Hidden Treasure Revealed

The Frank sisters open their family home to lovers of art and architecture.

By Heather Sleightholm
Herald Assistant Editor

For more than 50 years, the Frank family home has nestled into a wooded hillside in Sapulpa, flowing into its natural setting just as its owner and architect envisioned.

Not just any house, it was designed with the attention to detail that only an artist could create –– and in this case, the artist was a potter.

Together with renowned architect Bruce Goff, a protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright, the Frank family was able to create a home for themselves that brought nature inside and their living space out into nature.

“Mother and dad were very involved in the creation of the house,” said Joniece Frank, the daughter of Frankoma Pottery founders John and Grace Lee Frank. 

 

The house was created specifically to compliment the Frank’s love of pottery as well as the outdoors.

“Bruce Goff was known for his ability to create a home around the personality of a person,” Frank explained. “And this house was specifically created for a potter and is designed to showcase pottery.”

Together with her sister Donna, Frank is now opening the family home to scheduled visits for touring groups and architecture lovers.

“It wasn’t uncommon for us to look outside and see someone in the drive taking pictures,” Frank remembers. “We always knew they were probably an architecture student, and dad and mother would invite them in to see the house. Now we would like to make it possible for students as well as Frankoma collectors to see the house and the rare things inside.”

While the home houses priceless relics of the Frank family’s rich artistic past, it cannot be forgotten that the structure itself is a piece of art.

The crescent-shaped house backs into a hillside overlooking a thick skyline of trees. The building itself is made of up pottery-glazed bricks created at a local foundry that drew their clay from the same source as Frankoma. 

 

“And because of that, the bricks have the same rich colors the pottery does,” Frank said.

One of the home’s most impressive features is the entryway, with the wall dividing the outdoors and indoors being made of unique ‘c-thro tiles’ that were handmade and hand-glazed by Grace Lee Frank. The tiles are fashioned in such a way that they create openings, and with a pane of glass between the tiles, the outdoors become part of the interior.

The Frank’s love of nature is obvious in the home’s design, from its many hand-laid rock terraces to terra cotta steps at the front door that once housed a variety of pet gold fish.
 

Inside, the house is in constant flux, with multiple movable walls in place to partition or open up at will.

“Mother wanted the house to be open, so she had it specifically designed this way,” Frank said.

Many tiny details have gone into the making of the house, and the owners’ imprint on the structure is undeniable.

Touching a row of fabric strands adorned with pottery pieces placed on a wall by Grace Lee, her daughter remarked, “Mother had a knack for taking anything and making it beautiful.”

And while the structure is enough to distract visitors with unique attributes such as the circular wood-burning fireplace and hand-glazed brick walls that change shades with each room, the home is also impressive for its collection of rare pottery pieces.

In a cabinet in the sitting area is a collection of some of Frankoma’s most sought-after pieces, such as the one-of-a-kind sculptures ‘man and donkey’, a rare camel and fox, and John Frank’s first piece of pottery.

There is also an impressive collection of pieces by Joe Taylor and some of Joniece’s own work, including The Girl With Rabbit and original Pony Tail Girl, which was later recast as a Frankoma favorite.

The home, which is a National Historic site, will now be available for the public to view upon request so that all lovers of art and architecture can enjoy it.

Tour times will be available Thursday though Sunday in the afternoons, although alternative times may be requested.

Cost for the tour is $5 per person for up to 10 people, with group rates available for larger numbers of visitors.

Children under 12 may visit at no charge.

Tours will be given by either Joniece Frank or Donna Frank, the daughters of the Frankoma founders.

For more information and reservations call 224-6566 or email Joniece@aol.com subject line “tours.”

Published August 25, 2007 in the Sapulpa Daily Herald.  Article and Photos by Heather Sleightholm.


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