Illinois' Frank Lloyd Wright Trail

The Charnley-Perskey House

Wright helped design The Charnley-Perskey House, located at 1365 N. Astor Street in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood, while a junior draftsman at the Adler & Sullivan architecture firm in 1892. The house is considered internationally as a pivotal work of modern architecture.

The Rookery

Located at 209 South Lasalle St., The Rookery served as Wright’s downtown Chicago office in 1898, and a satellite for his Oak Park studio. In 1905, Wright was commissioned to update the interior design and plan of the light court and lobbies. He realized a stunning balance between Burnham & Root’s ornamental ironwork and his own vision to create a spectacular environment. The Rookery remains one of his most dramatic interior compositions.

Frederick C. Robie House

Located at 5757 S. Woodlawn Ave. on Chicago’s South Side neighborhood of Hyde Park, the house is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and often considered the crown jewel of the Prairie style. In 1926, the house was sold to the Chicago Theological Seminary, which was  interested in the site for purposes of future expansion. In 1941 a graduate student at the Illinois Institute of Technology accidentally discovered plans to demolish the Robie house and the subsequent outcry eventually lead to the Chicago City Council declaring the Robie House an official Chicago landmark.

Unity Temple

Unity Temple is another UNESCO World Heritage Site. Late in his career, Wright declared it his "contribution to modern architecture." Indeed, it was a deeply personal project. When Oak Park’s Unitarian Church burned to the ground in 1905, Wright—a lifelong member—volunteered to design its replacement. Faced with a tight budget, Wright relied on clever design choices and plenty of concrete to build the cubist masterpiece, defying almost every convention of religious architecture along the way.

Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio

Of all the Oak Park homes designed by Wright, perhaps the most important is the one he made for himself. The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio served as Wright’s private residence for the first 20 years of his career (1889–1909), during which he also tinkered with concepts in the sanctity of his studio before unveiling them to his clients (and the world). As such, the home itself offers insights into the subtle experiments and personal habits that informed the evolution of his work. 

B. Harley Bradley House, Kankakee

Built 1900–1901, the B. Harley Bradley House is an essential stop on your survey of his career. The house sits on the banks of the Kankakee River, where you can embark on a half-hour cruise in an electric boat to see other homes along the shore—including another Wright-designed house right next door to the Bradley House.

Dana-Thomas House, Springfield

Commissioned in 1902 for a wealthy Springfield socialite, the Dana-Thomas House has a staggering floorplan with 35 rooms spanning 16 varying levels and 12,000 square feet of living quarters. The home also contains the world’s largest collection of site-specific art and furniture designed by Wright himself, including abstract light fixtures, oak tables, and terra cotta sculptures.

First National Bank Building, Dwight

Wright designed this bank building with a simple, dignified aesthetic. Remodelling through the years has restored much of that original dignity, and the building still operates as a bank more than 110 years after it was built—the only of Wright’s bank designs to do so.

Muirhead Farmhouse, Hampshire

Conceived in 1950, the house falls under the Usonians, a term coined by Wright to describe his pastoral vision of a more modest, middle-class style of American architecture. The Muirhead family still owns the residence, which sits on an 800-acre swath of farmland that includes four miles of public trails.

Laurent House, Rockford

Confined to a wheelchair following World War II, Kenneth Laurent wrote to Wright requesting a custom home that could accommodate his needs. In 1949, Wright unveiled his plan: a single-story fusion of form and function that incorporates an open floor plan, unrestricted access throughout the home, and materials sourced locally from Rockford.

Pettit Memoral Chapel, Belvidere

The Pettit Memorial Chapel is a small structure on the grounds of Belvidere Cemetery in Belvidere, Illinois. Emma Glasner Pettit, the sister of William A. Glasner, for whom Wright designed a home in Glencoe in 1905, commissioned the chapel in honor of her deceased husband, William H. Pettit. Wright used straight lines and very simple detail which was an extreme departure from the Victorian style that was popular at the turn of the century. It is the only cemetery memorial Wright ever designed.

Colonel George Fabyan Villa, Geneva

“The Villa,” as it was called, is a Prairie-style residence with an accompanying Japanese garden and Dutch windmill, both signs of the owners’ eclectic tastes. They hired Wright in 1907 to remodel the existing farmhouse, and today it is a museum which houses some of the owners’ private collections.