It was also in 1997 that I happened to be rooting through papers in the Chicago apartment where my family has lived for 40 years. That was when I found 20 Farnsworth blueprints, some with my father's name, others bearing Mies' architectural stamp. My mother filled in the story. I found no trace of my father's work when I visited the Farnsworth House recently for the first time. But I saw abundant evidence that the Palumbos use the place when they are in town.
Sculptures come and go.
An antique maple rocking chair sits exotically among the svelte Mies furnishings. Wine bottles fill the stainless-steel kitchen counter. A black Trimline telephone rests on the bedside shelf. Family pictures line the bathroom walls. Neckties are draped decorously inside the teak wardrobe.