Starting in Chicago, one of Wright's first residential designs was the Charnley-Persky House, a collaboration with Louis Sullivan, whose studio Wright was working at while still learning his craft. The Society of Architectural Historians offers guided tours on select days. Wright's contribution to The Rookery was his redesign of the glass lobby, which allowed more sunlight into the interior. The Frederick Robie House was built in 1910 and is considered one of Wright's early Prairie style masterpieces, and it is also a UNESCO heritage site. The Emil Bach House from 1915 is located near Evanston and is the only Frank Lloyd Wright property in Chicago where you can stay.
Oak Park is a suburb west of Chicago where Wright designed many homes. First and foremost was Wright's own home and studio, where he lived and worked from 1889 to 1909. The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust offers tours of the home and surrounding neighborhood. While many of the houses are still private residences, the Trust does a Wright Plus Housewalk once a year, where you get a rare glimpse into private homes not generally open to the public. The Unity Temple in Oak Park is another Wright masterpiece that is a UNESCO heritage site. Built after the original temple burned to the ground in 1905, he declared his cubist design "contribution to modern architecture."
Northern Illinois, west of Chicago, features more of Wright's designs. Colonel George Fabyan's villa in Geneva was designed in 1907 and comes with a Dutch windmill and Japanese gardens, at the request of the owner. In Hampshire is the only known farmhouse designed by Wright, the Muirhead Farm. Belvidere is home to the only known cemetary memorial designed by Wright, the Pettit Memorial Chapel, and further west in Rockford is the Laurent House, the only house Wright built designed for someone with a disability, as Kenneth Laurent, the owner was confined to a wheelchair.
Heading south, the B. Harley Bradley House in Kankakee is one of Wright's earlier Prairie style houses. You can tour the house and then go on a short cruise on the Kankakee River, where the house lies, and view other stately Kankakee homes, including another Frank Lloyd Wright one next door. The Dwight Banking Center in Dwight is an example of Wright's commercial aesthetic and still functions as a bank today. Finish up in Springfield with the Dana-Thomas House, one of Wright's largest houses, with 35 rooms and 12,000 square feet. While you're in Springfield, you can get to further know another American icon, Abraham Lincoln, and tour the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, where he and Mary Todd Lincoln lived before moving on to Washington, DC.
Visit the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust for more information on Frank Lloyd Wright.
