August 8, 2025

August 8, 2025

This morning we had a long breakfast with my family members before checking out for our return to Chicago. From Lake Geneva we first made a detour east to Racine, WI to take a tour of the S.C. Johnson headquarters. It is famous for having been designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Aimee and I are shocked that there are more than forty other tourists joining us.

Samuel Curtis Johnson got started installing wood floors but found selling the floor polish was more lucrative and allowed world-wide expansion. One early Johnson family member famously flew to Brazil in search of Carnauba Palm wax. This family-owned company expanded into a wide range of consumer products, including Raid, Off, and Windex.

Our first stop was the original administration building. It is now a museum. The most notable design feature is the open floor plan with tree-like support columns throughout the space. All the curves of the building are reflected in the curves of the also Wright-designed office furniture. All the windows and ceilings were made of hundreds of pyrex glass tubes. Unfortunately Wright didn’t think through the engineering. They leaked whenever it rained and eventually had to be replaced.

Despite the maintenance nightmare, the head Johnson allowed Wright to next design the research building. We visited this eight-story tower climbing a narrow staircase. I was amused to find it is almost entirely chemical labs. In essence the company is a consumer chemical company. The windows are all the same Pyrex glass tubes. Test tube windows kinda makes sense for a chemical company. Unfortunately putting chemical labs in a high-rise with no elevator and no fire escape is an accident waiting to happen. OSHA shut it down almost immediately. Both Wright and Johnson should have seen this coming.

Our last stop was the underground lobby that has a gift shop and an exhibit containing Wright furniture and scale models of Wright buildings. Aimee and I both enjoyed the tour. I would have given it a top mark if only I would have been allowed to take interior photos.

From Racine we drove to the Woodfield area to visit some Arizona golf friends. Afterwards we stopped by Aimee’s childhood home in nearby Itasca. We were greeted by Aimee’s old neighbors. This short visit was lengthened when we learned about their frustrating legal saga. The golf course owner is trying to rezone the land so a huge new data center can be built in their backyard. The conflict has divided the town and generated lots of lawsuits. The only winners will be the lawyers.

With this delay we had to dash around the corner to the golf course to have dinner with an old college roommate. It has been years since we have seen him and his wife. Aimee felt bad spending money with the enemy of her old neighbors. After dinner Aimee and I went upstairs to see where we had our wedding reception. That day was a blur for both of us.

We returned the rental car to O'Hare and then took the tram to the Hilton hotel across from the terminals. We were checked in by a student from the University of Arizona.