The light was soft in the room, and the windows were covered by three lines of bookshelves that allowed the sunlight to come in but also diffused it. A long built-in wooden couch with lime green cushions and splashes of orange and yellow pillows ran right below the bookshelves. Jacob lay sprawled on the couch, reading an art book he’d pulled from the shelf above. His sister, Isabelle, wandered into the room and sat on one of the three steps that led up to the couch. “Where is Mother?”

“Out,” Jacob muttered, not looking up from his book.

Isabelle gazed around the room. “Don’t you wish we lived in an ordinary house instead of here?”

“Not everybody has a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. You should be proud.”

Isabelle sniffed. “I want to live in an old farmhouse with a barn out back and two horses you and I can ride anytime we want.”

“A horse would be nice, that’s true, and a house with a little less design might be nice, but…”

“But you love Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural style and want to grow and build homes just like his. Right?”

Jacob looked sheepish. “You make that sound so boring! What could be more exciting than designing beautiful living spaces?”

“I think life is more of a mish-mash than all of this. I want my house to reflect the crazy parts of living, the unplanned aspects.”

“But this room is beautiful. It was designed by a master.”

“I have a right to my opinion. That is part of life, thinking for yourself. That’s how it should be anyway, not just parroting what someone else calls beautiful.”

“I am not a parrot. I love beauty. There’s no sin in that.”

“I just think it’s important to have independent thoughts. I didn’t say you were a parrot.”

Jacob walked back over the bookshelf and carefully slid the art book back into its place. “I happen to believe that order is part of beauty. You have a different opinion. I think we should just agree to disagree.”

“I think it’s called a different approach to living. You want order, and I want a wilder version of life. I expect our lives will reflect the difference.”

Sure enough, Jacob went on to become a famous architect, and Isabel established herself as a painter of modern art. They were both happy and loved each other. But Isabel lived out in the country in a farmhouse with a horse. Jacob visited her there often.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian House Living Room