SUN PORCH
This lovely porch must have been well used by the Fabyans. During the warmer months, the windows would be replaced by screens. The windows between the dining room and the porch could be opened to allow fresh air to circulate into the house. The windows, doors, pillars, polygon shapes and exterior veranda were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright as part of the remodeling plan. Usually the geometric shapes utilized in windows, concrete, and wood were derived from nature—a leaf, tree, or flower in its most basic form. The Villa’s characteristic geometric shape is an elongated hexagon. The shape is repeated in various places on the interior and exterior of the house.
The circular staircase to the south is not original. It was added by the Forest Preserve District when employees lived upstairs to comply with fire safety regulations. The stairway blocks a second doorway into the dining room.
Some of the animal mounts on this porch were in the Colonel’s private museum, which was located in the Engineering Building at Riverbank Laboratories located directly across Route 31 from the Villa. The other animals were donated to the Forest Preserve District when the Villa was used as a natural history museum.
The mummy is one of the most famous Fabyan artifacts. This mummy is not real. It has a wooden frame, is filled with sawdust and is wrapped with a burlap-type cloth that has been treated to look ancient. X-rays also revealed long metal nails that hold the mummy together! It is not certain where the mummy originated from, or if the Colonel knew it to be a fake, but our best guess is that Colonel Fabyan acquired the mummy through his hobby of buying unclaimed railroad freight. He bought boxcars full of unclaimed freight, examined it, kept what he found useful or interesting, and sold or donated the rest.
Please walk carefully past the mummy case and enter the Dining Room.
