The Northern Illinois home was one of a few realized iterations of Wright’s American System-Built Homes, a line of precut houses the architect designed throughout the 1910s. According to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Wright created over 960 drawings for the project and crafted more than 30 variations of the houses, and he was extremely passionate about offering Americans affordable, well-designed homes. Small units went for $2,750 up to $3,500, while larger ones cost between $5,000 and $100,000. The architect worked with Arthur L. Richards, a Milwaukee manufacturer, whose factory would cut and ship construction materials for builders to assemble. However, World War I saw necessary materials diverted abroad, which effectively stopped the business. The prefab homes were only available for about a year, and only 10 exist, according to the foundation.
The one now up for sale, known as the Lewis E. Burleigh House, was produced from the Model C3 design. The original blueprints show a single-story home with a central front porch, a living room, and kitchen at the front of the house, and two bedrooms and a bathroom at the back. There is also a basement. Since buying the property, Eckroth has remodeled some, adding a full bathroom to the primary as well as updating the kitchen. According to Crain’s, the home was also enlarged at some point, but there aren’t exact records noting when it happened or who was the architect.
“This is such a unique offering. Not only is this a Frank Lloyd Wright design, it has been so well maintained,” Fleetwood tells AD. “Every owner has invested in preserving and updating.” She and Eckroth won’t be responding to offers until noon on Sunday, at which point they will call the highest and best bidders. The home is four blocks from Lake Michigan and is priced slightly higher than the average home in the area, which is valued at $764,004, according to Zillow.
