised within and around the house, it will not disturb any image or natural material and color flow Frank Lloyd Wright was trying to design and execute.

Unfortunately, in 2023 the cost of building and adding a wheelchair ramp is quite expensive, ranging from $2000- $10,000 (Wheelchair, 2023).

This is a major and serious problem because, with a lack of funding, it is seemingly impossible to implement the necessary resources that could help many people. Moreover, it will cost extra time and money to properly disguise the wheelchair ramps within the house, which can be a financial

Figure 8: Foldable wheelchair ramp from Amazon.

simple process that can lead to a much larger effect with a positive impact, due to the increase of accessibility for more people. The presence of a ramp is a low intervention that will allow more people to be able to get into the house and have easy access to it. Especially since the wheelchair ramp is foldable, it allows for it to be removable and moved to other locations as needed.

Furthermore, the wheelchair ramp will not have an effect on the overall color or natural pattern of Samara House since it is not permanently located, meaning it can be removed and there would be no damage to the house. Moreover, this is a lowimpact solution because of the lack of permanence.

could involve focusing on more easily accessible areas of the house, such as the living room, providing more descriptive narratives, or providing interpretation or tactile experiences for those with auditory or visual impairments.

These tours should also allow for flexibility in scheduling, enabling visitors to choose more convenient times. Additionally, tour guides should be trained in disability awareness and sensitivity and should be able to adapt the tour to suit the needs of the visitors. For example, a tour guide should be fluent in American sign language in case of a tour involving someone with an auditory impairment.

Private tours would provide many benefits to Samara House. Firstly, they would significantly improve accessibility to a wide range of visitors, allowing them to experience the beauty and history of the house. Secondly, they would demonstrate a commitment to inclusivity and equity at Samara House. Lastly, Samara House could partner with local organizations that support individuals with disabilities to provide special curated tours or events for their members.

Figure 9: The backyard could serve as a secondary path to access the bedrooms.

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On top of the provided suggestions, private tours should be optionally provided for people with disabilities. These tours could be customized to address various disabilities, such as setting up ramps for those with mobility issues or prioritizing the tour towards those with visual or hearing impairments. These tours

This solution has been implemented at other Frank Lloyd Wright-designed properties, such as at Taliesin. These tours avoid “long periods of standing, stair climbing without handrails, and walking on uneven terrain” (Taliesin, n.d.). The tours offer the same fares as regular tours, but they must be scheduled at least three weeks in advance. They also take different routes to avoid stairs and other obstacles. This could be implemented at Samara house by taking this tour through the backyard shown in Figure 8 to the guest and master bedrooms instead of through the narrow, inaccessible hallways, which are previously shown in Figure 3.

In conjunction with these solutions, visibility markers or some form of visual contrast should be added to all ledges and staircases present in the house. This feature targets those with visual impairments, as they may be able to visit the

house but have trouble seeing some of the staircases in the living room or the sunken fireplace. These obstacles could be a tripping hazard to people with diminished visual acuity, such as the elderly.

A cheap solution to this problem is warning stripe tape, such as “AurGun Black & Yellow Hazard Safety Warning Stripe Tape, 2inch x 108Ft High Visibility Barricade Adhesive Tape for Floor, Walls, Pipes and Equipment Marking” available on Amazon (AurGun, n.d.). For approximately $11, the risk of people tripping can be greatly diminished. Furthermore, the tape is easily removable and will not cause damage to the underlying carpet or flooring. This tape should be placed around all staircases inside and outside the house, as well as around the sunken fireplace as shown in Figure 9.

Collaboration with Purdue For many of these solutions, collaboration with the Purdue College of Engineering through the

Figure 10: The sunken fireplace is a tripping hazard.

EPICS program would allow for student volunteers to assist with implementing these solutions at a low cost to Samara House. EPICS is a program and course in the Purdue College of Engineering in which Through EPICS, Purdue students can earn academic credits for doing volunteer work involving engineering principles.

Therefore, by utilizing EPICS, Purdue volunteers would be able to contribute to Samara House by constructing ramps or other necessary installations for improving accessibility at the property.

Conclusion Overall, Samara House has proven that there is a significant need for an increase in accessibility within the house. Based on examples from previous Frank Lloyd Wright homes such as the Hollyhock House and Taliesin West House, they have indicated examples of the incorporation of various aids regarding physical and other disabilities.

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Finally, tactile or auditory versions of the house plan and documents should be provided, including “What We Need for How We Live,” the 28-page booklet written by Catherine Christian to Frank Lloyd Wright, and the telegram in Figure 10.

These documents are paramount to developing a thorough understanding of the house’s history and significance. Providing a braille and/or an audiobook version of this document would increase accessibility to those with visual impairments. The audiobook version could be provided at no cost by the tour guide using a smartphone’s audio recording capabilities. This audiobook could also be publicized online as promotional content. Braille documents, however, are more expensive to produce in comparison.

These documents require a braille printer and cost $1.00 per page. Additional fees may apply depending on the format of the document, such as if it needs to be scanned or transcribed (Braille n.d.). While offering a tactile document may benefit those with visual impairments, an audiobook will be sufficient in most cases.

Figure 11: Documents such as these should have an audiobook or braille version.

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Especially through the usage of virtual reality, these homes have shown that this resource is beneficial for people who have physical, auditory, and visual disabilities. Furthermore, the implementation of virtual reality as a resource has proven itself to increase accessibility to people who have disabilities while still providing all the information and part of the physical experience of seeing parts of the house physically. The virtual reality resource also benefits the homes themselves by increasing revenue and visitors to the homes. Most importantly though, the virtual reality house tour is a free and easily accessible resource that helps close the equity gap regarding accessibility access at the house. This is because virtual reality is a resource that provides historical information and images of what some people with physical disabilities cannot see.

SAMARA HOUSE VISITOR CENTER Authors Jakaila Clay

College of Liberal Arts

Francis Corvin

College of Agriculture

Joanna Miller

College of Agriculture Samara House, also known as The John and Catherine Christian House, is an architectural home built by Frank Loyd Wright in 1956 for the Christian family that were new to the Lafayette community. It is one of the most complete Frank Lloyd Wright homes in the United States, including all the furniture that Frank Lloyd Wright designed for the home.

The home incorporates Frank Lloyd Wright’s philosophy that a home has ties to the place it is in and should blend into that place. Samara House pulls nature into it with all of its windows overlooking the curated landscape and every room, besides the bathroom, containing a door to the outside. The living room is crafted to be welcoming for all the students Dr. Christian wanted to host. The sunken living room has wrap around seating bench at the upper level and the stairs leading to the living room are deep enough to function as seats. In addition to the swivel chairs and sofa, the middle of the living room have little stools to sit on. There is no visible TV in the living room to cause less distraction, more space, and a more appealing look of a comforting and bonding home. Instead, the TV is tucked away in a lower cabinet, and it can be lifted up to the top using a remote controller. Frank Loyd Wright liked the color red as the fireplace is lit with red lighting as well as the built-in table with the winged shaped post on the right side of the living room. The home is designed to pull the occupants into the larger communal space by having the bedrooms small and doors to them uncomfortably narrow.

The house gets its name “Samara” from the same philosophy as the design of the home.

Frank Lloyd Wright felt that each building needed to belong in the place it was built, so took

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The Christain family consisted of Dr. John Christian who was a Purdue University professor in the early 1950's and his wife Catherine. The Christians dreamed of a home that would entertain faculty, staff and students while creating connections with a comfortable environment .

Catherine Christian was the driving force behind the existence of Samara House. While she did not have any previous experience in architecture, she was single minded when it came to the style of home she wanted for her family. She spent months researching home styles she wanted and decided she wanted Frank Lloyd Wright to build their home. It was only after a miscommunication led to them being at an event with Frank Lloyd Wright that this dream became a reality. When the

opportunity arose for Catherine to ask for Frank Llyod Wright to build them a home, she seized it.

Her persistence and moxie paid off and Samara House was born.

inspiration from the natural environment of the location. At the building site the Christians selected there were several trees which all had a shared trait- their seeds were samaras. A samara is a type of seed with either one or two wings.

These wings are traits to allow their seeds to travel to favorable locations to germinate. When the weather is right, usually about fall time, the winged seeds are dispersed. Frank Lloyd Wright collected these and used them as inspiration for the home. When you throw the winged seeds in the air, they come back down in a twirling motion and that twirl design is incorporated throughout the house throughout different areas of the home.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s goal was to make the inside of the home blend with the outside of it and he made that happen mainly with the incorporation of the shape of samaras and their motion.

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The design is incorporated in the carpet that is in the living room floor as the different colors incorporate the different turns of the winged seeds. The different posts that are in the living room have cube shapes coming out of different directions to incorporate the twirling motion. The boarding going across the border of the home and the dining room chairs have a triangle shape that reflects the shape of the twirling motion of the winged seeds as they fall. The coffee table in the middle of the living room is in the shape of a falling winged seed as well as the folded table right next to it. The two black ducks that are sitting in the left corner of the fireplace are there because Mrs. Christian did not want anyone to trip over the fireplace. Frank Lloyd Wright got creative with some aspects of the home as the coffee table that is in the living room can be taken apart and used separately as its own mini table.

The folded table that is next to the coffee table can be taken apart as well as the top can come off and be used as a tray table. The Samara house can also be noticed by the elements of nature with the front door not being automatically visible for visitors to see. Wright made the door of the front house blend into the rest of the home's

theme of inclusivity and the beauty/importance of nature.

Our project was to help Indiana Landmarks and the John E. Christian Family Memorial Trust, Inc. (who co-steward Samara House) find a way to have a visitor center. There are several hurdles to overcome in this endeavor. The first of these is that Samara House is at the end of a neighborhood with limited parking, even though the neighbors lend the front of their home for parking. The second hurdle is that there is only a little bit of empty land around the home for development. In order to address these barriers we broke down the services a visitor center would provide. The first of these is a restroom for guests to use. While Samara House does have a bathroom, it does not have restroom access within the home for guests. This is due to the age of the home and outdated codes. Even if the home's plumbing could be updated to accommodate visitors, the cost of which would be high, the home could not be made ADAcompliant without such huge remodels that would destroy the historic nature of the home. The next service that a visitor center provides is information about the location. Currently, the only information sharing about the site is on their website, during a scheduled tour, and on a small entryway table inside the home. The home itself is not large enough to accommodate a larger display and the one employee is not able to have the home open for many hours/days to allow guests access to a tour. The final service a visitor center provides is access to a gift shop. A gift shop not only allows guests to purchase souvenirs but also allows the site to collect revenue to help cover expenses. For the same reason that Samara House does not have a large display area for informational handouts, they also lack the ability to have a gift shop.

When examining the possibility of Samara House creating a visitor center, apart from the lack of space, we are also faced with a lack of funds.

When we inquired of Nathan about a budget for the building of a visitor center, we were told they had none. This will mean that a staged approach to a visitor center will be necessary, with the addition of a more traditional visitor center being a final stage that will likely be several years (or more) away and dependent on many successful fundraisers and the success of an online gift store. The challenge of our team then became how to provide the benefits of a visitor center until one could be built. We approached this by deconstructing what a visitor center does and finding unique ways to provide the same services.

We are calling this “The Visitor Experience” and are focusing on the fact that two of the main benefits that a visitor center offers is information about the site and access to purchase souvenirs.

Access to restrooms would be limited to the final stage when an actual building could be built.

The other potential option for a stand-alone visitor center building near Samara House is the

Purdue-owned lot across Northwestern Ave (fig 2 highlighted in blue). This is the very end of the parking lot H at the corner of Cherry Land and Northwestern Ave. The possibility of leasing or purchasing this land from the Ross-Ade Foundation (listed as being the owners of parcel 790718326001000029) is very low, but it offers the best possibility for a traditional-style visitor center and would give the most visibility for tourists driving in the area. The undeveloped part of the highlighted area is much larger than would be needed and would also leave an area for parking for visitors. Since the possibility of buying the yellow lot in Figure 1 or buying/leasing a part of the blue area in Figure 2 is low, we decided to focus on options possible in the red-circled area in Figure 1, which does not have a parcel number listed. Building a traditional visitor center would be the final stage once enough money had been raised, and as such our ideas about a physical building are mentioned last.

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The first step to brainstorming was to look at what land is available around Samara House. Using GIS we examined the plots around Samara House (Fig 1) The area highlighted in green is owned by the city of West Lafayette. The yellow-highlighted plot is owned by the same owner of 1216 Tuckaho Lane. The long thin plot behind Samara House is the ‘desire path’ (a path that is created after numerous people use it as a shortcut between places. It indicates an area where a formal path is desired by society) that runs between Woodland Ave and Northwestern Ave. While it is possible that the owner of 1216 Tuckaho Lane might be willing to sell their lot at the back of their property, it is impossible to say how much they might want to do that, and the possibility is unlikely. Therefore the best possibility is the area circled in red that is owned by the city. This strip of land connects Woodland Ave and Ridgewood Dr and has the benefit of being close to a sewer line (as it is located close to homes).

Currently, the Samara house income comes from different sources, but it is still not enough for the all together completion of the visitor pavilion.

Instead, the pavilion will be done through phases, and throughout each phase, the house will accumulate enough money from tours, and special events to complete the other phases. The Samara House does have multiple incomes such as receiving $5,000 from donations, $1,000 for special events, and $14,000 in tours with tickets being $10 per person last year, but now it is $20 per person.

Figure 4: ‘David Sheppard House’ with a QR code sign in front of it

Going back to the services that we are seeking to provide to guests via our Visitor Experience until the physical building can be built, we looked at ways to impart information about the site, the most straightforward of which is to provide signs. Other historic sites have used signage of some kind to provide a good visitor experience. One example of this is the Cumberland Historical Society (https://cumberlandnjart.org/) in New Jersey.

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“We devised signs that identify each site and feature prominent QR codes — which, when scanned by a mobile device, links to the related podcast. The largescale QR code and place name can be seen by motorists while smaller text addresses pedestrians reading and scanning the sign. (We carefully tested fullscale mock-ups to ensure that the codes would be scannable at appropriate heights and distances.) And since the podcasts can be updated independently, interpretive content can evolve while the signs remain current.” https://www.vsba.com/projects/west-jersey-timetraveler-signage/

Figure 5: QR code sign for the ‘Nicholas Gibbon House’ at the Cumberland Historical Society in New Jersey.

The particular challenge of signage at Samara House is the ethos of Frank Lloyd Wright. He was very intentional in how he built Samara House. Not just in what materials were chosen and how they would look as they age, but also in what placement of plants. The entire site was made to fit the land in every way. Signage, then, has a real risk of detracting from this and altering the feel of the home. Being mindful of this, our team came up with five different options using several different sign combinations. This also allowed us to generate a range of price points that are much more feasible for their small budget and allow them to integrate a visitor experience into the site sooner.

To generate these quotes we worked with two sign companies: Pannier and National Band & Tag. Pannier is a company that creates interpretive signs for national parks and historic homes around the nation. They have high-quality signs and bases available and are standardized to fit in the same niche as Samara House. The benefit of these signs is that visitors are used to them and seeing them at various tourist destinations. They are made to be exposed to the elements and last a long time. They have a lot of options that would allow Samara House to blend the signs into the landscape. National Band & Tag is a national company that creates smaller items to identify plants, animals, and trails. They are less obtrusive to the environment and would blend into the site better. They could, however, be harder for visitors to locate.

to stand out. This could be addressed by selecting a different base which would allow a more natural look. These signs would be purchased from Pannier, who also sells several different bases that can be used with these signs.

The company's information on these sign bases is included below. This information applies to all the Pannier signs used in all options. Although all the bases would work well for this location, the Sled Base could be the most appropriate one as it is created to be removable and wouldn’t leave any permanent changes to the site. To address the risk of visitors moving the signs, but to keep the ability to remove all signs when needed, the ‘seasonable mount’ system adds permanent ground anchors to which the signs attach but can be easily unbolted when needed. (Figure 5 below) Signs made by Pannier are available in either fiberglass embedment (FE) or gel coat laminate (GCL) which stands up to environmental extremes better. The potential placements of lowprofile signs are in yellow on the map below (Figure 14).

“Ideal for interpretive wayside exhibits, these simple, yet sturdy, designs position your panel in a way that is easy to read without calling attention away from the surrounding views.”

The signs could be used in different combinations to address some of these issues.

Option 1: All low-profile signs

Figure 6: Sign with post-mount system panniergraphics.com/ exhibit-bases-frames profile/

/low-

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Using all low-profile signs throughout the site would allow more text to be shared and have a cohesive look. This would help visitors without cell phones to access the QR codes or ones who are not tech-savvy. The con to this plan is the size of the signs and the potential for them

...

Figure 7: Diagram of Seasonal mount system

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Figure 8: Sign with moveable sled base

Option 2: One large sign display with 3 sides The second option would also be provided by Pannier but would limit the signage to one large display placed on the desire path. This option would restrict signs to the place where the most people access the site and limit them to the area on the site where Frank Lloyd Wright's vision for the site has already been spoiled by the desire path. This option would be more accessible to visitors who are unable to get up the incline to find signs throughout the site as it would provide all the information in one location. Full accessibility would depend on making the desire path fully accessible, however. Suggested location of a large sign display is the blue triangle in the map below (Fig 14).

Option 3: One low profile sign at each ‘entrance” and less obtrusive QR codes with an audio tour The third signage option would be to use low profile signs at each ‘entrance’ to the site (one on each driveway entrance- Woodland Ave and Northwestern Ave, and one at the Northwestern Ave entrance to the desire path behind Samara House) and QR tags from National Band and Tag placed throughout the site. These smaller tags are engraved metal and would be inconspicuous.

Since they are smaller, they would be limited to the name of the site, a QR code to the next audio file on the tour, and the stop number. Due to this, all the other information would need to be on the low-profile signs (which will all be the same). The goal would be that no matter how someone is passing the site (walking on the sidewalk on Northwestern Ave, walking down Woodland Ave, or seeking to use the desire path) they would see the same information and have the opportunity to get directed to the website, schedule a tour, or buy something on the online gift store. Examples of places where QR codes could be placed are in hot pink on the map below (Figure 14) The audio symbols also include QR codes on the low-profile signs.

Figure 10: Two examples of QR tag layouts provided National Band and Tag

Figure 11: Sample mock-up of a Samara House tag, provided by National Band and Tag

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Figure 9: Picture of a Pannier triangular kiosk from the Pannier catalog

Figure 12: Screenshot of the NBT catalog showing how their tags can be mounted on trees.

Option 4: Less obtrusive QR code tags throughout the site with no large signage

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If larger signs are determined to be too distracting to the site, or the budget is not able to accommodate any of the options with larger signage, it would be possible to incorporate an audio tour into the site using just the QR tags from the National Band and Tag. This is the most budget-friendly option and would be easy to use this option as an initial stage if the larger signs are desired but currently unaffordable. The con for this option is that it will be easy for guests to miss

the tags completely. Options 3 and 5 address this by having larger signs to direct guests to the existence of the audio tour. Option 3 also helps educate people walking by that there is a historic building in an otherwise normal neighborhood.

Therefore this option will do the least to help drive tourists to the Samara House and increase revenue by increasing tour inquiries and souvenir sales.

The site the Christians selected had several trees that all shared a trait: their seeds were samaras. A samara is a type of seed with either one or two wings. These wings are traits to allow their seeds to travel to favorable locations to germinate. When the weather is right, usually about fall time, the winged seeds are dispersed. Frank Lloyd Wright collected these and used them as inspiration for the home. When you throw the winged seeds in the air, they come back down in a twirling motion and that twirl design is incorporated throughout the house throughout different areas of the home.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s goal was to make the inside of the home blend with the outside of it and he made that happen mainly with the incorporation of the shape of samaras and their motion.

Figure 14: Same QR signs provided in option 3 www.nationalband.com/custom-laser-etched-tags/ qrcode-laser-samples/

Option 5: Less obtrusive informational signs integrating QR codes throughout As stated in Option 4, the small QR tags alone can be easily missed, but their pro is that they are less distracting than the larger signs in Options 1-3. A middle ground would be smaller signs on short bases. These signs can be any size, but for the purpose of this quote, 18”x 24” signs on short bases are used. This sign would allow a good amount of large format text, which would make the ‘audio tour’ accessible to those with hearing difficulties as well as those with low vision. Since the bases are short, they would not intercept the eye of the visitor as they scan across the site.

Taller bases could be used at the entrances to help direct passersby to the existence of Samara House and help drive new visits.

Figure 13: Same low profile sign as described in option 1 panniergraphics.com/exhibit-basesframes/low-profile

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Sign design would also be an important factor when looking at effective ways to impart information to guests. A well-designed sign would allow for fewer signs (Options 2 and 3) and be attractive to people walking by the site. They would engage visitors more and more engaged guests would be more likely to visit the online gift shop and schedule an in-person tour. Income generated by these revenue streams would improve if signs are interesting. Design services can thankfully be utilized by Pannier as well.

Figure 15: 18”x24” sign w/base from Pannier

We could either make a sign with a lot of information, such as Figure 17, or we could make a more simplistic one such as our mock-up, figure 18. The more simplistic option would need to emphasize the QR code more since the sign itself would not have as much information.

Figure 16: www.nps.gov /natc/learn/news/ 2021-05-18-melrose-tour-signs.htm

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Figure 17: Example of a sign design for a historic home. 24"x36" Interpretive Trail Sign "HISTORIC HOME 1A" is a square top panel with site-specific information on a historic structure. pulsedesign.com/Outdoor-interpretivesigns-historic-preservation-site-educational-exhibits

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Figure 18: Simple sign mock-up created by Joanna Miller

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Figure 19: Diagram of Samara House site created from original drawing of the site

by Frank Lloyd Wright. Created by Francis Corvin.

The next step in imparting knowledge to visitors is the audio tour. The funding of Samara House limits the employees to one and therefore the hours they can be open are limited. By creating an audio tour, visitors to the site will be able to learn about Samara House without being present when physical tours are running. For this purpose, we chose to partner with Your Audio Tour as they have the most affordable product that meets all the needs of Samara House. They provide the QR codes to use and store all the

data on Amazon’s Web Service. They also have the ability for a link to the online gift store to be on the audio tour page and virtual visitors would also have access to the audio tour. If the audio tour is just 5 stops, they could use the free plan, although the basic plan has more functional features, and it is just $19/month for non-profits.

Below are screenshots of an audio tour of two historic homes, Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio and The Historic Masonic Theater, on desktop and mobile.

Figure 21: youraudiotour.com/tours/51/stops/8 0 as seen on phone

Figure 22: youraudiotour.com/tours/frelinghu ysen-morris-house-studio-2023season-tour/ as seen on phone

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Figure 20: youraudiotour.com/tours/ 51 as seen on a phone

Figure 24: https://youraudiotour.com/tours/51/ as seen on computer

Figure 23: youraudiotour.com/tours/frelingh uysen-morris -house-studio-2023-seasontour/stops/6753 as seen on phone

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Figure 25: https://youraudiotour.com/tours/51/ as seen on computer

Figure 26: https://youraudiotour.com/tours/frelinghuysen-morris-house-studio-2023-season-tour/ as seen on computer

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Figure 27: https://youraudiotour.com/tours/frelinghuysen-morris-house-studio-2023-season-tour/stops/6753 on computer

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Along with the QR codes linking to the audio tour, different QR codes could link to a 3D tour through the home. This would be especially useful for virtual visitors and those who come to the home when physical tours are not being given. One of the QR codes will be a merchandise code that will bring the visitor specifically to the online gift shop of Samara House where they can place a merchandise order. There will also be a QR code to locate the visitor to the closest public parks with restrooms.

Stage 1 would be under $10,000 and the increased traffic to the website to schedule inperson tours and to the online gift shop would allow the funds for stage 2. Generating a 3D model of Samara House would be stage 2 and improve the visitor experience even more. The option to enter the 3D model of Samara House could be behind a small paywall to help generate enough eventual funds for the physical building in stage 4.

https://www.westlafayette.in.gov/government/parks-rec/our-parks/-selamenityid-12#facilityAmenities_842_324_258

Phases for development of the visitor center

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3D models of historic homes are common and the good ones allow guests to explore the entire space using their mobile devices, laptops, or even immersive virtual reality headsets. We would recommend partnering with Matterport. Matterport is well known for 3D models of buildings for real estate and museums through its Digital Twin product.

Generating a 3D tour of Samara House using Matterport Digital Twin will also address the accessibility issues present. By purchasing Meta Quest 3 or Meta Pro headsets ($250-$999), disabled individuals who come to Samara for a physical tour could still experience the home in a similar immersive way as abled visitors. Samara House would not be the first Frank Lloyd home that has a digital twin. Taliesin West is navigable online for virtual guests.

The price for a tech to come out to scan the site (inside and out) is $2,125 and host the 3D model is $12/month. This pricing is for a site of similar size in Indianapolis. There is not currently a tech trained in West Lafayette, however I put in a

request for this and with this knowledge one should be soon. The pricing should remain similar.

Stage 3 is dependent on the team working on the gift shop. Once larger items are added (allowing guests to purchase reproductions of rugs or tables, for instance) more revenue would be generated and make it easier to move to Stage 4.

Stage 4 is implementing the physical building. In order to keep the budget as low as possible, and using the small footprints that are feasible around Samara House, we focused on the small rest-stop style buildings. These buildings exist to provide a similar visitor experience to people driving through states on highways and interstates. They are functional buildings that have signage to convey information about the local area, a place to display brochures, restrooms, and vending machines.

They also do not rely on a large staff, which aligns with what Samara House has. While a typical gift shop would not be possible in this style of building, utilization of souvenir vending machines would allow there to be a form of gift shop without needing the staff to man it.

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Figure 28: https://matterport.com/discover/space/iWvNCvUJxvg)

Vending machines for souvenirs require different set ups to allow for non-uniform or bulky items. In Figure 29 a vending machine is used in an airport to provide local handmade items without the need for a gift shop. The company we selected to contact for quotes was Discount Vending due to their OMNI machines which can be customized to dispense a wide array of products and the security they would offer in a low traffic area like the suggested rest stop style building. Figure 30 shows the OMNI Fit machine set up to dispense tshirts. OMNI also offers a very small machine which could be used in the corner of Samara House currently to help increase profits and save for the building of the physical building. (Figure 31)

Figure 30: OMNI Fit machine set up to dispense tshirts https://discountvending.com/omni-clothing/#

Figure 29: An example of a vending machine for souvenirs https://stuckattheairport.com/2016/11/06/oakland-intlairport-gets-a-souvenir-vending-machine/

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Figure 31: OMNI Mini and Wall machines from brochure provided by company. Features of the OMNI machines provided by the salesperson

Prices for the OMNI machines vary depending on the size selected and include full customization of the exterior (so the design could complement Samara House) and the interior (to fit the types of items Samara House decides to sell) The OMNI Fit is a new model and is $9,500 The OMNI Mini is $8,500 with the pedestal or $7,500 if you are comfortable wall mounting it.

The OMNI Pro is $10,500 The OMNI Elite is $11,500 The OMNI Elite Lite is $10,000 The OMNI Vista is $12,500

While another team (team 5) did third party products, it would be necessary to also work with companies which provide packaging for items to be used in vending machines.

Cannedgoodsclothing.com is a great company to consider for this purpose. They provide two services- creating the shirts (including design) and packing them in recycled cans so that they can be dispensed from a vending machine. (Fig 32).

Figure 32: T-shirt designed by cannedgoodsclothing and their canned packaging

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Features of the OMNI machines from their website Touch screens: This not only attracts more customers to the machine, but they can also learn more about your products, and then buy it right from the touch screen. The screens can be 7”, 11”, 21”, or 42" and will display videos, and pictures of all your products.

Elevators: The OMNI machines are equipped with an elevator which will deliver your products safely down to the retrieval door.

This allows you to vend delicate items that might normally break if it dropped four feet.

Conveyor Belt Delivery System: Traditional vending machines use coils to dispense the product. Our machines are also equipped with a conveyor belt system which allows you to vend larger items that wouldn’t normally fit in a vending machine.

Multiple Payment options: The machines will accept credit / debit, mobile payments, and standard cash as well.

Guaranteed Vend Sensors: The laser technology enables the machines to see the items dispense so if the products get jammed or are out of stock, then your customer gets another vend.

Exterior Customization: We can customize the front and two sides of the machines with your name, branding, colors, logo, etc. so it works for you, unlike a franchise where you are tied to their branding. Our machines will work for you, not us.

Interior Customization: We can customize the inside of the machine to vend your exact products. You would send us product samples or packages so we would make the machine fit your products.

Inventory Tracking: Our machines will track all your inventory remotely, so you know exactly what products have sold. You can access this data from your smart phone in real time.

Age Verification: If you want to verify the buyer's age prior to them buying from the vending machine, we are excited to say that this is now a main feature of our machines.

We feel like this company would be a good fit for Samara House and the sustainable ethic that Frank Llyod Write had (and the feel of the home). The company is run by a college student in AZ and uses local labor and zero plastic waste. The designs of the shirts also fit the feel of the site.

If Samara House finds t-shirts from another vender, cannedgoodsclothing can take those shirts and package them in cans so they can be used in the vending machines. This is not just a great way to recycle materials, but it is unique and a fun item that tourists are likely to buy as gifts.

These vending machines could be used to sell Samara House souvenirs long before a physical building is available. The variety of sizes and their features means that Samara House could choose to place one inside Samara House, outside under the carport, or in another historical

gift shop (which would help drive traffic to Samara House tours). However, the end goal would always be for there to be a rest stop style building where a larger souvenir vending machine could be placed. The larger machines are locker style and could allow guests to purchase items like reproduction rugs and end tables- higher value items which will increase the income of Samara House.

While typical rest stops are blocky, they could build a narrow building in a similar style of Samara house. It would contain two gender-neutral familystyle bathroom stalls that are both accessible with door openers, along with a water fountain w/bottle filler, an area to hold brochures, and a souvenir vending machine (Figure 29-31). The doors to the building would be on an automated timer to unlock/lock and have a safety feature to allow anyone in the building to exit after it is locked.

This would limit the amount of staff needed. The exterior of the building would extend to a covered pavilion with benches for visitors to sit until their tour starts. The concern for this building would be access to the sewer system, as this is a huge expense. An example of how the building could look is below.

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Figure 33: https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/interstate-75-rest-area-southbound-georgetown? select=RINC9KOMjdiWCFErlb6-7Q

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Figure 34-37: River View Service Kiosk / Atelier Z+

Figure 38: https://www.archdaily.com/966850/river-view-service-kiosk-atelier-z-plus?ad_medium=gallery

Reaching the firm which built the River View Service Kiosk to inquire about the price to build it is not possible as their website domain is expired (http://www.atelierzplus.com/), and it appears they are no longer in business. The information on who was involved in the design and building of this site is still available (Partner In Charge: Bin Zhang, Wei

Zhou, Project Architect: Jiaqi Wang, Design Team: Jihao Zhang, Han Cai, Feng Liu) However, we were able to locate an older paper which discusses the cost to build visitor centers in national parks and this is the cost information we have for Stage 4.

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Figure 39: Screenshot of table 4, pg 21 https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-01-781.pdf

Figure 40: Screenshot of table 2, pg 16 https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-01-781.pdf

The data above is from 2001 so the numbers are far out of date. They are also for a more traditional visitor center and not a smaller building. So in the above tables, we are looking at the ‘Projects with new construction” in Table 2 and the smallest square footage in Table 4.

The average cost of new construction in Table 4 is $8.8 million, while the range of cost for the smallest square footage buildings is less than $2 million. From this, we can say that in 2001 the range to build a similar building to what we envision would be between $2 million and $8.8.

Using the inflation calculator (https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm) we are able to guess that Samara House will need to raise between $3.5-$13.5 million dollars.

Another one of Mr. Wright’s architectural buildings that contains a visitor center is Taliesin West. The visitor center is termed the “flagship store” which is located just off the main entrance of Taliesin West. It is located near the main entrance is helpful as visitors don’t have to locate a different building and the shop may catch their eye as they are leaving. The shop includes curated gifts and treasures of all sizes inspired by Wright and his designs. The store has also been featured in Sunset Magazine for its “perfect gifts for art lovers

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Precedent studies of how other sites or communities have approached a similar challenge.

One of Mr. Wright's architectural buildings, Fallingwater, does have a visitor center which is considered their “Fallingwater museum shop”, but it is not incorporated directly into the Fallingwater building itself. The items in the shop are “carefully curated by a proficient team who draws inspiration from the Kaufmann family and heir collection” (fallingwater.org). The collection in the shop includes handmade local items, the design of the Kaufmann family and Mr. Wright's design of Fallingwater, and many more handcrafted products. The shop is also located online so customers can pre-order online and pick up once they arrive at Fallingwater or they can

order and have something shipped to their home directly. The Fallingwater museum shop is across the street from the building itself so visitors do have to leave the Fallingwater building in order to enter the Fallingwater museum shop. Fallingwater was completed for the Kaufmann family to move in, in December of 1937, but the visitor pavilion did not get built until 1979. Once the charitable foundation fund of Edgar Kaufmann Jr. was about to construct the visitors' pavilion, they got it designed by Paul Mayen. The pavilion did burn down, but it was rebuilt by 1981. The construction of the store follows Wright's architectural guidelines as the room is not divided by walls and it is instead an open space with a couple of podiums to support the ceiling. The windows are floor to ceiling and the shop's design expresses that it is built out of a tree or wood as the tone blends in with the trees outside. This is similar to the Samara house as the Samara house has no room to physically build a visitor pavilion on the same property as the building and visitors will have to walk to a separate building.

and history buffs”. There is also more variety on the Frank Lloyd Wright Store website which includes furniture and floor coverings, puzzles and toys, apparel and jewelry, and many more products. There's a membership option and members get 10% off their entire purchase as well as a monthly newsletter. The construction of the store follows Wright's architectural guidelines as the ceiling is slanted, the buildings are wrapped around in floor-to-ceiling windows to incorporate that natural aspect, and the shop is very open in space as there aren't many podiums or tables.

Total Costs

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Stage one would need to be funded by existing funds or a grant. Given this fact our group recommends option 4 due to its price point. At under $200 for all the tags, mounts, and audio tour, it is the most accessible of the options and would allow Samara House to implement it immediately. Once there is more of a budget, adjusting the site to Option 3 would be as simple as installing the 3 low profile signs at the entrances. Once visitors can pull up a 3D view of the Samara House in more detail, we anticipate there will be more traffic to the website and more sales in the online gift store.

Another one of Mr. Wright’s architectural buildings that contains a visitor center is the Darwin D Martin house. The visitor center provides support for spaces for visitors to the Darwin D. Martin house, and programs in the visitor center include exhibition space and permanent galleries. The visitor center is located right next to the Martin house itself which is convenient for visitors. The design for the visitor center does match the architectural inspiration of Frank Lloyd Wright with the floor-to-ceiling windows for natural light as well as the incorporation of nature, the inverted roof for the center, and a lot of open space for the sunlight and people to roam.

Stage three is increasing income via gift shop sales.

This can be done with the recommendations of team 5, but also by increasing novel items, like the canned t-shirts, both in the online store and in physical vending machines. As mentioned before, these machines can be implemented before the building of a physical guest building and they could help raise

the funds for Stage 4. The higher quote machines can hold more items and would not need restocking as much but regardless of size, they can vend the canned shirts.

Stage four is the building of the physical building.

This will require a combination of grants, fundraising, and increasing tours and sales of souvenirs.

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PARKING AT SAMARA HOUSE

Authors Danny Kanj

College of Agriculture

Mehr Mangat

College of Engineering

Basil Liu

College of Engineering

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Situated between two of American history’s most architecturally significant cities of Chicago, IL, and Columbus, IN, the John and Catherine E. Christian House, better known as Samara, is located within the tranquil Hills and Dales Neighborhood of Wabash Township in West Lafayette, Indiana. This city notably resides across the Wabash River from its sister city, Lafayette, and contains the main campus of Purdue University, a public land-grant research institution. Samara encapsulates the principles of organic architecture and Usonian (Prairie-style) design that were masterfully employed by Frank Lloyd Wright throughout his eminent seven-decade career in

in architectural design in 2,200 square-feet (Samara House, n.d.). Throughout the course HONR 220 Community of Inquiry, we have had the unique opportunity to learn both inside and outside the classroom about the conservation and preservation at this heritage site. We have highlighted the historical background of how the house came to fruition, its architectural significance within the United States, and how it became recognized as a historical landmark symbolizing one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s best architectural works.

Moreover, we have summarized an overview of the contemporary parking issue that currently exists at Samara, our initial thoughts about similar parking issues present at other architectural properties designed

by Frank Lloyd Wright, and how appropriately addressing the parking issue at Samara is crucial to conserving its heritage along with the surrounding environmental fauna and flora. Thus, to maximize the tourist or visitor experience that can be delivered by the current full-time curator of the property, Nathan Allaire, it becomes pertinent to address, ameliorate, and potentially eliminate issues relating to transportation and parking where feasible both at and around Samara. For our overarching group project topic, we have

chosen to explore the parking situation that currently exists at Samara through other precedent parking challenges faced by similar sites and communities; detailed articulations, diagrams, and sketches of strategies to tackle both the specific and general aspects of transportation and parking along with their advantages and disadvantages; and partnerships with potential stakeholders that could greatly aid in expediting the delivery of these ideas.

Project Background and Analysis

During the Christians’ first significant visit to Taliesin, Wright’s summer home situated in the “valley of his childhood” in Spring Green, Wisconsin, Catherine provided the renowned architect with a 28-page booklet detailing the couple’s home necessities titled “What We Need for How We Live” which assisted in his ability to tailor his architectural principles towards the Christians’ requirements (Indiana Landmarks, n.d.). In the next couple of years spanning from 1951 to 1956, the Christians collaborated with Wright through meetings in West Lafayette and at Taliesin regarding Samara’s future exterior and interior details. The private home began construction in May of 1955 and was completed in August of 1956, with the Christians continuing to commission the remaining furniture that Wright expertly designed to complement the structure’s harmony with nature in the decades that followed (Nathan Allaire, guided tour of Samara, October 5, 2023). It is regarded as “one of the most complete, fully implemented Wright-designed projects”, the renowned architect’s designs found in their original intact condition and thus in compliance with his high standards throughout the house’s interior, exterior, and landscaping (Indiana Landmarks, n.d.). Shown in Figure 1, the house was ultimately occupied by the Christian family until the death of John E. Christian on July

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Samara, the botanical name bestowed by Wright in reference to the winged evergreen pine tree seeds that are found in abundance throughout the property, was commissioned in 1950 by Purdue University faculty Dr. John E. Christian, a pharmaceutical chemistry (bionucleonics) professor, and his wife, Catherine Christian, the social director of the Purdue Memorial Union from 1946 to 1961 (Purdue Archives and Special Collections n.d.). Despite limited and modest budgeting from the Christians, Wright designed the house for the young professional couple with a single caveat: they would not deviate from his specified custom details and continue to implement them at Samara when it became economically feasible (Samara House n.d.). This request of exhaustive completion was paramount to maintaining Wright’s style as the house would continue to serve as an artistic expression of his architectural influences, both the extensive ones such as organic architecture that remained consistent across his structures along with the specific ones employed only at Samara. The most powerful example of specific influences is shown by Wright employing the “descending chevrons” that the Samara seeds produce when falling in the air in an almost ubiquitous fashion throughout the house, with the motif located along the furniture, the rugs, and at the top of the living room clerestory windows (Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation n.d.). Wright also modeled the guest room chair after a benzene molecule to reflect Dr. Christian’s chemistry background.

Frank Lloyd Wright had an extreme distaste for garages due to their promotion of clutter, famously saying to the commissioner of the Usonian Jacobs House “[a] car is not a horse, and it doesn’t need a barn… [cars] are built well enough now so that they do not require elaborate shelter”, he did design carports, or minimalist automotive shelters, in his architectural works such as the carport adjacent to the guest house at Fallingwater (Cole, 2022). As a testament to Samara’s complete artistic expression of Wright’s design philosophy, the one-story house possesses a carport in harmony with the surrounding landscape while also being covered by a continuous and flat roof.

12, 2015, resulting in nine original homeowners of Frank Lloyd Wright homes remaining across the United States whom seven of which still reside in their homes (Yu, 2015).

Despite its historical usage as a private Tippecanoe County residence to the Christian family which also served to entertain fellow Purdue faculty, staff, and students along with three Nobel Prize winners through its 50-person living room, it currently serves as a public educational work of art showcasing Wright’s architectural innovations. More specifically, Samara resides at the address of 1301 Woodland Avenue where it is open to the public through scheduled tours and hosts thousands of visitors cumulatively each year (Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation n.d.). In 1992, Samara was listed in the National Register of Historical Places when it was formally 36 years of age, well under the conventional requirement of 50 years (Parks, Forests, and Public Property, 2010), and fewer than 30 U.S. buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright have ever achieved this distinction (National Park Service, 2022). On February 27, 2015, Samara was declared a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service, which selects the most significant places in America’s

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Figure 1: Samara is situated atop a hill and surrounded by forest greenery on all sides, the structure not overpowering the landscape that it resides on while encapsulating great unity with nature as Wright intended.

history, making it one of the 43 that currently exist within the state of Indiana and the approximately 2600 that exist within the United States (National Park Service n.d.). Samara is also a contributing property to the Hills and Dales Historic District in Tippecanoe County, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as roughly bounded by Northwestern Avenue, Meridian Street, Hillcrest Road, and Grant Street (Evans & Bowen, 2001). Today, Samara is costewarded by Indiana Landmarks and the John E. Christian Family Memorial Trust Inc., both of which importantly launched a $1.6 million complete restoration project in 2022 to tackle structural concerns and conserve the diverse collection of Wright furnishing that resides throughout this National Historic Landmark (Indiana Landmarks, n.d.). This was funded in part through donations, the $500,000 Save America’s Treasures federal grant from the National Park Service, and a $503,000 matched donation in private funds by the John E. Christian Family Memorial Trust Inc. (Indiana Landmarks, 2020).

Our group, along with the many others in our section of HONR 220 Community of Inquiry, was given the opportunity to tour Samara on two separate occasions. The first tour on September 23 was a general tour that tourists regularly receive at Samara with the intended purpose of catering digestible information to a broad audience demographic possessing variable knowledge about architecture, conservation, preservation, and Frank Lloyd Wright. However, the second tour on October 6 provided a crucial opportunity to pursue more tailored and detailed questions regarding our group projects to the full-time Indiana Landmarks curator of the property: Nathan Allaire. Nathan previously served as a tour guide for another Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian home in Buchanan County, Iowa, known as the Lowell and Agnes Walter Estate (or Cedar Rock) in Cedar Rock State Park. When asked about whether his primary objective for Samara was to maximize the quality of the

experience or to maximize the number of tourists that get to experience the home, Nathan noted that the original owner of the house, John E. Christian, wanted the property to feel like a “learning laboratory” environment and was very hesitant to call it a museum. For this reason, along with the complete nature of the Frank Lloyd Wright designs located at the property, it would not be ethical to maximize the quantity of inperson tourists and thus tours are usually capped at 15 with some exceptions before clubs, organizations, and school classes (Nathan Allaire, guided tour of Samara, October 5, 2023).

With regards to the overall parking issue at Samara, it is not necessarily the quantity of cars that is of the biggest concern but rather the type of vehicle that is used as transportation by visitors. During the October 5 tour, Nathan highlighted that most tourists come in bursts, usually three to four individuals and sometimes as a large family or friend group. On average, they usually expect approximately two people per car, and it is very rare that 15 individual cars will manifest themselves at once at Samara. There is approximately 110 square feet of parking at Samara, notably along both sides of Woodland Avenue, an area sufficient enough for two 72capacity school buses. This is in part due to the neighborhood residents in the area, particularly those on Woodland Avenue, being respectful towards the tourism business that occurs there and its implications for the local economy.

However, future residents may not be as welcoming and potentially object to parking in their community, a reality to remain cognizant of when addressing the parking issue.

While Indiana Landmarks is a non-profit organization that does not deal with taxes and receives federal grants to maintain Samara due to its classification as a National Historic Landmark, there are short fallings in the budget that must be made up either through tourism or donations (Nathan Allaire, guided tour of Samara, October 5, 2023). While maintenance expenses and “keeping the lights on” are significant costs when operating the Samara house, tourism to the site was negatively impacted by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. For example, Samara only averaged approximately $20,000 annually from tourism alone throughout the last three years, one of which they were closed for in 2020 due to COVID restrictions.

In comparison to this year, tourism in Samara is projected to bring approximately $30,000 from ticket sales alone and, excluding the $2.50 fee, the price of general admissions tickets was doubled from $10.00 to $20.00 (Nathan Allaire, guided tour of Samara, October 5, 2023). Nathan also noted that public tours regularly occur on weekdays, with the exception of holidays, and have seen a 93% attendance rate this year (Nathan Allaire, Outlook email, November 20, 2023). Public guided tours are held in-person both in the morning, from 10:00 to 11:00 am EST, and in the afternoon, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm EST, by the full-time curator of the site who provides information relating to the site’s history, design rationale, and significance in an engaging and story-telling fashion.

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Importantly, the shape and width of Woodland Avenue and the neighboring roads is the most restrictive aspect of parking, with touring school group motor coaches struggling with the limited turning radius at the end and having to back all the way onto Hillcrest Road. The major issues with regard to capacity occur on game days

during the Purdue football season, which lasts from the beginning of September up until late November or early December (ESPN, 2023). Due to the proximity of the Hills and Dales Neighborhood to the Purdue Ross-Ade Stadium, this inevitably results in street parking congestion and tours often cannot be offered during these days due to the unpredictable nature of the busy neighborhoods.

Parking Challenges and Similarities at Mainstreet Communities and other Frank Lloyd Wright Sites Mainstreet communities, or those that contain a wide diversity of “mom and pop” family-owned businesses and revitalize downtown historic commercial districts through strategic reinvestment, frequently encounter complaints pertaining to the downtown scarcity of available parking spaces (OCRA, 2023). While the demolition of an older building may seem fitting to resolve the lack of parking, it not only ruins the character of the main street district that attracts tourism, visitors, and investors, but it also only addresses the symptom rather than the fundamental underlying cause.

Parking management issues usually stem from the confusion regarding available parking: individuals are not usually aware where available parking resides along with the time-limits or permits associated with certain spaces.

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Furthermore, these communities are dynamic in their degree of traffic, with some parking spaces in lots being abundant or congested at specific times of given days. Thus, some parking lots may be empty while others may exceed capacity due to either their vicinity to an area of high demand or due to the confusion of where available parking lies. The most powerful way that Mainstreet communities address this issue is through the effective deployment of parking signs that are simple, easy to read, and are generally unambiguous in communicating the presence or direction of nearby parking lots. Moreover, they also employ online brochures that communicate similar information. However, this may necessitate prior hand mapping of parking square footage through the cataloging of existing parking spaces in order for the community to have a thorough understanding of the situation (WEDC, 2019).

Bryan Pijanowski, a professor of forestry and natural resources at Purdue, discovered in a 2007

study that parking spaces in Tippecanoe County outnumbered resident drivers 3-to-1 and outnumbered resident families 11-to-1 (Tang et. al, 2007). While Samara may not receive the same barrage of vehicles that Mainstreet communities are subjected to regularly, it again does contain parking adversities and inconveniences like other Frank Lloyd Wright architectural properties.

Nathan Allaire spoke on his previous experience at Cedar Rock and how a portion of the parceled property used to contain a barn that was torn down to generate enough space for a formal parking lot. However, this designated parking lot was an approximately 1-mile drive from the visitor center and thus tourists would need to be transported, in this case on an open wagon pulled by a John Deere tractor during the tour, to the Usonian home.

Notably, the gravel pathway the tourists were transported on matched the original driveway for the structure, demonstrating an attempt to preserve the original approach that Wright had followed (Nathan Allaire, guided tour of Samara, October 5, 2023). The Affleck House is located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and has an analogous residential setting to Samara with limited parking availability directly adjacent to the site and, as a result, carpooling is frequently encouraged (Affleck House, n.d.). However, to the fortune of the Affleck House, there exists a massive parking lot with an excess of parking spaces across Woodward Avenue belonging to “Inspire Home Care” that exceeds the capacity necessary to accommodate tourism. In a similar fashion, Samara is adjacent to Northwestern Avenue where a plethora of parking spaces exist for the Purdue Ross-Ade Stadium through the North Stadium, H, and F Lots. However, Nathan stated that his predecessor, Linda Eales, who was a volunteer and part-time curator for Samara for 20 years, attempted to speak with the parking department at Purdue to help solidify parking arrangements for tourists at the lots that encompass the stadium, such as the one shown

in Figure 2. However, there was unfortunately a miscommunication regarding the system that Indiana landmarks wanted to establish for Samara and the department instead requested that they purchase full-price seasonal parking passes for each tourist (Nathan Allaire, guided tour of Samara, October 5, 2023). The consequences for not abiding by parking restrictions in enforced parking lots range from parking citations at best to vehicle towage at worst. These lots can still be used to circumvent the problem of the insufficient turning radius present in Woodland Avenue that buses and motor coaches frequently struggle with, allowing them to serve as drop-off and pickup zones.

the Japanese-inspired furniture would encourage guests to be “closer to the Earth”. Parking lots hold many environmental implications, beyond just the total energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission heavily tied with creating and maintaining these spaces for vehicles. While at the most fundamental level they transgress upon the increasingly scarce space that native plants and animals have to inhabit, parking lots also significantly contribute to the urban heat island effect, a phenomenon where artificial surfaces with dense concentrations of pavement and concrete quickly retain the sun’s energy during daylight hours and slowly release this heat during nighttime hours.

Thus, while the lots of the Purdue Ross-Ade Stadium may not be able to serve as permanent parking for vehicles, they can be used as a free, spacious, and visible meet-up point for larger bodies of people that are traveling to tour the Samara House. It is appropriate to approach the parking issue at Samara from an ecologically friendly perspective to not detract from Wright’s intention of a structure in harmony with nature, made evident by features shown in Figure 3, such as the climbing vines that established powerful connections with the structure’s terrace and how

This results in urban regions being warmer throughout the entire day than the rural regions that encompass them, thus contributing to more severe anthropogenic global warming and subsequent climate change (Ben-Joseph, 2012).

Unlike artificial construction material, natural vegetation like trees more readily deflect solar radiation and release moisture back into the atmosphere through transpiration. Beyond the environmental repercussions of altering the temperature that local fauna and flora have adapted to thrive in, the urban heat island effect also results in economic consequences with regards to energy costs for non-renewable resources, such as air conditioning, and human health consequences with regards to air pollution levels and heat-related illnesses (Environmental Protection Agency, n.d.).

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Figure 2: The Ross-Ade Stadium is encompassed by many designated parking lots, such as the North Stadium Lot pictured above, that Linda Eales was told require the purchasing of seasonal parking passes to avoid being subjected to parking citations.

Another crucial and overlooked environmental problem with parking lots stems from water pollution. Parking spaces are susceptible to oil, heavy metal, grease, and sediment accumulation, with stormwater runoff from these areas into waterways and bodies of water presenting a major issue for all fauna and flora, not just local residents (Greentumble, 2016).

Figure 3: The living room is the focal point of Samara’s interior, with custom-designed furniture and clerestory windows overlooking a terrace full of green vegetation that serves to ultimately encourage attention and gratitude towards the outdoors.

Neighborhood Samara

Parking

Restrictions

near

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West Lafayette contains a plethora of general parking restrictions and emergency snow routes that must be accounted for when assessing the parking issue at Samara. In addition to the usual regulations pertaining to parking consistent with the flow of traffic, not standing park in the traveled portion of a roadway, parking no more than 12 inches from a curb, and not parking on private property to name a few, owners of a vehicle are required to remove vehicles from an emergency snow route when a snow emergency (the accumulation of snow or ice that is equivalent to or exceeds two inches) is declared electronically by the City of West Lafayette. If this order is not followed, the vehicle will be both fined $40.00 and towed, with the owner responsible for all costs (West Lafayette City Code, 2023). In the proximity of Samara, there exist three emergency snow routes shown in Figure 4 that tourists should be made aware of: Cherry Lane, Grant Street, and North Salisbury Street. In addition to the standard

parking regulations followed by the city, West Lafayette also imposes time limits on street parking in residential neighborhoods and in select portions of Purdue’s campus, shown in Figure 5 below.

Furthermore, parking along yellow curbs is offlimits and areas that are unmarked abide by the 24-hour maximum time limit (West Lafayette, 2023). While Woodland Avenue is not included on the diagram, other streets south of Samara are included with their appropriate time limits and whether they necessitate a Neighborhood Parking Permit (NPP). These zones are created when residents of the local area request permit parking through their neighborhood association in response to adverse impacts by non-resident parking. The written petition must be signed by the lesser of the following: 51% of all affected properties or by 67% of all owner-occupied affected properties. Within these zones, visitors are subjected to a two-hour time limit while residents that possess permits can park indefinitely (West Lafayette City Code, 2023).

Figure 4: The annotated default Google Maps view depicting important features along with emergency snow routes (left) and the annotated terrain Google Maps view depicting all of the relevant bus stops along Northwestern Avenue (right). Importantly, Cherry Lane serves not only as an emergency snow route, but as the legal border between the Purdue University campus and the rest of West Lafayette.

Figure 5: The relevant parking time limits, NPP zones, and other parking restrictions in West Lafayette.

Woodland Avenue (not depicted) is an unmarked area with 24-hour maximum parking.

Major Proposed Solutions

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Brick Driveway Parking Feasibility at Samara Standard parking spaces are required to be at least 180 square feet in area and 8 feet in width, with most parking spaces ranging between a width of 8.5 to 9 feet (American Legal Publishing,

2022). As a result, this establishes an inverse relationship where the narrower a parking space is, the greater its length should be to compensate.

Shown in Figure 6, our initial proposal for parking at Samara involved designated parking spaces on the brick driveway that would be 8 feet wide and 22.5 feet long, both meeting the minimum square footage and providing adequate space for standard vehicles. Moreover, there could be a parking entrance from Northwestern Avenue using the chain-linked entrance and a parking exit utilizing Woodland Avenue (or vice versa), with visitors entering the property sequentially before the tour and exiting after the tour is finished.

Considering that the average car ranges in width from 6 to 8 feet and in length from 15 to 20 ft depending on the model (Meyer, 2023), it would seem possible to have visitors park in a row while still maintaining adequate room between the vehicles. Furthermore, signage could also be incorporated that informs the public that the brick driveway is legally enforced and off-limits to outsiders. While the initial major disadvantage with this method would be that there would not be a safe amount of space to pass vehicles, making it difficult for visitors to exit the property without

Figure 6: The proposal for how brick driveway parking could occur at Samara during public tours, with important measurements, features, and structures outlined along with two options describing how Northwestern Avenue and Woodland Avenue could be utilized. The diagram is not drawn to scale and serves as a visual aid that assists in articulating why this option would be unfeasible.

a regular basis and serves more as a walkway for visitors. The brick driveway is approximately 150 feet in length, containing a moderate slope which rises 14 feet over a distance of 60 feet that presents a challenge to visitors when initially exiting their vehicles. In contemporary times, it is frowned upon to design a driveway that contains heavy slopes with brick pavers due to their frequent nature of loosening rapidly and chipping along with the sand joints having the tendency to wash out rapidly. From a historical standpoint, the driveway would be susceptible to increased deterioration if used to a great degree and thus should only be used by maintenance and emergency service vehicles as well as individuals with disabilities. The Northwestern Avenue chainlink entrance at the top of the brick driveway possesses a narrow width of 6 feet and the main trunk of the brick driveway is limited to a width of 8 feet, leading to safety concerns if one vehicle was put in a situation where it would need to pass another. Importantly, the cantilevered roof overhang of the guest bedroom extends 2.5 feet from the corner, and this presents a challenge for vehicles that usually exceed a height of 7 feet, such as pickup trucks, potentially leading to the damage of both historical and visitor property (Nathan Allaire, Outlook email, November 12, 2023).

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those in the front leaving first, Nathan would outline a more serious concern regarding the brick driveway.

Greater Lafayette Public Transportation to Samara

When the Christians commissioned Samara, they were a relatively young couple with many financial limitations who also did not fit the archetype of wealthy clients that Wright frequently designed for. While the relatively inexpensive construction of Samara may have been completed in the August of 1956, Nathan explained that the majority of the brick driveway was laid by Dr. Christian himself during his weekend afternoons and was not performed by an experienced landscape architect. As a consequence of this, it is not equipped to handle a stream of vehicles on

Bus transportation not only benefits the local economy and promotes individual health through increased walking, but also reduces the air pollution that plagues the local environment while also lessening the traffic congestion present in an area (BATA, 2023). CityBus, or the Greater Lafayette Public Transportation Corporation, serves as a viable method for those in the Greater Lafayette Area to arrive at the property by purchasing a $2.00 Day Pass. Moreover, the municipal corporation bus system has service hours that are 7am until 8:45pm on Monday to Friday (weekdays) and 10am to 5:45pm on

Saturdays and Sundays (weekends).

Furthermore, students, faculty, and retirees that have a valid Purdue photo ID can leverage free rides through CityBus, making it an incredibly powerful mode of transportation that could attract individuals from the Purdue campus area to Samara (CityBus, 2022). Importantly, there exist six bus stops along the length of Northwestern Avenue, shown previously in Figure 4, that are in the relative proximity of the Samara House: BUS901 (SE Corner of Northwestern Avenue & Hillcrest Rd), BUS431 (South of Cherry Lane & Northwestern Avenue), BUS203 (SE Corner of Northwestern Avenue & Northridge Drive), BUS169 (West Side of Northwestern Avenue & Chelsea Road), BUS284 (SE Corner of Northwestern Avenue & Meridian Street), and BUS105 (SE Corner of Northwestern Avenue & Evergreen Street).

While the former five stops are all connected through CityBus Line 10 which spans the majority of Northwestern Avenue, BUS105 is special in that while it does contain CityBus Line 10, it also contains CityBus Lines 1B (spans from the CityBus center in Lafayette to the Walmart in West Lafayette) and 21A (travels along West State Street, 3rd Street, West Stadium Avenue, and a great majority of Northwestern Avenue and Sagamore Parkway West) as shown in Figure 7 (CityBus, 2023). Thus, while the other five bus stops near Samara may be limited to one CityBus line, this final stop near the Fuse apartments allows for a wider area to be covered by bus transportation at a minimal cost to visitors not affiliated with Purdue.

thus not be promoted as an ideal mode of transportation. Thus, while traveling by CityBus may be financially convenient, the time costs as well as its limited nature to certain bus stops far outweigh the benefits.

Purdue Campus Parking Options for Samara Shown in Figure 8, parking on Purdue Campus exists in diverse forms: metered parking, hourly garage parking, one-day permits, monthly permits, and annual parking permits. While the latter two are methods oriented towards Purdue students and faculty, the former of the three will be explored for tourist parking at Samara. Metered parking is the shortest form of parking, available at select locations on campus for up to two hours and payment must be made either through the ParkMobile application or by contacting the vendor phone number listed. This method of parking is by far the least practical for visitors when considering its inability for long vehicle storage, distance from the Samara house, and cost which can all be circumvented through onstreet neighborhood parking. Hourly garage

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However, the major negative associated with bus transportation is the long duration of time endured by having to adhere to certain predetermined times and stops, generating increased frustration from visitors who may attach the experience of riding buses with being connected to Samara. Moreover, an excess reliance on bus line transportation to Samara will limit the tourist demographic greatly and should

Figure 7: The three CityBus lines (1B, 10, 21A), along with the location of both BUS105 and Samara, are depicted above. While the three bus lines traverse a significant portion of the Greater Lafayette area, this transportation option is limited to local residents and individuals affiliated with Purdue University.

parking can be pursued through either the Grant Street or Harrison Street Parking Garage, with the Grant Street location being in closer proximity to the Samara house. The hourly rates are as follows and should be paid at the pay station available in the main lobby or exit lanes: $1.00 for 0-30 minutes, $3.00 for 30-60 minutes, $1.00 for each additional hour, and $10.00 for a maximum 24 consecutive hour period. While this method allows for longer storage of a vehicle, the Grant Street Parking Garage is both a considerable distance from Samara and is expensive relative to the onstreet neighborhood parking that can be performed near Samara. Thus, within the one-hour period that a tour normally occurs, this option would not be feasible.

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By far the most powerful method of campus parking is the $5.00 visitor daily permit, which allows drivers of automobiles to park in all “A”, “B”, or “C” lots across campus unless posted restrictions indicate otherwise. The major negative associated with the visitor daily permit is that it must be purchased digitally through the Purdue parking portal and excludes the parking garages.

However, it allows tourists to utilize the existing parking lots across Northwestern Avenue that are associated with the Ross-Ade Stadium (North Stadium, H, and F Lots) for an inexpensive price and in close proximity to Samara. Furthermore, Purdue police use License Plate Recognition, meaning that registered vehicles can use lots instantly following permit purchase (Purdue, 2015). However, the major disadvantage of this solution is that these lots are reserved on Purdue game days and cannot be used by Samara visitors. In such cases, they would have to use other available public lots and the CityBus lines in order to navigate to Samara, decreasing proximity to the site.

Bike Rack Installation at Samara On November 21, 2019, West Lafayette was designated as a bronze-level “Bicycle Friendly Community” by the League of American

Figure 8: An annotated map for Purdue campus parking, with an accompanying legend in the top left corner, depicting designated areas for metered, garage, and permit parking.

Bicyclists (West Lafayette, 2019). Commercial bike rack installation not only has the capacity to promote cycling as a mode of transportation within communities, but it also drives beneficial tourism by increasing the traffic present in an area. Thus, bike racks promote a mode of transportation that exhibits a minimal environmental impact in contrast to the significant carbon emissions generated by automobiles and also indirectly benefits a region financially by expanding its potential customer base through increased community engagement (Baskind, 2020). More specifically, it can promote scooter, e-scooter, and e-bicycle usage along with other forms of sustainable transportation, highlighting the immense versatility bike racks possess in the secure storage of micromobility vehicles at a significantly cheaper cost than the construction of excess parking spaces while being magnitudes more beneficial for environmental conservation (Olabi et. al, 2023).

The ecologically friendly nature of cycling also aligns heavily with conservation, a focal point ubiquitously present throughout Samara and its

surrounding forestry. However, the implementation of a bike rack at Samara should be carried out appropriately in both its placement and design to maximize its accessibility and availability to visitors. The greatest concern demonstrated by Nathan Allaire is that it may be utilized more frequently by the public rather than Samara visitors. This can be mitigated to a significant degree through a myriad of methods, the first and most significant of which being a unique design that makes it unambiguously evident that the bike rack is not intended to serve as a public commodity but rather that it exists as an extension of Samara. Wright employed a special chevron design inspired by the winged evergreen seeds present at the site throughout the structure, making it appropriate to include this symbol along the bike rack in a conspicuous form so as to not deviate from the custom theme set forth by the eminent architect decades prior. Moreover, a color scheme that corresponds to the evergreen wood in the surrounding landscape and to the oxidized copper that composes the cantilevered roof overhang could be successful in highlighting both the nature and heritage that exists in the atmosphere at Samara.

The installation method of a bike rack is dependent on whether it will exist on a natural surface (inground mount) or on an existing concrete surface (surface mount). Considering that Samara was built upon a concrete foundation, both methods can be employed although they each have their downsides. The installation of a bike rack on a natural surface may be difficult considering the slope that Samara was constructed upon while the installation of a bike rack on an existing concrete surface may jeopardize the history associated with the Samara site and go against preservation at the site.

At the most fundamental level, in-ground installations necessitate burrowing a hole in the native soil for each leg of the bike rack, inserting anchor rods into the bottom holes at each leg, pouring concrete into the holes, and allowing it to set. Conversely, a surface mount necessitates drilling holes into the existing concrete and inserting the wedge anchors of choice to secure the rack. Of the commercial options provided, drop-in anchors would maintain a safe and flat surface when removed without damaging the concrete, making it the most preservation-friendly choice at Samara (Madrax, n.d.). While a fully portable bike rack would prevent the hassle associated with in-ground mounting

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Furthermore, bike rack placement near the chainlink gate at the top of the driveway would also discourage usage by incoming pedestrians along Woodland Avenue, with the chained-off entrance leading to Northwestern Avenue making it evident that it is not intended solely for communal usage. It is important to note that while Nathan Allaire does not mind allowing neighborhood residents and the public to use the bike rack, he mainly intends to prioritize the availability of this resource for its intended purpose. Thus, if the rack were to be placed facing Woodland Avenue, the placement of a sign discouraging usage would be necessary to ensure its availability while also enhancing its accessibility to tourists that arrive at Samara.

Lastly, while limiting the capacity that the bike rack can sustain may seem counterintuitive, it would further discourage its usage as a communal space and prevent it from

detracting attention towards Samara.

options, it would take up a considerable amount of space, feel ungrounded or detached from Samara, and be more susceptible to theft from the property. The quote for bike rack installation usually ranges from $150 to $300, depending on the model of bike rack, materials used, and the style, with surface mounts being cheaper mainly due to the reduced labor involved (Clean Air Council, 2023). While the price of custom bike racks is subject to greater variation, an inverted U-shaped design that our group came across for $429.00, shown in Figure 9, allows for the ability to laser-cut any logo into a metal plate while also having the capacity to be securely positioned with either an in-ground or surface mount (The Park Catalog, 2023).

In general, custom racks will bear a greater financial cost than standard bike racks when capacity is kept constant, with a 2-bike capacity being $108.95, or $320.05 cheaper than our chosen custom rack (Global Industrial, 2023).

However, custom racks will complement the tourist experience to a significantly greater degree and will remain special to that particular site for the foreseeable future.

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Figure 9: The custom bike rack design proposed by our group for micromobility transportation devices, with a color scheme and logo that complements Samara while incorporating its unique chevron motif.

Potential Stakeholders and Partnerships for Samara There exist various stakeholders and partnerships that could not only ameliorate the parking adversities at and provide beneficial financial aid towards Samara, but also bring greater positive attention and reduce any short fallings in the budget. While current stakeholders include Indiana Landmarks and the John E. Christian Family Memorial Trust, Visit Lafayette-West Lafayette and the City of West Lafayette would be especially powerful partnerships with regards to tourism. Visit Lafayette-West Lafayette’s emphasis on marketing the nature, downtown commerce, and dining found throughout the two cities for the overarching purpose of capitalizing on the financial benefits of tourism would allow for more eyes outside of Indiana to be directed at Samara.

Thus, a partnership with this non-profit organization would further enhance the local tourism industry in the Greater Lafayette area and bring business towards the National Historic Landmark through free website listings, services relating to public relations through social media and travel blogs, advertising, visitor guides, and crucial sponsorships to non-profit organizations that provide proof of status.

The City of West Lafayette has the capacity to enforce codes relating to parking through the police department during game days for Samara, circumventing the busy nature of residential parking during the football season and allowing tourism that drives the economy to progress uninterrupted. This can be accomplished through a temporary sign permit, which necessitates completing a temporary sign permit application where the type of sign, dates of usage, size, and placement must be specified. This permit has a fee of $20.00 per sign for a period of 30 days and has the disadvantage of being restricted to a 30day period within any 90-day time frame and the permits are limited to four in a 12-month period.

Multifaceted Solution and Conclusion Samara stands as the complete artistic expression of one of America’s most accomplished architects, Frank Lloyd Wright, and remains a part of the legacy of Usonian homes built during his seven-decade career. While the Christians were not Wright’s usual wealthy clients, they not only fulfilled his promise by carrying out the architect’s vision through decades of perseverance, but also welcomed Samara as a space for students and faculty in West Lafayette to explore, learn, and enjoy. Today, this National Historic Landmark welcomes national and international tourists alike annually to enjoy the organic beauty employed throughout the property, learn about the magnificent history behind the structure, and explore all the unique Wright designs contained in its interior and along its exterior. As a result, it becomes important to address issues pertaining to parking in an environmentally cognizant manner as well as a financial one. Mainstreet communities are the greatest example of how parking management issues get misconstrued with parking capacity issues, and such issues at Samara can be addressed promptly through our group’s proposed solutions.

We weighed these various solutions through the usage of a weighted decision matrix in order to quantitatively assess which solution best addresses our needs. Figure 10 considers all of the solutions discussed within this document and ranks them based on the qualities we deemed most important: affordability, effectiveness at solving the issue, preservation of Samara,

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In contrast, a permanent sign permit necessitates completing a permanent sign permit application where construction plans for signage, scaled plot plans, type of sign, and sign area all must be specified. While the major disadvantage is a $100.00 fee, the major advantage with a permanent sign permit is that it would not be limited to the legal time constraints associated with the temporary sign permit. Thus, through the City of West Lafayette, parking during major game days of the Purdue football season and even permanent parking could be secured for tourists at Samara. While the two aforementioned partnerships are beneficial for external tourism, partnering with the College of Liberal Arts and the Lyles School of Civil Engineering would allow other students who are pursuing careers in the arts, interior design, and architectural engineering to have the ability to visit Samara in a similar fashion as we did during HONR 220 Community of Inquiry, potentially for course-related group projects or assignments. By integrating Samara, a local heritage site designed by one of America’s most distinguished architects, into some courses within departments found in these two colleges, Samara could provide academic support to students and receive financial support in return from these colleges who could have their names attached as generous benefactors to the property

in return. This would align heavily with the learning laboratory vision that Dr. Christian intended for the home, allowing students in architecture and interior design to experience Samara outside the classroom, the fees of which would be covered by the two colleges, through both guided tours and opportunities to freely explore the property for inspiration.

proximity to Samara, and the feasibility of implementing the solution. Each quality was given a weight from 0 to 1, with 1 holding the most importance and 0 holding the least importance.

Importantly, “effectiveness” was given the most importance as there are several issues that need to be solved and we would like to identify a solution that best addresses all of them.

Again, the main parking issues associated with Samara are as follows: the crowdy nature of Purdue home game days, the limited turning radius in the neighborhood streets for large visiting buses to navigate, and a deficiency in storage space for individuals commuting via alternative modes of transportation, such as bikes and skateboards. As seen in the weighted decision matrix, the best overall solution is the utilization of the Purdue parking lots in conjunction with the CityBus lines. These parking lots serve a dual purpose, accommodating both individual parking and bus drop-offs. Furthermore, conveniently located near these lots and the bus stops are public bike and skateboard racks. Thus, once visitors have parked, disembarked from the bus, or securely locked their bike or skateboard, they can seamlessly navigate to Samara using the available bus services.

While it is more of a hassle to navigate bus transportation as it is further from Samara in comparison to the other solutions, as further indicated by it possessing the lowest proximity ranking of 4, it excels in every other category which resulted in it achieving the highest score of 26.8. The Ross-Ade bus drop-off zone, micromobility rack, and temporary reservation solutions followed closely behind, but ultimately did not score as high because they all target one of the three major issues. The creation of a new parking lot is not only expensive, but it also does not align with the ideals present at Samara which resulted in it obtaining the lowest score of 13.6 and utilizing the Samara driveway also received a low score of 18.3, mainly due to it possessing the least effectiveness. However, for accessibility issues, it would be appropriate to use the driveway as it is well-equipped to handle one vehicle.

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Figure 10: The weighted decision matrix results for the various Samara parking solutions discussed within this document.

In total, we plan to implement four solutions: the Purdue parking lot and CityBus solution due to its ability to effectively address all three issues along with the Ross-Ade bus drop-off zone, micromobility rack, and temporary reservation solutions which address the limited turning radius, deficiency in alternative transportation storage, and lack of parking during Purdue game days, respectively. Ultimately, our proposed solutions would work in conjunction with one another as one major multifaceted solution. In order to successfully implement this multifaceted solution, we would create an online brochure on the Samara website that synthesizes the neighborhood parking restrictions surrounding the site, Purdue campus parking options, and CityBus transportation routes. The ultimate goal of this brochure would be to inform guests of the diverse number of options available so that they are able to prepare prior to their arrival at Samara.

Moreover, the Purdue parking portal can be linked on the website to direct visitors that anticipate bringing a great deal of transportation to Samara to purchase daily visitor permits, integrated directly into the process of purchasing tickets while also allowing them to locate available

parking lots. With the addition of bike racks at Samara, the website could also promote that micro-mobility vehicle transportation to the site is a feasible as well as an environmentally sustainable option. For those who plan to travel in large groups using bus transportation, instructions on where the bus drop-off lot is located and how visitors can navigate from the drop-off zone to Samara would be included as well. While the driveway of Samara may never serve as on-site parking for all tourists due to its historical significance, a partnership with stakeholders like the City of West Lafayette police department and the incorporation of signage would best address the crowded parking that occurs ubiquitously during Purdue football game days, allowing tourism that is critical for the Greater Lafayette economy to continue unimpeded. We aim to eliminate parking concerns so that visitors can fully focus solely on the Samara experience. Every aspect of Samara was designed by Wright to enhance our appreciation for the natural world, not to detract from it, making it ethical that parking is addressed through partnership and sustainability efforts. After all, the construction of a parking lot near the site at the sacrifice of the circumjacent forestry is the furthest thing from organic architecture.

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EXPLORING THIRD-PARTY PARTNERSHIPS AND INTEGRATION WITH SAMARA HOUSE Authors Spencer Bowles

College of Engineering

Lucas Yu

College of Science

Ola Adegbohungbe College of Science Introduction

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Frank Lloyd Wright was a very successful American architect during the 20th century.

Beginning his career in the late 1880s, he worked under famous architects Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan until 1893 when he began his own architecture firm (Kaufman, 2023). Wright soon began pioneering the field of Prairie architecture in Chicago, showing an aptitude for building economical housing throughout the Midwest with several unique motifs, including large, flat roofs and wide, heavily windowed walls (Kaufman, 2023). During the middle of his career, Wright moved to Japan for five years, a decision that heavily influenced his later works (Kaufman, 2023). After this, Wright moved back to the US Midwest and began to convert this previous

Prairie architecture into a new, “Usonian” architectural style, defined by his signature flat roofs and windowed walls but with a particular focus on environmental integration (Kaufman, 2023). Today, Wright is remembered as the premier American architect, perhaps the most famous of all time. As such, his construction of Catherine and Dr. John Christian’s home, Samara, in West Lafayette is a fantastic piece of architectural art, coming from a world renowned designer.

In 1950, the Christians, aspiring to live in a truly unique home that would meet all of their needs, began to attempt to contact Frank Lloyd Wright (“Samara,” 2023). After a few calls and waiting a few months, Dr. Christian, a then bio-nucleonics professor at Purdue University, was able to get in touch with the architect directly, and gave Wright their ideas for their home (Allaire, 2023).

Catherine Christian had prepared a 28-page journal-article–style report “What We Need for How We Live” containing the precise details of the property’s topography, local weather, personal requirements, etc. (“Samara,” 2023).

The couple’s odd preparedness led Wright to become interested, and he decided to pick up the project in 1951 (“Samara,” 2023). Sadly, the Christians had little money saved up at the time, certainly

not enough to pay for whatever Wright may design, so they cut a deal with the architect (Allaire, 2023). After five years of rumination in Wright’s design studio, a design was put forth with excruciating detail, and by their agreement with Wright, the Christians had to follow exactly Wright's vision, no matter how long it took, until the house was finished as planned (Allaire, 2023).

Merchandise Merchandise provides an easy revenue source for Samara to remove some of the deficit it currently operates at. Additionally, merchandise acts as a method for pseudo-advertising. By seeing Samara merchandise, we raise awareness for the property, generate revenue, and perhaps even incentivize the purchase of more merchandise. As Indiana Landmarks does not have access to the production needed to create any of this merchandise on their own, they must partner with or purchase from companies that can create custom merchandise, including guide books, souvenirs, or even a webstore.

Guide Book The first particular piece of merchandise to describe is the guide book. Beyond being a typical source of income, guide books are a wonderful way to spread awareness about the house and to showcase its contents. Essentially, guide books serve as free advertisement, scattered across the country on coffee tables and in the book cases of many, they leave a lasting impression of the property on those who tour.

This impression allows Samara to begin to enter the minds of many people who may never have heard of it before. But, before we talk in depth about the possible benefits of a guide book, we

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Samara’s exterior is a quintessential example of Wright’s design philosophy. Native plants of West Lafayette line the exterior, sheltering the house from its neighbors. The house is seamlessly integrated into its surroundings, its back terrace covered in a canopy, with vines climbing up its pillars, ivy on its walls, and the property level with the nature around it. While the front door is somewhat difficult to find from a brief glance at the exterior, owing to one of Wright’s design monikers, the so-called “path of discovery,” every room in the house (save for the bathroom)has a door allowing direct access to the outside (Allaire, 2023). The house is designed with a large living room but small bedrooms and hallways, forcing its tenants into social spaces. Furthermore, the design was built in a very modular fashion, owing to Wright’s economical aspect of the Usonian design philosophy. The house is partitioned into four-foot sub-blocks, each room being designed around even divisions and half-divisions of these blocks. The exterior is made of a simple clay brick, a readily available material in the Midwest, as well as sporting a recognizable copper fascia around the low-lying roof. After close inspection, one begins to notice the titular design motif of the property, the Samara. Wright elegantly wove the design of the Samara seed, sometimes known as a whirlybird or a helicopter, into just about every aspect of the property. The lamps spiral as though they were a falling seed, the rugs and blankets have a distinct shrinking triangle pattern, and observing the wood paneling across the clerestory windows reveals almost a movie of a samara seed twisting in the air. All-in-all, the Samara house is a beautiful property, designed

by America’s forthright Architect of his time, and a

wonderful recent addition to historically preserved properties. Sadly, historical restoration is rarely a lucrative practice, and Samara is no different. The house’s director and tour guide reported that the house runs at a yearly deficit of around 80 thousand dollars, not to mention the millions spent on restoration (Allaire, 2023). While the house is able to run off of donations and the small amount of money made from ticket sales, it would be great to have an additional source of income coming from various third-party partnerships, whether that be merchandise sales or special reservations. Additionally, partnering with thirdparty groups would allow for ready access to volunteers and other services that Indiana Landmarks would not directly provide.

should show some precedence of guide books so that one may better understand what they look like at other properties.

The most famous Frank Lloyd Wright property is most certainly Fallingwater. Nestled in the woodlands of Pennsylvania, Fallingwater is a testimony to the greatness and creativity of Wright’s designs. This piece of architecture has likely become the most famous piece of American home architecture, partially from its unique design bridging a waterfall but also from its publicity.

There are many beautiful homes tucked into the corners of America, but none as infamous as it.

One such aspect of this infamy is the Frank Lloyd Wright guide book. While this success is not solely attributed to the Fallingwater guide book, the book shows how the story and beauty of a piece of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture may be transferred, in part, to the pages of a book with great photography. On the official Fallingwater Museum Store, the following text describes the guide book: “Newly revised, the Fallingwater Booklet is a striking 24-page publication of Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous masterpiece, Fallingwater.

The booklet contains beautiful photography, and is rich in descriptive text, detailing the main house and guest house, room by room, and highlighting much of the unique art” (“Fallingwater, MuseumStore”, 2023).

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The most notable features of this description are the photography, textual description of the house, and the attention to detail. Furthermore, the guide book is 24-pages long to support this detail. This length suggests that the publishers of the book have incorporated much of the property’s story into the guide book as well. This is our aim for the Samara guide book.

Figure 1: The cover of the Fallingwater guide book (“Fallingwater Museum Store” 2023).

Nathan has stated, amongst other items, that a guide book is at the top of the list of priorities when it comes to Samara merchandise (Allaire, 2023). This was for much of the reasoning we stated above. Our vision for the Samara guidebook is to provide stunning photography, detailed description, and most importantly, tell the fascinating story of the Christians’ Samara house.

For the photography aspect, we believe Indiana Landmarks to have this covered, or be in contact with a photographer as their website already has good-looking photography of architecture, particularly Samara, present (“Samara,” 2023).

Figure 2: Images of Samara house from Indiana Landmarks (“Samara” 2023)

Additionally, Indiana Landmarks seems to have a plethora of historical information on file about the property. Particularly, from our initial interactions with Nathan, it seems as though Samara has various interesting stories to tell about its construction as well. These include, but are not limited to, the Christians’ initial interactions with Frank Lloyd Wright, the properties development over its long lifespan, the meaning of Samara and its presence in the house, and even the story of Dr. John Christian’s secret chemical formula used to green the copper overnight (“Q&A with Nathan,” 2023). These stories paint an interesting story of a house created through interesting circumstances, boldened through Wright’s design philosophy, and lived in dutifully by an interesting couple and their peers. By immortalizing these stories in the pages of a guide book, Indiana Landmarks creates an avenue for widespread, subtle advertisement and a very cool piece of merchandise.

Souvenirs Another avenue to sell merchandise would be the creation of more general souvenirs utilizing design motifs of the house. By creating souvenirs, there are simply more places for tourists to spend their money. This is a technique employed on other Frank Lloyd Wright properties as well.

Particularly, Fallingwater and other properties use this method extensively to both generate revenue and to further spread awareness about the property. Some common examples of souvenirs include hats, sweatshirts, and playing cards.

Figure 3: Examples of Fallingwater souvenirs for sale (“Fallingwater Museum Store” 2023).

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As the costs of hiring photographers and purchasing publishing rights to the photos varies drastically and would likely comprise the majority of the cost of creating a guide book (unless the photography is done in-house,) the cost of developing a guide book is unknown. In terms of printing costs, short run printing of photo books varies heavily based on size, quality, and order quantity. One such printer with good rates we found, Printing Center USA, prints 100, 16-page photo books for $277, $200 with a first-timer discount (“Short Run Digital Printing,” n.d.). This is about $2-3 per printed book. If the quantity raised to 1,000, the price would rise to $1,295, $1,145 with a first-timer discount (“Short Run Digital Printing” n.d.). This is about $1.15-1.30 per printed book. By printing just 100 books, and selling a conservative average one book per tour, with no other sales, and at the same price as the Fallingwater book, $16, before taxes there would be a profit of $1323 in about one year (“Fallingwater Museum Store,” 2023). While this is no means an insane amount of money, and frankly, barely makes a dent in the overall deficit of Samara, it is a great example of low-investment

avenues that Samara could employ to raise funds.

These funds can go back into the house, but they may also pay for larger, more ambitious merchandise projects. The target of these profits, however, should only be determined once a good idea of the rate of merchandise sales is determined. The key is to start small and gauge interest in merchandise, as to not overestimate the marketability of the property.

Noticeably, Frank Lloyd Wright souvenirs commonly take advantage of stylized design motifs and sketches of the property to decorate souvenirs. Luckily, Samara already has a stylized logo in the form of the winged seed symbol placed on the original stationery designed for the Christians’ use. This logo perfectly describes the motif of the property, and could be easily placed on apparel for sale. Additionally, Nathan had previously floated the idea of creating stickers for Samara (“Q&A with Nathan,” 2023). We believe that the Samara logo would fit perfectly on these stickers. If a less sleek design is preferred, a photo of the Samara house or a two-point perspective sketch of the house would also work well as a design for a sticker.

In terms of pricing, stickers are likely the cheapest piece of physical merchandise available. One company, 48 Hour Prints, offers 100 cut-to-shape stickers for $50, about $0.50 per sticker (“Cut-toSize Stickers,” n.d.). This, much like the photo book printing, scales very well as the number of stickers increases, at about $0.11 per sticker when ordering 1,000 (“Cut-to-Size Stickers,” n.d.).

Stickers would bea very-low–barrier-of-entry product for Samara to begin selling. Additionally, at an order size of 100, screen print shirts from UberPrints would cost $7.94 per unit (“Studio,” n.d.). For an embroidered bucket hat, a slightly higher quality item, the cost would become $16.69 per unit at the same order size from CustomInk (“Design Lab,” n.d.).

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Figure 4: Samara logo present on Christians’ stationary.

Figure 5: Some examples of designed merchandise for Samara house. Logos present are from the original Samara house stationary logo and some designed by the authors. A recommendation is to create a design competition or hire a professional designer if beyond the stationary logo is desired.

Storefront Location An obvious question to arise when talking about selling products is the existence of a storefront.

Currently, Indiana Landmarks has no official gift shop, either physically or online. As such, we must consider the medium by which merchandise could even be sold in order to begin purchasing any. The three main ideas for a storefront are a stand outside of Samara, a webstore, or even a visitor center. The latter of which is discussed by another group, and thus, we will not touch on it here. The former two are very interesting however. Particularly, the stand idea plays well

into the ideas for merchandise that we have discussed so far: physical, custom inventory bought in bulk to be sold over time. The idea would be that during tours, Samara could place samples of their inventory for tourists to peruse, and by keeping stock on-site, perhaps in the tool shed or another storage area in the house, fulfill orders directly after tours. While Samara may not have the facilities to open a full gift shop on the property, nor the demand to suggest such a plan, a merchandise stand would allow tourists to quickly buy merchandise.

for Indiana Landmarks to pursue due to having a lack of design copyright over reproducing elements of the house. Still, this could be an interesting avenue to pursue further, but we do not have knowledge of the specific copyright holdings nor the knowhow to interpret such holdings.

Samara has a significant amount of beautiful furniture that would make excellent items to sell, as seen above, but obviously, proper copyright is a must.

The other medium for sales would be ecommerce. Particularly, as Samara is likely to move a low volume of merchandise (or at least, this should be assumed to prevent malinvestment) stocking a large amount of apparel to sell is likely to not be worth the investment. A common alternative to this problem is to print to order merchandise with direct shipment to consumers. While this method yields lower returns than selling an equivalent amount of merchandise, there is usually little to no upfront costs associated with creating such a product.

Additionally, many services exist to streamline the idea-to-product–life-cycle. These services include companies such as Custom Ink, Printful, VistaPrint, and Shopify. Since pricing and returns vary heavily based on the type of apparel, and are held away from public eyes, we have neglected to include a figure for this cost. This approach also carries the benefit of easily integrating with the current Indiana Landmarks site, only requiring the creation of a store page.

VEO bikes Merchandising isn’t the only method Samara House can benefit from third party vendors, another great example would be a partnership with VEO bikes. VEO Bikes can significantly benefit Samara House by attracting a broader audience and enhancing the overall experience for visitors: VEO Bikes, as a popular bike-sharing platform, has a wide user base that spans various demographics.

By establishing a partnership with VEO Bikes, Samara House can tap into this existing network and introduce its unique offerings to a diverse range of individuals. Another key advantage of such a partnership is the increased accessibility and convenience it provides to potential visitors.

Biking is an eco-friendly and health-conscious mode of transportation, and by collaborating with VEO Bikes, Samara House can encourage more people to explore the surrounding area on two wheels. This not only aligns with the growing trend towards sustainable travel but also makes Samara House more accessible to those who may not have their own means of transportation. Moreover, the partnership with VEO Bikes can serve as a promotional avenue. Samara House can leverage the bike-sharing platform's marketing channels to reach a larger audience, promoting its unique features, events, and attractions. This crosspromotion can drive increased awareness and interesting Samara House, attracting both local

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Furniture & Art Instead of just looking into small souvenirs, Samara could investigate partnering with local artists and furniture vendors. This is something that the Fallingwater store has heavily leaned into, selling a wide variety of recreations from the site as well as art inspired by such (“Fallingwater Museum Store,” 2023). Sadly, after talking with Nathan Allaire, this seems like it would be difficult

Partnership Opportunities

House, attracting both local residents and tourists who are already engaged with VEO Bikes.

Figure 6: VEO bikes (Veo Micro-mobilties, 2023)

Lastly, a partnership with VEO Bikes can enhance the overall visitor experience. Samara House can collaborate with VEO Bikes to create curated biking routes that showcase the scenic surroundings and lead visitors to points of interest.

This not only adds a recreational dimension to the experience but also encourages a healthy and active lifestyle, aligning with the values of both VEO Bikes and Samara House. Our plans would include developing biking routes that take advantage of the natural beauty surrounding Samara House, which would not only provide bikers with a visually appealing experience but also allows them to connect with the environment.

Or we could focus on creating themed routes for special events or seasons. For example, during a local festival, Samara House can design routes that lead bikers through festival grounds, providing a dynamic and festive biking experience. This not only attracts visitors during specific events but also adds variety to the routes throughout the year.

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Bike Routes Delving into the specifics, Samara House's plans include the development of biking routes that capitalize on the natural beauty surrounding the establishment. These routes would wind through lush greenery, scenic overlooks, and serene

landscapes, offering bikers not only a visual stunning experience but also an opportunity to connect with the environment. Furthermore, the possibility of creating themed routes for special events or seasons adds an extra layer of excitement. For instance, during local festivals, Samara House can design routes guiding bikers through festival grounds, providing a dynamic and festive biking experience. This innovative approach not only attracts visitors during specific events but also introduces variety to the biking routes throughout the year. Addressing practical concerns, Samara House has also taken steps to facilitate biking by coordinating with a third party (group 3) to install bike racks in close proximity to the establishment. This thoughtful initiative ensures that visitors can conveniently park their bikes, further contributing to a seamless and enjoyable biking experience. In essence, this multifaceted approach positions Samara House as an attractive destination catering to a wide range of interests, ultimately guaranteeing a memorable and pleasurable experience for all bikers exploring the area. All of these efforts could make Samara House cater to a wide range of interests, attracting different demographics and ensuring a memorable and enjoyable experience for all bikers exploring the area.

Figure 7: Potential Bike Route of 20 minutes (Google Maps)

Starships While discussing the benefits of VEO bikes, the idea of a partnership with Starships might spring to mind. However, collaborations with Starships might not be an ideal path for Samara for several reasons. Starship Technologies is a company that uses autonomous delivery robots to deliver food, groceries, and packages. The robots are electrically powered and can travel up to 3.7 miles per hour. They can also be remotely controlled if they can't operate autonomously. While this sounds very similar to the VEO biking company, there are quite a lot of reasons why this partnership would most likely fall short. First and foremost, the nature of Samara House suggests an environment focused on tranquility, cultural exploration, and immersive experiences.

Introducing a food delivery service like Starships could potentially disrupt the serene atmosphere by introducing elements of noise, vehicle traffic, and frequent comings and goings, which may not align with the peaceful and immersive ambiance that Samara House aims to provide. Additionally, Samara House likely emphasizes a connection with nature and the surroundings, promoting a retreat-like atmosphere. Introducing a food delivery service might bring in external elements that disrupt the seamless integration of visitors with the natural environment.

From a logistical perspective, the introduction of a food delivery service might also raise concerns about infrastructure, such as the need for designated delivery areas, potential disruptions to pathways, and the management of waste generated by packaging. These considerations could pose challenges to the smooth operation of Samara House and may require additional resources and planning to address. In summary, while food delivery services like Starships may be beneficial in certain contexts, they might not align with the specific goals and atmosphere that Samara House aims to cultivate. The potential disruption to the serene environment, the impact on the curated culinary experience, and logistical challenges associated with such a partnership could outweigh the benefits, making it less suitable for the overall vision and mission of Samara House.

The Samara House is a historic architectural masterpiece. Therefore, any partnership that could compromise the integrity or preservation of the house might not be suitable. Given the importance of the house as one of Frank Lloyd Wright's notable designs, it's essential to approach any partnership with a deep understanding and sensitivity to its cultural and architectural value. Activities that might disrespect or undermine this significance would not be appropriate. It would be most important to

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Figure 8: Starship Delivery robots (Starship Technologies, 2023)

The noise and activity associated with frequent food deliveries may detract from the overall experience that Samara House aims to offer, particularly if the primary focus is on creating a tranquil and rejuvenating escape. Moreover, Samara House may already have its own culinary offerings or partnerships with local eateries that complement its unique theme and experience.

Seeing an external food delivery service could dilute the curated culinary experience that Samara House seeks to provide, potentially undermining the carefully crafted atmosphere and ambiance.

ensure that any collaborative efforts align with the principles of preserving and protecting the historical significance of the property.

Special Reservations Purdue University In addition to the extra revenue and traction that merchandise, and local vendor partnerships could offer, Samara has the advantage of an active and far-reaching university campus within its catchment area that could serve as both a supply of eager volunteers, and a steady stream of clientele. The Samara house offers several open spaces, including the separated dining room, a terrace, extensive outdoor gardens, a wide carport/driveway on the outside of the home, and most notably, the living room, which holds a maximum capacity of about fifty people at a time.

As per Dr. Christain’s vision and request for a space modest, yet large enough to comfortably host students and faculty, Wright designed Samara’s open concept living room with the employment of his popular Usonian style – the design philosophy consisting of mainly wide and free, open spaces, that were indicative of the United States (“SAMARA, a Frank Lloyd Wright Home in Lafayette-West Lafayette, Indiana,'' n.d.).

The 2,200 square feet home was compactly designed by Wright to suit the Christians’ modest income at the time, while still retaining the perception of free-flowing rooms that possessed a strong connection to the environment, and the efficient accommodation of large groups, at par with the couple’s lifestyle. (Reporter, 2023).

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Samara House now represents a source of architectural history and art that has been made largely available to the public for information and exploration. As such, the imminent expansion of Samara’s ventures into facility rentals and hosting of official events for and by the community, would only further serve its purpose of public development and utilization. With the recent multimillion dollar restoration effort on the property,

Samara House still possesses Wright’s original designs for dynamic furniture pieces made adaptable to large gatherings, making it a more than suitable spot for moderate-sized events and gatherings. The result of increased public engagement with the property would serve to expound on the cultural significance, appreciation and contribution of the Frank Lloyd Wright designed home to the city of West Lafayette.

Due to the limited funds and accessibility of the home, service as a venue to larger-scale events would prove seemingly improbable without significant investments in minor modifications of the home to accommodate the generalized needs of guests such as the provision of nearby bathrooms and water supply, and the inclusion of more handicap-friendly spaces.

An attainable first step therefore, would be the provision of short-term rentals of certain spaces within the home for small-scale gatherings and events, or educational and otherwise purposes.

The house could start off with simple contracts that offer only lease the physical venue without additional services, and eventually, Samara could participate in operations similar to the Fowler House mansion of Lafayette, which much like the other Frank Lloyd Wright-designed sites overviewed in class (the Darwin Martin House and the Freeman House), as well as most others that are accessible to the public today – albeit most are larger in size and capacity compared to Samara – commissioned a similar method of revenue generation through public service, by becoming a potential space for community, educational and private use. It would be made freely available for an array of events ranging from classes, club lunches and reunions, to weddings and holiday parties (“Our Story - Fowler House Mansion,” 2022).

While this would require investments in achieving potential modifications of the home, funds directed towards creating an avenue for loaning

the space to the public would be creating a new potential revenue source for the continuous benefit of the preservation and improvement of the site.

Since the home is still intact with intricate ornaments and valued pieces from the Christians’ time in the home, the prospects of entertaining several guests at a time for extended periods could create some concern for the valuables in the home and their security. Moreover, the handling and control of events for guest crowds might prove to be overwhelming for the single-staffed home. This issue of management that accompanies the proposed expansion of Samara’s ventures and capacity can be eased by another form of valuable partnerships with the proximate workforce of Purdue’s student body.

Landscape Architecture Another potential source of collaboration for Samara and the Purdue student body could stem from the field of Landscape Architecture at Purdue’s College of Agriculture. The program is specially designed to incorporate the real-world application of classroom content into the degree, requiring a year’s worth of cooperative internship for completion (“Landscape Architecture,” n.d.).

With community development serving as one of the major pillars of the program, it is aimed at promoting public education on the role of landscape architecture in society, as well as

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The efficient running and management of the property at increased capacities during events, large tours, and other functions could be assisted by the integration of student services and resources through scheduled volunteering services and programs with different schools and possibly colleges within Purdue. Programs like the Hospitality and Tourism Management major offered by the College of Health and Human Sciences requires students to develop their interpersonal, communication, and managerial skills, as well as put them to good use during the course of their study. The program requires students to complete a cumulative 320-hour hospitality and tourism paid internship that aligns with their career aspirations (“Hospitality and Tourism Management,” 2021). While most of the students enrolled in this program are already provided opportunities to fulfill this requirement by existing Purdue partnerships with White Lodging and the Union Club Hotel, Samara House could offer an equally unique and immersive experience for students seeking to gain both management and custodial experience not too far from campus (“Hospitality and Tourism Management,” 2021). As a non-profit organization with limited resources,

Samara may not yet possess the ability to commit to hiring students on a regular basis at a competitive wage; however, it could still serve as an avenue for students to hone the skills taught in class and practice giving back to the local community through volunteering. On that account, Samara could begin with smaller-scale partnerships aimed at working with student-led groups seeking to provide hands-on experiences for their members and with first-years, international, or transfer students that may have a harder time finding internships. With its proximity to campus, Samara could serve as a first step for a number of students in and out of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, looking for ways to improve their leadership, management, and interpersonal skills; or simply interested in providing their service to one of Indiana’s National Historic Landmarks, helping preserve its cultural heritage and contributions to the state.

There are official groups within the School of HTM – most notably the HHS Success Mentors program and the HHS ambassadors, both of which are specifically engineered towards providing students meaningful experiences within and around Purdue – that stand to gain from a mutually beneficial agreement arranged between Samara and the College of Human and Health Sciences that might include a schedule of student rotations to offset some of the employee responsibilities from the one-man-run home.

fostering a passion for research and creativity among participating students (“Landscape Architecture,” n.d.). A partnership with Samara House presents a possible pathway for students to exercise their social responsibility to the local public while applying the learned concepts of creative design and environmental sustainability to a real-world project. By virtue of the narrow focus, precision, and technical skills that accompany the field of Landscape Architecture, the five-year degree plan offered at Purdue demands that students complete a mandatory first year of PreLandscape Architectural studies, where students can gain a better sense of awareness of their commitment to the program, and understanding of the field before commencing to the official program (“Landscape Architecture,” n.d.).

Potential cooperation with Samara House with the aim of stewarding the property could result in a hands-on experience for all types of students, ranging from the first steps of eager prearchitectural landscape students providing beginner-level involvement in the field, to seasoned seniors seeking projects to demonstrate professionalism and complex skill application.

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EPICS Similar to a service-learning design program founded by the College of Engineering that links student groups of different levels and disciplines with local non-profit organizations to address a variety of environmental and communal needs (“EPICS,'' n.d.), Samara could serve as a convergence point for similar groups wanting to constitute positive societal change through relevant practical experience. The extensive natural surrounds, and regulated public access to the home make it a suitable pioneer for a program of similar structure within the College of Agriculture and the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, that would supply existing mentor-mentee student programs with an opportunity for teamwork, experiential learning, leadership development, and immersive

application of coursework. The partnership, if presented as an official proposal to the associated faculty, could give students the liberty of participating in areas of personal interest within their respective fields while fostering their professional growth and development or potentially earning course credit. Such a partnership would operate as both professional, hands-on practice for Purdue students, and a source of free talent and manpower for Samara – benefitting all parties involved. In the hopes of an eventual collaboration with Purdue University, minimal implementation of these program ideas could start off as independent projects offered by Samara, targeting student groups and clubs on or around campus that are seeking out volunteering opportunities within relevant scopes.

Conclusion In conclusion, the Samara House, a masterpiece designed by the eminent architect Frank Lloyd Wright, stands as a testament to architectural innovation and the vision of its owners, the Christians. From its origins rooted in the Prairie architecture of Chicago to the unique Usonian style that blends seamlessly with its natural surroundings in West Lafayette, Samara embodies Wright's principles of design and environmental integration.

The meticulous attention to detail, including the incorporation of the Samara seed motif, makes it a distinctive and beautiful property.

However, the financial challenges faced by Samara, operating at an annual deficit and relying on donations and ticket sales, necessitate strategic initiatives for sustainable revenue generation. The proposed introduction of merchandise, including a guidebook showcasing the property's history and unique features, presents an opportunity for financial support and increased awareness and appreciation. The success of guidebooks at other Frank Lloyd Wright properties, such as Fallingwater, serves as

a precedent for the potential impact of such merchandise. Moreover, the exploration of partnerships with local vendors, such as creating souvenirs with Samara's distinct logo and collaborating with VEO Bikes for enhanced visitor experiences, opens avenues for additional income streams and broader community engagement.

These partnerships, carefully chosen to align with Samara's values and preserve its historic integrity, can contribute to its financial sustainability.

Additionally, the proposition of short-term rentals for small-scale events and collaborations with Purdue University for student volunteering and internship programs expands Samara's role as a cultural and educational hub.

Leveraging the proximity to Purdue's diverse student body, Samara can tap into a pool of enthusiastic volunteers and potential collaborators, fostering a mutually beneficial relationship. While each initiative comes with its own set of challenges and considerations, the collective implementation of these strategies has the potential to transform Samara from a historical site into a dynamic and financially viable cultural destination. By embracing these opportunities for merchandise sales, partnerships, and community engagement, Samara can not only secure its financial future but also continue to inspire and educate visitors for generations to come.

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THE “SAMARA EXPERIENCE” PROJECT

Authors Salam Alkilani

College of Engineering

Samarth Rastogi

College of Engineering

Mason Giacchetti

College of Science History

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The John and Catherine Christian House, otherwise known as Samara, is a home located in West Lafayette, Indiana that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright towards the end of his career in the 1950s. Commissioned by the Christian family, the house was envisioned as a space for their family to thrive and as a welcoming venue for guests. Dr. John Christian, a professor at Purdue University specializing in bio-nucleonics, and his wife Catherine Christian, who held the role of social director at the university, had strong ties to academic life at Purdue (“Samara,” 2023). These associations were a large motivator for the Christians’ desire to have a home that could accommodate numerous guests, particularly

graduate students, researchers.

faculty,

and

visiting

The property itself represents many of the ideas that consistently influenced Wright’s designs, such as integrating the property with the surrounding environment and keeping it relatively affordable.

The name “Samara”, for instance, draws inspiration from the winged seeds which can be found scattered around the property. This motif is ubiquitous in the house’s design and can be found in everything from window shapes to carpet patterns and even in lamp designs, thus illustrating Wright’s commitment to making the house complement the surrounding environment.

The property is also a clear example of Wright’s Usonian style, a style of architecture implemented

by Wright in the later years of his career to capture his vision of what the American building should look like (“Samara,” 2023). Some notable features include the large open windows, which allow for plenty of natural light, and a large flat roof covering a fairly modest home. Samara certainly has Wright’s fingerprints all over it, and clearly represents the ideals of Wright towards the end of his career.

The house was commissioned by the Christians in

disposed of on the development of the property with the ultimate aim of fully realizing Wright’s designs. Eventually, all of Wright’s envisioned elements were added, and in 2015, the property was designated as a National Historic Landmark (“Samara,” 2023). As of 2023, public tours have begun to provide people with the opportunity to experience Samara. These tours have been made possible after a few-year period of restoration and preparation sponsored jointly by Indiana Landmarks and the John E. Christian Family Memorial Trust. Given the significant impact of Wright’s work on American architecture and culture both during and after his life, properties like the Samara serve an important role in preserving his legacy and in reminding the American public of his contributions and the ideals that influenced all of his work. In light of this, it is crucial to continually consider how to improve the experience of the average visitor at his designed properties, ensuring that visitors leave with a genuine understanding of the work and its meaning, both internally and more broadly. As such, now focusing specifically on Samara, it is worthwhile to address potential challenges in experiencing the property and consider enhancements to the Samara House experience that allow visitors to learn more about Wright as an architect and his philosophy.

Overview of Problems Frank Lloyd Wright’s design philosophy of the Samara House radiates beauty and splendor. Each element and artifact in the house portrays a significant meaning. However, this remarkable care for detail, while admirable, presents challenges when it comes to conducting tours in this magnificent home.

Staffing The severely understaffed administration of the Samara House serves as a massive roadblock to the preservation effort. In fact, the house is overseen by a lone full-time employee, Nathan Allaire. Apart from him, the rest of the workforce is

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1950. As mentioned previously, they were eager for a home that would help them grow their family and serve as a pleasant location for hosting guests (“The John and Catherine Christian House, Samara,” 2023). In preparation, Catherine Christian developed a document detailing all the specifications their home would need in order to bring their dreams to life. After some preliminary searches for an architect to design their home, the Christians stumbled upon the work of Mr. Wright and promptly reached out to him to see if he would design their home. Dr. Christian’s initial attempt to contact Wright was unsuccessful, as he spoke with an assistant who promised a return call that never came. Through persistence and sheer luck, Dr. Christian was able to reach Wright after making another phone call, which, this time, was received by Wright himself, who then invited the Christians down to his summer home to discuss their needs. After finally making contact with Wright and after some initial conversations, they successfully enlisted Wright to design their home. Over the course of roughly five years, the Christians worked closely with Wright to bring their vision to life, and then, in 1954, designs were finally completed for the property. Due to the limited available finances of the Christians, Wright focused on developing a more affordable home consistent with his Usonian style, which had become a staple of his work towards this point in his career. Beyond financial limitations, Wright, as usual, wanted to design the home in a manner that would compliment the surrounding environment and thus based his design of the home on the Samara, a type of seed found all around the property. Construction took place starting in 1954, and the home was completed in 1956 (“Samara,” 2023). Due to the limited capital available to the Christians, not all of Wright’s designs were able to be fully implemented immediately, leading to the initial omission of items such as dining room chairs or landscape statues. The agreement made between the Christians and Wright was that they would implement these features whenever the Christians had additional money that could be

built of volunteers. With multiple responsibilities, such as maintaining, administrating, and archiving, involved in keeping the house running, the lack of work distribution negatively impacts the experience of the visitors to the house. For instance, the absence of a diversified workforce resulted in a shortfall of comprehensive information regarding the intricate and general details. As Nathan mentioned, he alone cannot write blogs, produce brochures, or create QR codes as they take time, which, being the sole employee, he lacks much of. Thus, this creates a vicious cycle where he spends greater time giving the tour for the visitors to fully appreciate the nuances of the home, but leaving insufficient time to create alternate information sources for them to obtain a similar but more detailed form of that knowledge.

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This trend continues to prevent the house from undergoing much-needed restoration to preserve it. Regrettably, a lack of structural integrity is another prevalent flaw in Wright’s designs (Varinsky and Leanna, 2017). Gene Szymczak, a resident of the Thomas P. Hardy House, initially encountered issues with what he described as “a lot of deferred maintenance” (n.a., 2015).

Moreover, the Dorothy H. Turkel House in Detroit, Michigan was in desperate need of a caretaker (Sisson, 2015). Similarly, Wright’s design of the Samara House was not adapted to consider future home maintenance. For example, the bathroom presented in Figure 1, despite its uniqueness, is deemed unusable. Therefore, the numerous leaking, landscaping, and plumbing issues in the Samara House further limit the enjoyment of visitors. The staffing shortage also extends to the maintenance of the landscaping and plumbing, resulting in certain sections being unavailable for visitors.

Accessibility The lack of information and signage hampers visitors and, in the current stage, rules out selfguided tours at Samara House. For example, in Figure 2, the front door entrance lacks clear

Figure 1: Bathroom at Samara House (Samarth Rastogi 2023)

markings, thus, could disorient potential visitors at the starting point. Furthermore, the house does not provide adequate signage that can guide people who wish to explore the home at their own pace. With this issue, visitors are unable to acquire the necessary information to appreciate the significance of the minute details of the home without the tour guide’s help; tour guides that the Samara House currently lacks. The Samara House web page also does not sufficiently cover various major details. It consists of a single blog post with no updates since June 21, 2022, i.e., more than one full year (Stanis, 2022).

Figure 2: Welcome sign for tours in front of the driveway at Samara House. (Samarth Rastogi 2023)

Additionally, a critical observation from one of the in-person visits to Samara House relates to its narrow hallways and low ceilings. Wright made this utilitarian design choice to force people to spend time together in the living room, with hallways and bedrooms serving only their intended purpose.

This choice poses unforeseen challenges for tours as it leads to crowding, often leading to chokeholds preventing exploration or rumination in these spots over Wright’s architecture. Unfortunately, Wright’s designs displayed the shortcomings noted above in his other houses. One notable example is in the Kentuck Knob House, where accessing the road was limited to a single narrow doorway (Scott, 2022). Moreover, the confinement within the house, as illustrated in Figure 4, became excessively restrictive, preventing the visitors from immersing themselves in the space without experiencing claustrophobia or constriction.

Wright’s rationale for these narrow hallways stemmed from his concept of “Compression and Release,” where one must pass through a narrow constricting space before entering a more expansive area (2016). Anthony Defoea aptly described his experience with Wright’s Compression and Release design as being “temporarily blinded by the difference in space and brightness. Then, a moment of relief, as if escaping a nightmare” (DeFeo, 2016). This creates uncomfortable areas for tall people, individuals with broad shoulders, oversized folks, or those in wheelchairs or baby strollers. This inhibits their ability to explore the house and fully indulge themselves in the experience.

The Samara House suffers from a crippling lack of staffing and financial power, which hurts the experience by not having adequate information and signage to guide visitors. Moreover, the incomplete repairs of certain parts of the house, such as the bathroom, leads to kinks in tours and discomfort for visitors. Additionally, the inherent design of the house built as a home for the Christians by Wright serves unique challenges to be opened for tours and visits by the public.

In an attempt to resolve some of these broader issues related to the Samara experience overall, a two-pronged approach has been considered. This approach is geared towards creating new opportunities for engagement with the Samara property both online and in person. Through improved engagement, Samara can develop a stronger rapport with visitors and the surrounding community, which could, in turn, help promote the development of the property into the learning laboratory that Dr. Christian had envisioned.

Figure 4: One of the narrow hallways in the Kentuck Knob House in Chalk Hill, PA. (Photograph by John Conti, April 23, 2016)

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Furthermore, Wright placed great emphasis on fostering strong connections between members of a family (n.a., 2023). Consequently, his homes often prioritized having the living rooms more appealing than the bedrooms and bathrooms. An illustration of this can be evident in the Dream House, where “the upper-level bedrooms had just enough space for a bed and some closet storage” (Fisher, 2023). Thus, the other areas of the house suffer from

asymmetrical attention. This hampers the flow of visitors to favor the living room over other rooms owing to size and space, preventing them from exploring the hidden aspects of the house.

Online Presence The first component to be addressed in regards to improving the overall experience at Samara is related to Samara’s online presence. It is no exaggeration to say that online content has become a staple of many people’s lives, especially in nations such as the United States.

As a result, more often than not, the first place that people will go when looking for information about practically anything will be online. It is in this context that having a strong online presence becomes extremely important; with a wellsupported and developed website, an institution or organization can provide easy access to important information for large audiences at a relatively cheap cost. In addition, websites can be used to convey important information rapidly and to advertise in relatively free space, i.e. online.

With this in mind, Samara could benefit greatly by improving its online presence.

Currently, the Samara website is limited in the resources it provides. Some broad descriptions of the property are provided, and options to reserve a tour or to donate are present as well, but other than this, the website is quite limited. There is also a blog about the property on the website, but at present, this blog is limited to only one post. As a result, there is an insignificant amount of information available to prospective visitors regarding Samara, and as such, they may feel less inclined to visit as they do not fully appreciate what the property is about.

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Information Page and Marketing To address these concerns, there are two improvements to the website which would be ideal. First, tourists would greatly benefit if a section of the website was dedicated to providing information regarding the property itself and its history. This would come in the form of a new tab on the website, which would take visitors to a page containing all of the details relevant to give those interested in visiting the property the requisite background.

Through having easy access to this information online, those interested in visiting Samara can be engaged more directly with the site before visiting, thus allowing them to experience the property in a more informed and enriching manner than would be the case if they came to the property with no understanding whatsoever. It is, of course, not necessary that people come to Samara with prior knowledge, but by giving people that option, Samara can accommodate the more interested visitors in a way that does not compromise the currently existing experience. In addition, having easy access to this information online will allow those who are on the fence about visiting Samara to be able to make a more informed decision about whether or not a visit is right for them.

Ideally, by providing more information to this group, they will be more inclined to visit as there is less ambiguity about what exactly Samara is.

Finally, by adding this section to the website, people who have heard about Samara but have been unable to visit will have a readily available resource that will allow them to become involved with Samara without needing to visit. Such an opportunity will, in turn, help to attract visitors and other interested parties as they are no longer limited to visits when it comes to engaging with Samara.

Concerning what this section would contain, there are multiple avenues to pursue. It is worth noting that the current Samara website does contain some brief information about the property, and in addition has a blog section that provides the sort of information that would be needed to achieve the above improvements (“The John and Catherine Christian House, Samara,” 2023). The main problem with the blog section of Samara’s website is that it is currently limited to only one blog post due to the understaffing at Samara. Resolving this issue will be discussed later, but for the time being, the aforementioned addition to the website could be achieved through adding a variety of additional posts to Samara’s blog. This would

achieve the goal laid out above concerning providing those interested in Samara with readily available and accessible information about the property online. If Samara would like to make this information more clear, the blog section could be broken up into different sections which highlight the unique parts of the property. For instance, there could be one section dedicated to the history of the property, another dedicated to current preservation efforts, and a final section that serves as a place to find out current news related to the property such as upcoming events or things of a similar sort.

Figure 5: Fallingwater “about” section sample IDEAS | PAGE 86

To complement this last section, Samara could also begin a newsletter that sends out updates concerning Samara, but of course, this would require additional staffing to maintain. In short, by expanding Samara’s website to include more information about the property and ways of interacting with it, Samara can hopefully increase visits while also promoting engagement from interested parties or individuals. As a good illustration of what such a section might look like, it is constructive to look at the website for Fallingwater, another property built by Frank Lloyd Wright. On Fallingwater’s website, there is a section dedicated to providing information about the property. This “about” section contains various subsections that detail a wide range of information from general historical background to current preservation efforts and furthermore provides additional sources for outside research and information regarding volunteer work. This setup would serve as a nice template for how such a section on the It is also worth noting that there are other possible activities which Samara could engage in to complement and improve on this information section. In particular, to add to the news and information section, Samara could start a newsletter that sends out relevant information to interested guests, such as information concerning possible upcoming events or current projects at Samara.

In addition, Samara could improve its social media presence by using platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and so on to further advertise the property, events it is hosting, and other information. By adding on these features to website improvement efforts, Samara can improve marketing and ensure that interested guests have all of the relevant information they need to engage with the property more.

Furthermore, by improving marketing in this way, Samara can hopefully bring in more visitors in a relatively cheap way, as the main cost with this form of advertising is the labor cost required to manage these improvements and social media accounts.

It is also worth noting that there are other possible activities which Samara could engage in to compliment and improve on this information section. In particular, to add on to the news and information section, Samara could start a newsletter which sends out relevant information to interested guests such as information concerning possible upcoming events or current projects at Samara.

In addition, Samara could improve its social media presence by using platforms such as facebook, instagram, and so on to further advertise the property, events it is hosting, and other information. By adding on these features to website improvement efforts, Samara can improve marketing and ensure that interested guests have all of the relevant information they need to engage with the property more. Furthermore, by improving marketing in this way, Samara can hopefully bring in more visitors in a relatively cheap way as the main cost with this form of advertising is the labor cost required to manage these improvements and social media accounts.

Online Shop

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The second addition that may help promote visitors’ experience with Samara online is the addition of a shop to the Samara website. While the property itself is realistically too small to support a gift shop of any sort, such a shop could certainly be set up online. Through an online shop on the Samara website, guests or other interested groups can purchase merchandise from the property. The availability of said merchandise serves multiple roles. To start, merchandise provides guests with physical reminders of their visit to the property, and will give them a way to engage with Samara well after their visit. Beyond helping guests establish a more direct connection with the property, merchandise also provides a very direct way for Samara to market itself in a variety of different environments.

Whether it be through shirts with the Samara logo on it, or similarly branded bags, or even home decorations such as Samara-themed pillows, this sort of merchandise will serve to provide Samara with additional marketing for the property beyond things such as the website. Finally, once up and running, a shop can help provide an additional source of revenue for the property, which in turn will assist in supporting preservation efforts on the property. Such efforts could come in the form of hiring more staff, continuing work on the property, and so on, but through opening a store to sell merchandise, Samara has the potential to increase revenue and, thus, available resources for preserving the property. As was mentioned above, the site itself is too small for a decently sized merchandise shop to be placed on site. As a result, the website seems to be the perfect place for such a shop to be located, and in addition, this makes the shop far more accessible and readily available for interested visitors.

Returning to the example of Fallingwater, which was addressed previously, on the website for this property, there is also a shop that is easily accessible to viewers of the website and that lays out the merchandise in a clear manner for those interested. Again, this section of Fallingwater’s website would serve as a nice template for Samara (“Shop,” 2023).

To summarize, by improving the Samara website to allow for direct online engagement, hopefully, more individuals can be encouraged to visit and support Samara. Having readily available information about the property online can help encourage interested parties to become more involved with Samara and can, in addition, convince those on the fence to come visit the property for themselves. By providing access to merchandise online, Samara can also provide guests with an additional way to learn about and support the property directly, and it can also provide them with a sentimental reminder of their Samara experience. Overall, by improving the online presence of Samara, more people can be attracted to the site, and hopefully, more will be encouraged to support and visit the property to learn about the Christian family and Frank Lloyd Wright. It is just one step in improving the overall Samara experience, but an important one, especially in today’s digital age, so these improvements are certainly worth consideration.

On-site Engagement Current on-site engagement at Samara consists of a pre-booked sixty-minute tour offered through the website with a cap of fifteen people per tour.

Visitors can check in twenty minutes before after being guided by a “Welcome” sign under the carport area (see Figure 1). As noted on the current website while booking tickets, the current goals of the guided tour at Samara are to introduce tour-goers to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian architecture, explore Dr. John and Catherine Christian’s personal connection with the design process, and let visitors experience multiple areas of the house, including the wooded lot exterior to the property.

The extended tour covers the interior and exterior of the historical property and is for visitors who would like to thoroughly engage with the property.

The option acts as a continuation of the normal tour with additional coverage of the horticultural choices made by Wright in the exterior, with an extra focus on the plants and sculptural decorations. Moreover, visitors can interact with the mulch path, perhaps even help to rebuild it as an additional activity. It would also offer a longer question-and-answer segment with the tour guide.

The normal tour is a shorter version of the current tour offerings. It will mainly focus on the interior of the property. Similar to the current offering, the normal tour introduces visitors to Wright’s Usonian architecture, explores the Christian’s personal connection with the house, and finally ends with an exploration of the house. The only difference would be instead of a long interactive background session with the tour guide; visitors would get a more condensed scripted version followed by a shorter question-and-answer session.

The self-guided tour caters to visitors who are familiar with Wright’s Usonian designs or with a strong sense of curiosity and exploration. Visitors are guided through the property using a complementary brochure containing information tidbits, a detailed map, and strategically placed QR codes with specific details about the house.

This allows the time scope of the offerings to open up, increasing the number of visits with limited staff requirements. A benefit of including

The current tour system lacks flexibility and bottlenecks Samara’s ability to grow and capitalize on its historic nature. In its place, Samara could introduce four unique tour types, each covering specific aspects of the house.

Table 1: Tour offerings and included features

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Tours

this offering would be letting visitors decide their level and direction of engagement. A volunteer would be available to address any questions or concerns, however, as opposed to a normal tour, the volunteer here would only act as a supplement to other information sources on the property, such as the brochure, QR codes, and installed information blurbs outside as seen in Figure 6.

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OVERNIGHT STAYS AT SAMARA HOUSE Authors Sophia Hewlett

College of Health and Human Sciences

Maria Conners

College of Liberal Arts

EunGyun (Daniel) Lee College of Science

History and Overview

Frank Lloyd Wright’s career spanned over 70 years, and he designed more than 1,000 structures. His style now has been deemed prairie style, as he often designed low, open-plain horizontal structures meant to blend in with the flat midwestern landscape. Wright is known for making nature flow throughout homes and making the outdoors and indoors seamless and cohesive with one another. On a trip to Japan, Wright’s interest in Japanese decorations and the color red stuck with him throughout his designs.

This is apparent in Samara House, an original Frank Lloyd Wright design in West Lafayette, Indiana, originally built for the Christian Family in 1956. Samara is the name for the winged seeds found in pinecones and various midwestern trees: the helicopters, as my family calls them.

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Embarking on the endeavor to facilitate overnight stays at Frank Lloyd Wright's Samara House requires a meticulous and strategic plan that balances the preservation of its architectural integrity with the need for modernization and guest comfort. Currently operating with scheduled tours, limited access, and specified parking, the aspiration to extend the Samara House experience into overnight visits sparks questions about feasibility and sustainability. Our group has outlined a comprehensive plan, ranging from gaining partnerships and addressing legal considerations to modernizing the house and updating the official website for guest reservations.

This essay delves into the intricacies of each step, emphasizing the delicate balance between conserving the essence of a home and adapting to meet the expectations of overnight guests.

From financial considerations to zoning regulations, staffing needs, and the careful curation of a guest experience, our plan navigates the multifaceted challenge of transforming Samara House into a welcoming haven while respecting its historical significance.

draw inspiration from the famous Wright’s designs.

As for some information on how Samara House currently runs, on Sundays and Wednesdays through Fridays, there are tours at 10 am and 3 pm. There are no walk-in tours available other than at these times. Public tours are now $20 and visitors have to use side-street parking. With this information available, our group has started working on how an overnight stay could potentially occur.

He named the house Samara since the majority of trees in the area produce them—hence the geographical shapes and wing-like cut outs and movement throughout the home.

Samara House has ended up being one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most complete projects today, being in relatively good shape and having undergone restorations concerned with keeping the original heart of the house intact. This is rare for one of Wright’s houses; many of them have been damaged by natural disasters or simply time, or have depleted from misuse. Samara House’s plans might have taken a long time, beginning somewhere around 1950 and taking years to be finalized, but today, it is one of Wright’s most faithfully seen-through houses (n.a., 2023).

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In 2015, Indiana Landmarks was able to have it designated as a National Historic Landmark, which will allow it to live on marginally more safely and with more care and hopefully more attention.

In 2022, a thorough restoration project was launched to see the house’s more delicate details (n.a., 2023). The kitchen and bathroom fixtures are from the 1950s and are still in the house today, despite being a bit weathered; after all, a family did live in Samara House. The brass heating system is no longer in use and has been shut down, but the bright yellow carpeting is a constant all throughout the house, having remained mostly untouched. This non-traditional, organic architecture style is timeless, and a multitude of architects to come will continue to

Potential Issues at Samara As a home having undergone and currently undergoing restoration projects, Samara House is not ready to receive overnight guests in the least.

Its current state is wavering—this is not helped by the utter lack of funding and small staff. The team consists of one person, who keeps a small office in the house, leads all the tours, and answers all the questions. He makes up the entirety of the available resources at Samara House. The house itself is utilitarian, set on a small property and closed in by multiple neighbors and a two-lane road running behind the property. There are two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a wide living room, a small dining room, and an even smaller kitchen, with only one shower, and a cramped one, at that.

The verandas are simple and pretty, but small as well. There is little grass space. With this limited space to work with, both figuratively and physically, as well as monetarily, it is difficult to make plans to begin receiving overnight guests.

What exists at the house already that could realistically host visitors are beds, a laundry machine, and comfortable furniture. The toilets hardly work and the shower is tight and uncomfortable. The matter of hygiene and cleanliness is alarming in itself. There seems to be a reluctance in aiding the house to adapt to a more modern audience, which makes this problem all the more difficult.

In order to adapt to receive overnight guests, Samara would likely need to change in two

major ways. One, more employees need to be taken on. Different responsibilities could be siphoned off and made easier, such as communicating with vendors, communicating with employees at nearby houses, such as Woodside, or even something like security or custodial upkeep. However, taking on more employees requires more money. But bringing in more money requires much more attention directed to the house. With a singular employee, making Samara into a bright and visible location will be a challenge. Therefore, our team, and many others, likely, are being faced with a vicious cycle that comes down to a lack of funding. Secondly, there are several details involved in staying overnight in the house that would need to be updated, such as the bedsheets, the running water in the bathrooms, and the personal items of the Christians that are on display throughout the house. Samara cannot exist as a home for people to spend a night in and the home of the Christians at the same time. The sheets would need to be washed and all the carpets thoroughly cleaned (Samara House, 2023). There is also the matter of having carpet in the bathroom, which is highly unpopular at this point in interior design, as well as hygiene. It might be necessary, or at least beneficial, to rip up the carpet and set down the tile. Even cheaper tile would be better than carpet.

Related to board members, the next quandary is who exactly would be staying at the house and, by extension, who would be interested. Staying in a house such as Samara, which is small, decidedly residential-feeling in a calm suburban way, requires a certain kind of person with specific interests. Therefore, we can separate the target audience into two groups: one, the visitor who is interested purely in the house and its history, as well as Frank Lloyd Wright, and two, special guests who are staying in the house for its proximity to campus, or their relation to board members, or their desire to stay in a house with a garage rather than a hotel, instead of because of an inherent interest in the house itself.

For the first group, Samara needs to be more visible on online forums as well as architecture websites, such as the Frank Lloyd Wright website (Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, 2023). This is a smaller house and might be less intimidating to new fans and interesting to Wright fans who have already seen what there is to be seen. Seeing as how there is limited space in the house, it would be difficult to accommodate families larger than four or five. The ideal visitors would be a smaller group of perhaps two. Then, there is the matter of guests being less interested in the house itself.

These would probably be people visiting campus for

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There is also the presence of the John E. Christian Board and the board members. It would be beneficial for the members to play a greater part in the interest and upkeep of the house. For example, Fowler House Mansion, Samara’s more popular cousin, attracts much more interest.

Fowler House has an extensive board of members and an administrative team. They are able to market, entertain guests, and continue to attract attention and interest (Fowler House Mansion, 2023). If influential figures at Purdue University were able to channel this same organized interest, directing donors and potential donors to the site of Samara House and what it could potentially be, there would be more money going into the house.

This would allow the plans to be more readily put into action rather than terminally remaining hypothetical. Joining the board might begin to involve requiring donations. These do not need to be terribly large donations, but however much the board member feels comfortable with, directing interest and personal funds toward the house and designating it as a place to put time into. Entering into a partnership with Purdue, with pictures of the house more visible, perhaps even with a small section on Purdue’s website dedicated to a small history of the site and its proximity to campus, would be beneficial. Any more visibility and attention that Samara can grasp will be important for any future plans to be put into place.

conferences or reunions. The neighborhood is residential and quiet, so these guests, whichever group they belong to, would need to be respectful, subdued, and for the time of their stay, blending into the neighborhood as permanent residents. As stated above, Samara is a utilitarian family home. This is a Usonian build, part of Frank Lloyd Wright’s interest in creating the attainable middle-class family home, so Samara is far from operating as a hotel with luxurious utilities and copious amounts of space. A little over 2,200 square feet, the house has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a dining room (Samara House, 2023). None of these spaces are particularly large besides the living room, which is moderately overwhelming in comparison to the rest of the house. There are security cameras on the outside of the house, and so far, there has only been one mild security concern. The neighborhood is quiet and safe, creating a placid atmosphere for the house.

Samara is a beautiful house with plenty of natural light and tall, long windows, but there is the present problem of the cramped hallways and entrances. The contrast of the open living room with the tight hallways and doorways creates the sensation of the house welcoming guests but not accommodating them overnight. Although the house’s heating system has been updated, the running water is still unreliable, and there is only one shower in the house. During the tour, we were advised not to open the cabinets or run the sink faucets. Clearly these parts of the house are fragile and not intended for use.

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As of now, Samara’s main draw is that it is a Frank Lloyd Wright design. However there is an incredible amount of competition in that particular field and the truth is that currently, Samara is not equipped to compete with the likes of the Martin House or the Freeman House. These are more spectacles than houses, having undergone multimillion dollar restoration projects, with plenty of attention and funding. Samara, meanwhile, exists vaguely unknown to all but longtime residents of West Lafayette and architecture enthusiasts.

For some residents, there is a certain pride in knowing Samara is there, but little interest in getting involved in the restoration or upkeep.

Therefore there is likely little hope of finding potential guests in West Lafayette residents, as the marketing of the house is now. With more purposeful advertising and merchandising, local interest might pick up. However, the greatest potential source of income and guests is probably Purdue University, as the information about the house might be siphoned through board members and alumni who are involved in far-reaching organizations, more far reaching than Samara.

Most Frank Lloyd Wright houses that offer overnight stays charge around $1,000 or higher per night, but Samara cannot expect to charge guests this much, at least not at the beginning (Cherner, 2023). The interest is not possibly extensive enough, and there are not enough amenities offered, to charge this high of a price.

Now, in attempting a potential offer of overnight stays as well as offering more museum-like amenities, such as tours and QR codes on furniture or specific pieces of architecture, Samara House is biting off more than it can chew.

As explained before, funding is far too low to introduce overnight stays now, and it would be incredibly expensive to manage both the daily tours as well as the overnight stays.

Tours and overnight stays require different kinds of houses. There would need to be a team dedicated to flipping the house between the stationary Wright relic and the living, breathing home, where guests can sleep and eat and be comfortable. This potential dual focus on both appealing to the masses and creating an intimate setting would work better with a larger house, where there is simply more to look at, and more sights to be distracted by. Samara is a selfcontained property; the grounds are limited, and the house is small. Nevertheless, whether Samara operates more heavily as a museum or an AirBnb, a larger staff would need to be hired, including cleaners and inspectors.

Behind the question of sleeping accommodations looms the even larger question: what, and how, will guests eat? The kitchen in Samara is fragile—the cabinets should not be used too often, the fridge is unreliable, and the countertops, being original, would need to be handled carefully. The carpets are also original and would not handle food or wine stains well. Also, guests would need to be able to bring their own food or groceries, and store them in the kitchen, whether that is the fridge or the cabinets. Therefore the kitchen needs to be updated for cooking and food storage. The counters can be protected with clear, thin covers, and the hinges on the cabinets likely only need minor tending, but more costly matters like the fridge must still be seen to. A potential, but more costly, option might be to take on a cook who would make dinner with the guests, preparing a fun dish, then would go home, and return in the morning to assist with preparing breakfast. Then eating would be a more engaging part of the experience of the house, rather than a hassle, like bringing granola bars and sodas to a hotel room when the buffet is available. As far as alcohol goes, guests would need to be cautious about drinking, for the reasons of keeping stains out of the carpet and staying sober enough to keep the house in order. This does not seem like it would be a major issue, but one worth mentioning to guests anyway.

They would need to pay for any damage done to the house during their stay.

Many of the houses offering this option, however, are spacious and in areas with plenty of entertainment, like Chicago, or Ann Arbor. Samara does not have quite the same appeal. As a small house in a small college town, there is little draw for the amateur Frank Lloyd Wright fan besides that Samara is a Wright design. West Lafayette’s major draw is Purdue University, where scientists and artists alike gather together to learn. If Samara could associate with this kind of gathering and appreciation for beauty and art, there might be more interest in staying at the house purely for the house, like these other Wright designs have managed to succeed at doing. This would be a specific marketing move, and daring, and at this point probably only detrimental to the trajectory of the plans for Samara.

The majority of the houses that offer overnight stays have at least three bedrooms and three bathrooms and offer, above all, the beauty of getting to stay for a night in a Frank Lloyd Wright designed house (Cherner, 2023). The latter Samara is absolutely capable of offering, but it still is on the smaller side. The most expensive of these houses is Norman Lykes House in Phoenix, Arizona, with three bedrooms and three bathrooms. The price is

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Working in tandem with nearby Frank Lloyd Wright houses would be incredibly important for Samara, especially when considering how to gain more visibility among guests and visitors. Of the seven properties designed by Wright in Indiana, there is sure to be an administrative team willing to work with Samara to discuss Wright’s work in the state, and his use of Usonian architecture in this region in particular. Samara is already overshadowed by Purdue and all of its 50,000 students, as well as by fellow Wright designs both in Indiana and the greater region. It needs to join up with either Purdue or one or more of the closer Wright houses. There could be panels, conferences, and

gatherings where architecture students can gather together. If Samara House were to take on the project of hosting overnight stays, it would not be alone among the rest of Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs. Over seven different Wright properties offer overnight stays for impressive prices (Cherner, 2023). However, a quick Internet search on these opportunities will reveal that these overnight stays operate exactly as an AirBnb would. Someone interested in staying overnight would book the house online, and would arrive, settle in, stay their allotted time, then leave. There are no guided tours offered and any opportunities to learn about the site are entirely individual.

Staying in these houses is an independent experience, which relies totally on the spectacle of spending the night in a Frank Lloyd Wright house (Cherner, 2023).

$1,495 per night. Despite this intimidating price, the home has only good reviews on AirBnb, where it is advertised among many other homes. The least expensive by far is Elam House in Austin, Minnesota, which charges about $275 per night.

This house, however, has four bedrooms and four bathrooms. This house is also advertised casually on online hosting sites. Then there is Schwartz House in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, with four bedrooms and three bathrooms, and Palmer House in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms—which are $614 and $736 per night respectively. All of these houses are interested solely in offering overnight stays, and nothing more. Only two of these houses have official sites, which have links to external sites such as AirBnb or Vrbo, where an overnight stay can be booked, reserved, and paid for in a matter of minutes. Cornwell House in Waimea, Hawai’i, is no longer affiliated with Wright in anything but name, as the hosts of the house are listed on Vrbo as a vacationing company local to Waimea. The preservation of Wright’s vision and legacy is up to the guests entirely. While it is plausible for Samara to offer low prices for the small dimensions of the house, and a somewhat viable option to move forward with, Wright’s original vision for the house might potentially be compromised in doing so.

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However, there is a larger Wright design that has managed to succeed commercially with both tours and overnight stays. Emil Bach House is Chicago, Illinois has an extensive online website.

From there you can book tours, private or large groups, overnight stays, as well as look at things to do in the area. They even offer virtual tours to make the house as accessible and visible as possible for those who cannot travel. The price of an overnight stay varies a little, but generally is $700 a night (Emil Bach House, 2022). Nearby things to see include Lake Michigan, the idyllic city of Evanston, and universities such as Northwestern and Loyola. Emil Bach offers merchandise like coffee table books, tote bags, and pencil sets.

This is, so far, the only Wright designed home to have such a wide array of services. Clearly this kind of advertising is both possible to introduce and plausible to succeed with. The problem is that Emil Bach is a significantly larger house in a significantly larger area. Samara House, contrast, is a much smaller house in a much smaller town.

West Lafayette might have the draw of being the home of Purdue University, but there is still a pretty long hour drive to Indianapolis and Indiana University. Emil Bach House has been successful, and might provide a good model for Samara, but Samara would inevitably be faced with the difficulty of being a small house in a relatively rural area, as well as being about an hour by car from the nearest airport.

The greatest percentage of West Lafayette residents are employed in education, instruction, and library occupations—which makes sense, considering the looming presence of the university (West Lafayette, IN, n.d.). Professors, though paid decently, are not paid well, and grad students even less so. It is safe to assume that prices ranging from $700 to $1000 per night for an overnight stay in some of these Wright homes are too high for West Lafayette residents. Now, when we compare West Lafayette as a town to a place like Buffalo, New York, where several Wright designs are based, there is a clear and undeniable difference. Buffalo is an architectural hub where students and teachers and enthusiasts alike will flock. There is considerable attention and interest in architecture, especially Frank Lloyd Wright and his influence. But Samara House is alone in West Lafayette. It could potentially be a gem and a cause for interest in the city, but as of now, it sits quietly in a calm residential neighborhood. Either Samara’s prices for overnight stays need to average around $250 per night, about the price of an average hotel, or it needs to offer many more amenities and nearby entertainment. Samara House absolutely needs to be marketed in a different way: a small jewel in a small town, glittering nonetheless. There is certainly a way to

make Samara more visible, and more attractive to people willing to spend money, but this will of course an excellent example of this. But Samara nonetheless needs to reach out for other sponsors, donors, and interested visitors, in order to bring in more revenue, so overnight stays can be a celebration of the house rather than a fatal stretch of its resources.

involves strategic engagement with specific organizations that share a commitment to preservation, modernization, and an enriched visitor experience. Examples of potential partners include renowned architectural firms like The Taliesin Associated Architects, providing expertise in preserving Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural legacy (Park, 2022).

The Louis Penfield House, an original Wright design in Ohio, offers overnight stays. According to the Louis Penfield House homepage, they have a 5 person maximum, and an average price of $275 nightly. They require a 50% deposit to be taken once the reservation is placed, a 5% tax, and a $75 cleaning fee when the balance is applied. The Penfield House has been able to do this successfully; therefore, I believe that following these guidelines closely could result in a great way to allow people to have a unique experience of staying at an original Frank Lloyd Wright design, yet also funding the required payments needed to keep Samara House alive (Penfield House, n.d.).

Collaborating with local artisans or textile manufacturers with a reputation for craftsmanship could ensure the meticulous recreation of the original Frank Lloyd Wright bedding. Seeking support from historical and architectural foundations, such as the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, can bring financial assistance and guidance on preservation best practices.

Corporate sponsors in the home and design industry, exemplified by home improvement retailers like Lowe's or Home Depot, may provide sponsorship or discounted materials to support modernization efforts (“Sponsorship & Paid Media | the Home Depot,” n.d.). Collaborating with local chefs for exclusive dining experiences and forming partnerships with local bed and breakfast establishments for package deals could enrich the overall tourism experience. Also, partnering with the food delivering services such as guidance on preservation best practices. Corporate sponsors in the home and design industry, exemplified by home improvement retailers like Lowe's or Home Depot, may provide sponsorship or discounted materials to support modernization efforts (“Sponsorship & Paid Media | the Home Depot,” n.d.).

Steps of the Plan Nevertheless, we have drafted an overview of the steps that need to be taken in order to start overnight stays at Samara House: Step 1- gain partnership, get grants and donations, and bring in revenue from a different area. Step 2- check with zoning and regulations on how to make overnight stays legal. Step 3- add staff members to accommodate for the cleaning and rearranging the house for tours. Step 4- modernize Samara House without changing the originality of Wright’s original design. Step 5- update the Samara House website to have a guest reservation page. Step 6start booking overnight stays.

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The first step of the plan in order to make overnight stays possible is to gain partnerships, get grants and donations, and bring in revenue from other ideas. Not only will added revenue benefit the idea of starting overnight stays, but it will expand Samara House as a whole. Crafting successful partnerships for the Samara House project

Collaborating with local chefs for exclusive dining experiences and forming partnerships with local bed and breakfast establishments for package deals could enrich the overall tourism experience.

Also, partnering with food delivery services such as Uber Eats and Doordash will be the other solution for the real challenge. Utilizing crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter engages architecture enthusiasts and the public in supporting specific project goals (“Funding —

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Kickstarter,” n.d.). Collaborating with Ball State University's College of Architecture and Planning provides opportunities for research funding and student involvement (“College of Architecture and Planning - Ball State University,” 2023). Applying for grants from entities like the Indiana Office of Tourism Development or the National Endowment for the Arts can secure funding for historical preservation and tourism initiatives (“Awards & Grants,” n.d.). These diverse partnerships, with their unique expertise and resources, collectively contribute to the realization of a revitalized and culturally enriched Samara House. Furthermore, Purdue University, with its rich, requires funding the house does not currently have. Once again, we are at the behest of a crucial and tough circle.

influential for Samara than Emil Bach’s model. Emil Bach has been successful and had a far reach, but Gordon’s circumstances and atmosphere are much more similar to Samara. Like Emil Bach, Gordon offers guided tours, school trips, private events, and weddings. Even better, Gordon House also offers overnight stays, but in a different manner than we see with the houses previously mentioned (The Gordon House, n.d.). Gordon offers a single overnight stay for four people for a donation of $599. This donation is much more personal than simply booking a stay—it requires the people donating to see directly where their money is going. They have become a part of the preservation of the house, both in paying for their stay and staying in the house itself.

Precedents Located in Silverton, Oregon, Gordon House is the closest comparison we have to Samara House. The house is only slightly more than 2,000 square feet with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Like Samara, the design is utilitarian, Usonian, and compact, concerned with housing a family comfortably (The Gordon House, n.d.).

What Gordon House has going for it, though, is that it is the only Wright designed home in Oregon, while Samara House is in good company with a couple other homes. But Gordon House is doing well and for reasons beyond being unique in its state. Firstly, it caters to children, selling building blocks, coloring sheets, and more items that appeal and excite children, without overwhelming them with knowledge. It creates the sense of being a safe place for children, a place of learning and enjoying learning, that adults can enjoy as well—much like the kids’ section of a museum. Considering the fact that West Lafayette is a town centered primarily around learning— being in the shadow of Purdue, after all—this kind of model directed toward children could be interesting and perhaps also more lucrative than what Samara is doing now. Both houses are small and in quieter areas; it makes sense that they would have similar target audiences. Gordon House’s model of advertising should be far more

Samara in dimensions and surrounding area is quite similar to Gordon, but much of how Gordon has advertised itself sets it apart from Samara.

Gordon has all kinds of merchandise, offers lots of tours throughout the day, and has a strong sense of the audience they’re catering towards: the younger people, people with families, who are looking for somewhere beautiful to go for the afternoon. Gordon House is affiliated with other Frank Lloyd Wright programs as well, creating a greater sense of community and familiarity with the rest of the Wright designs. Meanwhile Samara is more isolated. Of course, this is most likely due to the lack of funds, but the most crucial thing to do as of now is to find partnerships and get more attention and visibility. A successful program for hosting overnight stays is absolutely plausible for Samara.

Gordon House has an array of academic departments and expertise and presents a myriad of potential partners for the Samara House project.

Partnering with academic institutions such as Purdue University's School of Engineering and Technology offers the opportunity to involve students in research, design, and hands-on projects related to Samara House (“School of Engineering Technology at Purdue University,” n.d.). Engaging with the Purdue Polytechnic Institute, particularly

the Department of Computer and Information Technology could incorporate cutting-edge technology solutions for virtual tours and interactive exhibits, enhancing the overall visitor experience (“Computer and Information Technology Department at Purdue,” n.d.). The Krannert School of Management presents a strategic partner for business planning, marketing initiatives, and revenue-generation strategies, ensuring the financial sustainability of Samara House (“Business Partnerships Office - Purdue Business,” n.d.). Within the College of Liberal Arts, collaboration with various departments can enrich the project with historical research, interpretation, and storytelling, elevating the narrative surrounding Samara House (“Home - College of Liberal Arts - Purdue University,” n.d.).

Purdue Extension provides an avenue to connect with local communities, promoting Samara House as a cultural and educational destination (“Partners,” n.d.). Partnering with Purdue Libraries and Archives offers access to extensive resources for research on Frank Lloyd Wright and Samara House, enhancing historical accuracy and context (“Research Guides: Open Access Publishing Partnerships: Home,” n.d.). The Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management holds the potential for collaboration in developing curated experiences, guided tours, and hospitality services, ensuring a seamless and enjoyable visit for Samara House guests (“Hospitality and Tourism Management,” n.d.).

Expanding the merchandise offerings of Samara House to encompass its distinctive winged motif opens up a realm of unique and engaging items for visitors and enthusiasts. In addition to the envisioned bedding, towels, and plates, the merchandise line could feature an array of complementary items. Imagine decorative throw pillows adorned with an elegant winged design, adding a touch of sophistication to both living spaces and bedrooms.

Candles or candle holders could be crafted to reflect the motif, serving as both decorative and functional pieces throughout the house. Art prints and posters inspired by the winged motif would offer visitors a chance to take a piece of Samara House's unique aesthetic home with them, while coasters featuring the design could be used in various rooms throughout the house. To further extend the motif, themed notebooks, stationery sets, stickers, postcards, and pens could be simple, yet effectively made. Aprons and kitchen towels could enhance the culinary experience for guests. Tote bags, jewelry items, blankets, and throws adorned with the winged motif provide a diverse range of options for visitors to carry a subtle piece of Samara House's charm with them.

Mugs, glassware, linen napkins, and even keychains featuring the motif round out the collection, offering guests a comprehensive selection of mementos that beautifully encapsulate the essence of their Samara House experience.

The prospect of producing replicas of the original Frank Lloyd Wright bedding used in Samara House presents a captivating opportunity to offer visitors and design enthusiasts a tangible piece of architectural history. This venture would require collaboration with skilled artisans or textile manufacturers to meticulously recreate the

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In addition to the school department, there are numerous organizations and clubs at Purdue University. The Photography Club will help to advertise the experience of the overnight stay by taking pictures and filming at the house. Clubs founded to provide community services to the local area, such as Rotaract Club, can help with cleaning the house after or before the overnight stay (“Purdue Student Organizations - Student Activities and Organizations - Purdue University,” n.d.). Other than the clubs mentioned above, there are various clubs to satisfy the needs of the club

and Samara House. These diverse partnerships underscore the comprehensive support that Purdue University can provide, contributing to the success of Samara House in preservation, modernization, and cultural enrichment.

specific patterns, colors, and materials used in the original bedding. Marketing these replicas could focus on their historical significance, tying them to the legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright and the unique atmosphere of Samara House. The availability of such replicas not only offers a potential revenue stream for Samara House but also provides fans of Wright's work with an opportunity to incorporate a piece of architectural history into their own homes, creating a tangible connection to the iconic designer's vision and the distinct character of Samara House.

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The second step is to ensure that the Indiana Tippecanoe County laws coincide with our plans, or if there are things we will need to adapt to make it legal. Zoning, regulations, and health and safety codes can all impact if Samara House will be able to open their doors for overnight stays. If Samara House were to gain investors, Nathan could organize and assemble a board of directors (“Indiana Family and Social Services Administration”, n.d., 7). This could provide opportunities for growth, as well as creating future ideas to better and prolong the conservation at Samara House. In order to open the home for overnight stays, Nathan would need to apply for the home to be zoned to allow overnight visitors regularly. Consequently through adding this new project for Samara House, step three requires adding a staff member. Although Nathan does a fantastic job of tackling all of the components of tours and managing Samara, it would be nearly impossible for him to take care of staging the home for the overnight stays, handling the check in and check out processes, cleaning the house, and re-staging it for tours. This new staff member would need to be paid a fair wage, but his paid help will balance out with the revenue being brought in from the guests staying overnight.

The most time consuming step of all is step four, modernizing Samara House. Changes must be made to Samara House to open it up for overnight visitors. Home repairs, making accommodations

to coincide with the American with disabilities act, updating insurance plans, continuing to have a strong relationship with neighbors near Samara House, creating a detailed list of rules and regulations clients must follow, establishing proper paperwork, hiring and training staff, determining the costs for residents, and partnering with communities to advertise the overnight stays must happen before opening the doors for an overnight stay (“Indiana Family and Social Services Administration”, n.d., 11-29). A Transforming Samara House into an inviting space for overnight stays necessitates a thoughtful approach to address both minor inconveniences and more significant challenges. While acknowledging the limitations of the small house, the focus should be on striking a balance between preserving its historical integrity and enhancing its functionality.

To mitigate issues such as the unreliable water system and outdated fixtures, renovations are imperative. Prioritizing bathroom upgrades, potentially replacing carpeted floors with more hygienic materials, and addressing plumbing concerns will contribute to a more comfortable and modernized environment. Simultaneously, the delicate nature of the house calls for careful consideration of guests' interactions with the space. Implementing measures to protect fragile areas while allowing for a genuine and immersive experience is key. Allocating funds for basic amenities like hand towels, bathmats, and kitchen tools, as well as addressing accessibility concerns and upgrading the shower facilities, is essential for a pleasant stay. As mentioned previously, staging the house and replacing the original bedding with a clean, updated replica will allow for more comfortable sleeping, whilst keeping the originality intact. While mindful of budget constraints, gradual improvements, such as curated dining experiences or collaborative cooking events, could enhance the overall guest experience and contribute to the financial sustainability of Samara House. This phased approach recognizes the need for both cautious preservation and strategic enhancements to transform the house into a welcoming haven

while respecting its historical significance. The fifth step is to enhance the Samara House official website, which involves the integration of a dedicated guest reservation page. This page, thoughtfully designed to be user-friendly, will feature an engaging gallery of high-quality images showcasing the allure of the Samara House. To streamline the reservation process, thorough research will be conducted to identify and implement a suitable booking system or platform, such as Airbnb or Booking.com. The available dates for overnight stays will be clearly outlined, with Sundays (after 5 pm), Mondays, and Fridays being the exclusive options to accommodate cleaning schedules following tours. The integration of this reservation system will be accompanied by explicit instructions for potential guests, covering check-in times and other pertinent details. Once live, the reservation page will be actively promoted through diverse channels, such as social media and newsletters, to maximize its visibility.

Continuous monitoring of the reservation system, along with periodic updates to reflect availability and collect guest feedback, will ensure a seamless and enjoyable booking experience for those interested in experiencing the charm of the Samara House.

Estimated Costs Samara House has the undeniable feel of a place where people gather, eat, talk, and sleep. This is a home, not a museum—however, the fragility of the house requires more cautionary measures. It would be impossible to avoid people having accidents such as spilling liquids, making a mess, or damaging something. It makes sense that people would want to stay here with their friends and relax in the living room, or make dinner in the kitchen. The fact that there must be covers on the kitchen counters conveys the house’s current state. There is the question of whether the administrators at Samara House are more interested in curating a home where counters can have scratches, or a relic of a great architect that must be preserved in the greatest condition possible.

Estimating the costs associated with the comprehensive renovations proposed for Samara House reveals a detailed breakdown across various crucial aspects. In order to modernize the infrastructure, bathroom upgrades, flooring replacement, and an overhaul of the plumbing system are anticipated, with estimated costs of $42,105 (“Remodeling Magazine,” n.d.).

Preservation measures, including protecting fragile areas and replicating the original bedding, may incur expenses in the ballpark of $5,000 to $20,000 (Institute, 2018). Enhancing guest

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The sixth and final step is to start booking overnight stays. Once the guest reservation page for Frank Lloyd Wright's Samara House is live, there will be numerous proactive steps put into place to ensure the guests have a comfortable and memorable stay. First and foremost, a dedicated support system should be established to promptly address any inquiries or concerns from potential guests. Regularly update the reservation system to reflect accurate availability and promptly confirm bookings. Provide comprehensive pre-arrival information, including check-in procedures, parking details, and any specific guidelines guests should be aware of during their stay. Implement a reliable communication channel to keep guests informed about any last-minute changes or updates. On the day of arrival, ensure a warm and welcoming check-in process, offering a detailed

orientation to the house and its amenities. During their stay, maintain open lines of communication for any additional needs. Incorporate a feedback mechanism to gather insights and continuously improve the guest experience. Lastly, post-stay, express gratitude for choosing the Samara House and encourage guests to share their experiences through reviews or testimonials, contributing to the property's positive reputation. Through a meticulous and attentive approach, the goal is to not only meet but exceed guests' expectations, fostering a sense of satisfaction and appreciation for the unique experience of staying at Frank Lloyd Wright's Samara House.

comfort and amenities involve costs for hand towels, bathmats, fresh soap, kitchen tools, pots, pans, outdoor furniture, and updating the outdoor garden, ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 and $6,000 to $20,000, respectively (Nast, 2022). Accessibility upgrades to comply with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards could amount to $1,000 to $5,000, as adding a wheelchair ramp and installing outdoor motion sensor lights could be a major benefit to entice more people to visit Samara House (Landiado, 2022). Updating the website for a guest reservation page and marketing the overnight stays may require $1,000 to $2,000 (“Small Business Website Cost (in 2022),” 2017).

Hiring and training a dedicated staff member could incur an annual cost of $40,000 to $50,000 (“Archivists, Curators, and Museum Workers : Occupational Outlook Handbook: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,” 2019). Organizing curated dining experiences, such as collaborative cooking events, may demand an investment of $3,000 to $10,000 (“How Much Does It Cost to Run an Immersive Dining Experience?” 2023). Miscellaneous costs, including insurance updates and building neighborhood relations, are estimated to range from $3,000 to $5,000 and $2,000 to $4,000, respectively (Evans and Martin, 2023). While these estimates are approximations, it is crucial to conduct a detailed assessment and obtain specific quotes to refine the budget further, considering local market conditions and the unique needs of Samara House. Additionally, ongoing operational costs must be factored in for a comprehensive financial plan that ensures sustainability.

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Homes are personal, subjective places; in order for an overnight stay to feel comfortable, people should be allowed to touch the decorations and explore, but this is a sensitive matter that many people would be divided over. In order to avoid theft or the breaking of personal items from the Christian Family, certain items would need to be put away for safekeeping. There are also the

matters of parking, accessibility, and the tiny showerhead in the smaller bathroom that is not fit for anyone taller than 5’5’’. In order to make Samara House a place where people want to stay, it has to feel more lived in, which would inevitably include things like hand towels, bathmats, fresh soap, kitchen tools, pots, pans, furniture for the veranda and magazines on the side tables. But all these things require money that can be spent liberally. Seeing as how funding is low, everything is made harder, and requires small, slow-moving steps. As we conclude our exploration into the intricacies of making Samara House a haven for overnight guests, the prospect of opening Frank Lloyd Wright's Samara House for overnight stays demands a careful and deliberate approach that intertwines preservation, modernization, and guest experience. From the initial steps of gaining partnerships and ensuring legal compliance to the meticulous process of modernizing the house without compromising its original design, each phase of the plan emphasizes the delicate balance required to transform this architectural gem into a livable space.

The incorporation of merchandise inspired by the house's unique winged motif, replicas of original bedding, and a strategic online presence further enriches the visitor experience and contributes to the financial sustainability of this endeavor. While challenges, such as the fragility of the house and the necessity of careful curation, are acknowledged, the phased approach outlined here aims to not only make overnight stays a reality but also to elevate Samara House into a dynamic, living testament to the legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright. As we envision a future where guests can immerse themselves in the timeless beauty of this historic residence, this plan underscores the careful consideration required to preserve the essence of Samara House, while inviting visitors to create their own memorable experiences within its walls.

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"Virtual Tours at Fallingwater." Fallingwater, Accessed October 8, 2023. https://fallingwater.org/visit/accessibility/ “Visit.” The Haan. Accessed October 9, 2023. https://thehaan.org/visit/.

WEDC. October 21, 2019. “Issues and Solutions for Parking on Main Street.” Wisconsin Economic Development Coorperation. https://wedc.org/blog/issues-and-solutions-for-parking-on-main-street/.

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West Lafayette. 2019. “Bike Program.” https://www.westlafayette.in.gov/our-city/getting-around/bikeprogram.

West Lafayette. 2023. “WL Street Parking.” https://www.westlafayette.in.gov/our-city/wl-street-parking-timelimit-map.

West Lafayette City Code. 2023. West Lafayette, Indiana – Code of Ordinances. Chapter 38 Traffic and Vehicles. Article V. Stopping, Standing, and Parking. https://library.municode.com/in/west_lafayette/codes/code_of_ordinances? nodeId=COOR_CH38TRVE_ARTVSTSTPA_DIV1GE_S38-256MATOSTCH. “Wheelchair Ramp Pricing in 2023.” Lifeway Mobility. Accessed November 7, 2023. https://www.lifewaymobility.com/resources/product-guides/how-much-does-a-wheelchair-ramp-cost/ “Your Wedding or Special Event at the Barn at Fallingwater - Pennsylvania Venues.” n.d. Fallingwater.

Accessed November 21, 2023. https://fallingwater.org/weddings/.

Yu, Eliana. July 14, 2015. “Death of Purdue Professor Shrinks Number of Original Wright Homeowners to Seven.” Purdue Exponent. https://www.purdueexponent.org/city_state/article_4e5bdc52-2a43-11e5-86ed47846399d9dc.html.

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