Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio

The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio is a historic house and studio designed and owned by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It has been restored by the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust to its appearance in 1909, the last year Wright lived there with his family. Located in Oak Park, Illinois, Frank Lloyd Wright purchased the property and built the home in 1889 with a $5,000 loan from his employer Louis Sullivan. He was 22 at the time, and recently married to Catherine Tobin. The Wrights raised six children in the home and Wright developed his career and aesthetic to become one of the most influential architects of the 20th century. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, declared a National Historic Landmark four years later, and contributes to the Frank Lloyd Wright–Prairie School of Architecture Historic District containing a number of his projects and related work.

The original 1889 structure was quite small. The home was extensively remodeled in 1895, when among other changes the kitchen was enlarged and converted to a dining room, the upstairs nursery was expanded and converted for use as Catherine's dayroom, and the Children's Playroom and a new kitchen were added to the back of the house. A second major addition was made in 1898, when the Studio and Connecting Corridor were built. In the Studio, Frank Lloyd Wright and associated architects like Walter Burley Griffin and sculptor Richard Bock advanced the Prairie School of Architecture and designed many notable structures, including the Robie House, Unity Temple, the Laura Gale home, and the Larkin building. After 1909, the Studio was converted into a residence for his wife and the younger children. Later on, the Home and Studio became an apartment building. In the 1960s it fell into disrepair as the owners began to neglect the property due to financial problems. The longtime roofing company entrusted by Frank Lloyd Wright, Oak Park-based Tuscher Roofing, took control of the property. In 1974, the structure was handed over to the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the 13-year restoration began.

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