Do you like or admire the architect Frank Lloyd Wright? I do and that’s why I set a key scene in my novella, Big Love, in the living room of Samara, a Wright Usonian style home in West Lafayette, IN.
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Here’s an excerpt from Big Love and inside Samara (the pictures are of Samara’s interior):
Wall-sized windows fill an entire side of this amazing great room that was created before the concept of great rooms. A line of cushioned benches underneath a wall of book and display shelves extends into and around the corner of the library section of the room.
Linda talks about how the design, the integration of nature—“With a capital ‘N’ as Wright would say”—and the unity of the lines in the house create a feeling of peace and relaxation today’s homes often don’t have. She motions to the library’s distant corner. “Wright would have said that corner bench is the best seat in the house.”
I move into that corner to look at the amazing display of books and other decorative pieces on the shelves. Rafe follows me. “Don’t you want to sit?” “Oh, I couldn’t.” To me, this is a museum, and that means Do Not Touch.
But Linda confirms Rafe’s invitation. “No, it’s alright,” she says. “Dr. Christian lived in the home until his death in 2015. The furniture is intended to be used.”
So I do, and Rafe sits next to me. I am sitting on a piece of furniture designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
“I’ll dim the lights,” Linda says. “That will help you feel the peace.”
As we sit there, in the quiet and in the natural light of a sunny Hoosier afternoon, a calm does descend. My breathing evens out and my body relaxes. It’s the first time I’ve noticed how architecture can be used to create mood—and I love it. How can this be incorporated in our work at La Petite Maison?
Rafe rests his hand protectively over mine on the seat cushion between us. It scares me to even think about it, but I am beginning to wonder about the future with Rafe. Sitting next to him, I swear I hear some pieces of my life fall into place. I try to lean into the peace and enjoy it. I don’t find it often.
“What are you feeling?” he whispers in my ear, his warm breath accentuating his words.
What am I feeling? I can hardly tell him, now can I? But I am feeling. I say, sotto voce but not quite a whisper, “I’m feeling very lucky to be here to experience this house. It is a great adventure. Thank you.”
Why do I lie about what I’m feeling? It’s what I’ve learned to do from too many mistakes with men not named Rafe. He nods, winks, and sits back into the bench, closing his eyes. I watch the peace waft over him for a few seconds, but look away as it begins to feel like I’m eavesdropping visually.
Read more about the magic of Samara in Big Love.
Michael Ehret loves to play with words and as the author of “Big Love,” he is enjoying his current playground. Previous playgrounds include being the Managing Editor of the magazine ACFW Journal and the ezine Afictionado for seven years. He also plays with words as a freelance editor and has edited several nonfiction books, proofedited for Abingdon Press, worked in corporate communications, and reported for The Indianapolis Star.
Writing On The Fine Line 
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