SAMARA
Imagining the evergreen-adorned lot off Northwestern Avenue that John and Catherine Christian had chosen for their new home, Frank Lloyd Wright thought of the papery winged seeds that twirl and flutter to the ground like helicopters — but not the large, long ones that take flight from maple trees, or even their lesser-known sisters from the elm, ash or basswood.
Most people, John Christian later wrote to a group of inquisitive sixth graders at Benton Elementary School, “do not know that there are winged seeds in pine cones. Mr. Wright knew this and chose them to design my house.
“From the tiny winged seeds of pine cones, he made an artistic sketch as the logo for my house. He called his design SAMARA and used it for many designs both inside and outside.” Read more.
One house at a time
If you’ve spent any time lately in the Wallace Triangle neighborhood of Lafayette, you’ve seen a number of formerly dilapidated houses rising from the ashes, with rebuilt porches, upgraded landscaping, fresh coats of paint and reglazed or replaced windows.
While it is true that several developers and homeowners have been renovating homes in the area, a significant amount of the work can be attributed to a single couple: Alec and Kenna Williams.
Owners of The Heartland Concept, a realty, renovation and rental firm, the Williamses have tackled over 20 homes in the neighborhood around their own house, an American Foursquare on Elliott Street. Like the mother-daughter duo Karen Laine and Mina Starsiak Hawk, whose adventures in fixing up their own Fountain Square neighborhood in Indianapolis are chronicled on the HGTV show “Good Bones,” Alec and Kenna Williams are setting out to revitalize their own city block, one property at a time. Read more.
A ‘Midwestern oasis’
Crown Point, Indiana native Elizabeth Dinos was pursuing a career in front-of-the-house hospitality management. Andrew Whittaker, who hailed from a small town outside Canterbury, England, was passionate about the culinary arts.
When they met in 1999 during a graduate accounting class at Purdue University, the two discovered that while their career aspirations varied, they shared a common interest in serving others. Twenty years later, they opened the Whittaker Inn in West Lafayette.
Tucked away on a wooded drive near State Road 43, the 25-acre property is equal parts boutique hotel and bed and breakfast, a suburban retreat just slightly down a road less traveled.
As Andrew noted during the inn’s groundbreaking ceremony in 2019, “What’s not to love about this site? The Whittaker is just so secluded from everything, yet so close to Purdue University and downtown Lafayette.” Read more.
Hydrangea Studio 