income to pay the expenses, the taxes and maintenance, or to continue the restoration. I tried to get a tax freeze and, after much work, I did succeed. Only much later did I realize that the long divorce had been a blessing in disguise. Having to remain as caretaker, caregiver, the curator, and the parent who had always been there for them, my sons had had this safe haven. Everyone had their very own bedroom to come home to during college or graduate school, during work, college, and courtship, while growing into adults. They could always return to this place that welcomed them, where they would gather for holidays and celebrations, for laughter and love, for helping with repairs, garden work, or the latest project. They could come live here and commute to their first job, or to continue their schooling to become... an architect or able to spend money on the garden, but, with that marvelous prairie soil and a lot of loving labor, besides friends’ contributions and help from my sons, I had created the Wright garden. Charles and Berdeana Aguar in their book Wrightscapes: Frank Lloyd Wright's Landscape Designs gave the Tomek house garden the highest accolades, as did University of Wisconsin professor Paul Sprague in his review of my book Down to Earth for the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. For ten years, I wrote a garden column titled Groundcovering for the local paper, The Riverside Landmark , a collection of which Carter self-published with help from his favorite designer after I had added my illustrations. Being unable to sell the house for a period also helped me having had the money to do other things right, or “Wright,” like completing the unbuilt
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker