Discounted Frank Lloyd Wright Home in Illinois Needs a Buyer ‘With a Vision’
Photo by IvoShandor / Creative Commons
One of Frank Lloyd Wright‘s earliest works is up for grabs, and it comes with a relatively modest $595,000 price tag.
The three-bedroom, 1.5-bath space is located in Oak Park, IL, which has the country’s largest concentration of homes designed by the famed architect.
The property’s price has dropped twice since its December 2022 listing at $770,000.
The repeated markdowns could be driven by the amount of work needed to restore this vintage architectural gem. The 2,064-square-foot home was built in 1898 and currently owned by the same family for 60 years.
The remarkable dwelling is situated 10 miles west of Chicago, where Wright once lived and worked.
George Smith House
Adorned with brown cedar shake shingles, the Arts and Crafts–style home is known as the George Smith House and is “typical of Wright’s work in the 1890s,” says John Waters, an architect and preservations program manager for the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy.
Drawings for the house aren’t included in the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation archives. But a floor plan was published in the Architectural Review, connecting it to Wright.
“George Smith was a member of Unity Temple,” says Waters. “That could be how he and Wright met.”
Wright designed a new home for the Oak Park Unitarian church after it burned down in 1905.
Ready for restoration
Despite the home’s pedigree and striking design—which includes diamond-paned windows in the entry, a fireplace, and crown molding—its interior needs some work.
On the first floor is the dining room, living room, kitchen, store room, and pantry. The bedrooms and a bath are on the second and third floors.
The home also features a two-car garage and a front porch.
Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy
Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy
Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy
Frank Lloyd Wright Conservancy
Realtor.com
Realtor.com
“There were no huge red flags in terms of the structure,” says Waters, after a recent tour of the space. “But anyone buying this house would want to have a well-qualified inspection.”
The floors would have to be refinished, for example. On SaveWright.org, Waters wrote an extensive article that detailed what would be needed to restore the house. Digital models and plans, illustrating the home’s potential, were included.
“There are a lot of layers of paint and wallpaper. But from what we can tell, original features [are] just waiting to be restored,” Waters says. “It will be a project. You need someone with a vision, who can see through those layers.”
Unlike most homes built during the late 1890s, there’s a light and bright aesthetic coaxing in natural light. And the rooms are spacious.
“There’s a flow from room to room,” Waters notes. “Huge windows are in the living room and a bay window in the dining room.”
Historic Oak Park
“There are approximately 25 single-family houses that Wright designed in Oak Park, including his own,” says Waters.
This one is a little more than a mile south of Wright’s home and studio. The property is within the Ridgeland-Oak Park Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“Any proposed changes to the exterior would need to go before the Historic Preservation Commission in Oak Park,” Waters says.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy can help with expert guidance and renovation leads. And qualified restoration work could be eligible for a tax-assessment freeze from the state of Illinois.
It’s rare for a Wright-designed home to come on the market in Oak Park, and this is the only one in this historic district.
“They become family homes,” Waters says. “People hang onto these.”
Catherine R. Cannon is handling the listing.
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