the profession and sought out a professional architectural firm. He found a position in the firm of Harrison Albright, one of the preeminent architects in Los Angeles. Originally acting as a clerk, Wright received his first design commission for a house in Escondido in 1912. The design was heavily borrowed from his father's Sherman M. Booth House in Glencoe, Illinois. Pleased with the results, Albright gave Wright the opportunity to design the Workingman's Hotel, a three-story building. During the project, Wright worked closely with sculptor Alfonso Iannelli, whom he would befriend. After the hotel was completed, Wright determined that he should receive formal architectural training. He intended to apprentice with Vienna Secession architect Otto Wagner in exchange for room and board in Vienna, Austria. After John wrote a letter to his father, asking him for money for a ticket to Vienna, Frank wrote back that John was welcome to train with him. He accepted the opportunity, but struggled under the dominating personality of his father. In 1913, upon completion of Taliesin I, Frank left Chicago for Wisconsin and placed John in charge of his Chicago office. John oversaw the construction of Midway Gardens, utilizing sculpture from his friend Iannelli. John accompanied his father to Japan to oversee the design of the Imperial Hotel. However, an argument over John's salary resulted in his firing and the two again became estranged. In 1913, John married Jeanette Winters, whom he had met in Los Angeles. He designed a home for them in Chicago they called the Bird Center. Now without an architectural practice, John focused on some of his hobbies, including toys. It was at this time that he perfected the design for his Lincoln Logs, an idea he had conceived while in Japan. Construction of the Imperial Hotel required beams to be designed in an interlocking method to make it safe for earthquakes, and John realized that this design could be adapted into a toy version. He used his own funds to bring the idea to market in 1918 as the Red Square Toy Company (so named after his father's famous symbol). The toys were notched miniature logs about in diameter that could be arranged to build miniature log cabins. Wright received a patent on August 31, 1920, and had the name registered on August 28, 1923. Wright later sold the patent which became one of the most popular toys ever designed.