Como Orchards Summer Colony One-Room Cottage
Encyclopedia
Como Orchards Club, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
in 1909 and located near Darby, Montana
, was part of a land development scheme (Como Orchards) inspired by the western railroad expansion.
By 1909 three rail lines ran to Missoula, Montana
, and when the Northern Pacific Railway
connected a spur south to the Bitterroot Valley
, transportation of people and products became increasingly easy. The establishment of the Bitter Root irrigation district and construction of the Lake Como Dam and the Big Ditch Canal, both financed by the Chicago investor W. I Moody and supervised by F. D. Nichols, enabled promoters to attract new investors (particularly college professors from the University of Chicago
and intellectuals) with hopes of establishing a huge apple-growing industry in the valley.
Wright was asked to design the master plan, clubhouse, land office building, and cottages, while Marion Mahony Griffin
and William Eugene Drummond
supervised the project. At least fifty-three cottages were originally planned around the clubhouse (which had a two-story lounge and a large dining room with vast, open porches and three large stone fireplaces) but only twelve were constructed. The small frame structures had stone fireplaces but were built cheaply as seasonal, camp-like housing, with no central heat and pine blocks instead of foundations. The two-bedroom cottages had no kitchen space, while the three-bedroom versions had a kitchen and a porch.
Unpredictable weather and enormous shipping problems caused the project to fail. Wright lost money when the bank foreclosed in 1916. While several cottages stood until the late 1930s, others were gradually torn down. The clubhouse was altered, whitewash
ed, and used to house workers and store hog feed. In 1945 the boards were taken to build a barn. Now only the abandoned land office building and one three-bedroom cottage remain.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
in 1909 and located near Darby, Montana
Darby, Montana
Darby is a town in Ravalli County, Montana, United States. The population was 710 at the 2000 census. Darby is located near the southwestern border of Montana and Idaho, along the Continental Divide...
, was part of a land development scheme (Como Orchards) inspired by the western railroad expansion.
By 1909 three rail lines ran to Missoula, Montana
Missoula, Montana
Missoula is a city located in western Montana and is the county seat of Missoula County. The 2010 Census put the population of Missoula at 66,788 and the population of Missoula County at 109,299. Missoula is the principal city of the Missoula Metropolitan Area...
, and when the Northern Pacific Railway
Northern Pacific Railway
The Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...
connected a spur south to the Bitterroot Valley
Bitterroot Valley
The Bitterroot Valley is located in southwestern Montana in the northwestern United States. It extends over 100 miles from remote Horse Creek Pass north to a point near the city of Missoula...
, transportation of people and products became increasingly easy. The establishment of the Bitter Root irrigation district and construction of the Lake Como Dam and the Big Ditch Canal, both financed by the Chicago investor W. I Moody and supervised by F. D. Nichols, enabled promoters to attract new investors (particularly college professors from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
and intellectuals) with hopes of establishing a huge apple-growing industry in the valley.
Wright was asked to design the master plan, clubhouse, land office building, and cottages, while Marion Mahony Griffin
Marion Mahony Griffin
Marion Griffin was an American architect and artist. She was one of the first licenced female architects in the world, and is considered an original member of the Prairie School.-Biography:...
and William Eugene Drummond
William Eugene Drummond
William Eugene Drummond was a Chicago Prairie School architect.-Early Years and Education:He was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of carpenter and cabinet maker Eugene Drummond and his wife Ida Marietta Lozier...
supervised the project. At least fifty-three cottages were originally planned around the clubhouse (which had a two-story lounge and a large dining room with vast, open porches and three large stone fireplaces) but only twelve were constructed. The small frame structures had stone fireplaces but were built cheaply as seasonal, camp-like housing, with no central heat and pine blocks instead of foundations. The two-bedroom cottages had no kitchen space, while the three-bedroom versions had a kitchen and a porch.
Unpredictable weather and enormous shipping problems caused the project to fail. Wright lost money when the bank foreclosed in 1916. While several cottages stood until the late 1930s, others were gradually torn down. The clubhouse was altered, whitewash
Whitewash
Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a very low-cost type of paint made from slaked lime and chalk . Various other additives are also used...
ed, and used to house workers and store hog feed. In 1945 the boards were taken to build a barn. Now only the abandoned land office building and one three-bedroom cottage remain.