 | Courtesy of the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust
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The Frank Lloyd Wright's Home and Studio
The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio served as Wright�s primary residence and studio
from 1889 to 1909. Wright used his home as an architectural laboratory, experimenting with
space, form, light, materials, furnishings and decorative arts. The building was
constantly in transition, showcasing the architecture's evolving design philosophy. In
1895, Wright expanded the living space of the home, and in 1898 he added the studio, from
which he designed more than 150 structures, including such famous buildings as the
 | Courtesy of the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust
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Robie House, Larkin Building and Unity Temple. This extraordinary Home and Studio complex
served as the birthplace of the first fully American style of architecture. Here, Wright
conceived the Prairie style of architecture, developing ideas that founded their fullest
expression in many of the surrounding homes he designed for clients.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust offers guided walking tours of the Frank Lloyd
Wright Prairie School of Architecture National Historic District in Oak Park. The area
surrounding the Home and Studio contains the world�s largest concentration of
Wright-designed structures. With 25 of his buildings in the village, as well as a rich
selection of restored Prairie School and Victorian homes, Oak Park is an outdoor museum of
architectural history.
The Robie House
The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust operates the Robie House as a
 | Courtesy of the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust
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publicly accessible architectural house museum and is open for tours. The Robie House,
designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for his client, Frederick C. Robie, is one of the most
important buildings in the history of American architecture. Completed in 1910, the
building was a catalyst for a revolution in domestic architecture, prestaging many of the
developments that would arise throughout the twentieth century. In 1908, Frederick C.
Robie commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design a house for him at 5757 S. Woodlawn, in
the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. The building, which emerged from the collaboration
between Frank Lloyd Wright and Frederick C. Robie, is a testament to wright�s innovative
and thoroughly modern approach to architecture. Robie, together with his wife, Lora
Heironymous Robie, and their two children, moved into the completed house in 1910.
The house was used as a domestic residence until 1926, when it was sold to the Chicago
Theological Seminary. Looking to re-develop the site at 5757 South Woodlawn, the Seminary
twice attempted to demolish the building. Wright protested to the demolition and in 1957
he visited the house in person and called for its preservation. This would be one of the
few occasions on which Wright would publicly ask for the preservation of
one of his own works. In 1958, the building was sold to Webb and Knapp, a New York
re-development firm who donated the building to the University of Chicago in 1962. The
University retains ownership of the building to this day. The Preservation Trust has begun
a $7 million, multi-year restoration of the site.The objective of this restoration is to
re-create the building that existed in 1910, which would best reflect the intentions of
the architect and his client.
The museums are open daily, with the exception of Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New
Years Day. Frank Lloyd Wright books, gifts, reproductions and maps are available through
bookshops located at both museum sites. For more information on the tours and the Research
Center call: 708-848-1976.
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