Frank Lloyd Wright in Chicago Driving Tour

1. Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio

The early phase of Frank Lloyd Wright's career centered around this Oak Park home and Studio where he lived and worked at the turn of the century. When Wright left Wisconsin for Chicago in 1887, he settled in Oak Park. In 1889, he purchased this property and expanded and redesigned the home and studio several ties. Wright lived here with his wife Catherine Tobin from 1809 to 1909. It was here where Wright created many of his designs and formulated his ideas for the "Prairie Style." This is also where Frank and Catherine began his family life. Owing to his contributions to architecture, the home was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976. The home has been restored to match its appearance when the Wrights left in 1909 by the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust and is open to public tours.

2. Arthur Heurtley House

Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and completed in 1902, the Arthur Heurtley House is the earliest and finest example of a fully-mature Prairie style house by Wright. The Heurtley House is one of the contributing properties within the Frank Lloyd Wright – Prairie School of Architecture Historic District which recognizes numerous homes demonstrating Wright’s development and influence of the Prairie style of architecture while he lived and worked in this neighborhood. Containing 80 contributing properties, 20 of which Wright designed himself, that represent the development and application of the architectural style, this historic district contains the highest concentration of Prairie style houses in the world. The Frank Lloyd Wright – Prairie School of Architecture Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 4, 1973.

3. Unity Temple

When a fire destroyed the wood-framed church of the Oak Park Unitarian Universalist congregation in 1905, fellow Oak Park resident Frank Lloyd Wright offered to design them a new building. With a limited budget of $45,000 to design and construct not only the exterior, but the building’s interior and furniture, Wright turned to concrete as a cheap and abundant building material. Completed in 1907, the Unity Temple, as it came to be known, is considered by many architects and architectural historians as the first modern building in the world. The Unity Temple was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 17, 1970 and designated as a National Historic Landmark on December 30, 1970.

4. Frederick C. Robie House

Sitting near the University of Chicago on Woodland Avenue, the Frederick C. Robie House endures as one of the most architecturally important houses in the United States. Design by Frank Lloyd Wright between 1908 and 1909, and then built in the following years, the Robie has been called the greatest example of the Prairie School style, which was also the first uniquely American style of architecture. Wright himself called the house “a source of world-wide architectural inspiration,” and the Prairie Style (as exemplified best by the Robie House) influenced everything from the Ranch style homes in the countryside to the sprawling, open, and more informal suburban homes. Since the Robie House’s construction, it has hosted three families and a seminary, before it was designated as a U.S. National Landmark in 1963. The house was later listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, as part of the first list conducted by the National Parks Service.

5. The Rookery Building

Designed for the Central Safety Deposit Company by John Wellborn Root and Daniel Burnham, of the architectural firm Burnham & Root, and completed in 1888, the Rookery is one of Chicago’s most elegant and revered buildings. At the time of its completion, the Rookery was one of the tallest buildings in the world. Originally standing at eleven stories, the building is considered a precursor of the modern high-rise due to its innovative construction methods that combined steel, iron, and masonry. By 1905, Edward C. Waller, the building’s manager, sought to update and modernize the building’s interior and hired Frank Lloyd Wright. Considered one of Wright’s most luxurious interiors, he transformed the interior of the Rookery into a bright marbled and gold light court. While other alternations occurred to the building since Wright’s interior update, the architectural integrity of the building remains today thanks to a major renovation during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Rookery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, designated as a Chicago Landmark in 1972, and designated as a National Historic Landmark on May 15, 1975.

6. Emil Bach House

Built in 1915, the Emil Bach House is a Prairie style house in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The world-famous architect designed the home in the Prairie-School style and this was one of his last Prairie School projects before transitioning to a more Japanese aesthetic. Emil Bach and his five brothers ran the Bach Brick Company in Chicago. Emil lived in the house with his wife until 1934. Today the house serves as a wedding venue and vacation rental that celebrates the work of the famous architect who designed the home.

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Frank Lloyd Wright in Chicago Driving Tour

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