For most architecture lovers, living in a masterpiece designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the world’s most influential architects, is more of a dream than a reality. The visionary architect designed 1,114 architectural works over the course of his lifetime, but only 532 of them were realized, and not all of them still stand today. But Wright fans looking to fully experience his work by living in it should consider a move to the Windy City, where one of his early creations on the South Side of Chicago is on the market for $175,000—a steal, considering his residential designs regularly command upward of at least $1 million.
The exterior of the house.
Listed by Coldwell Banker, the home was built in 1900 for the Foster family, whose patriarch was a real estate attorney, as a summer retreat from the city. Designed in a traditional Japanese style—“the dramatic, outward flare of the ridges on the roof and dormers evokes Japanese architecture and lends variety and dynamism to this otherwise conservative design,” writes the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust in Chicago—the cottage is almost unrecognizable as a Wright design, as he had not yet discovered his signature Prairie style for which he would later be known. The architect developed an interest in Japanese art in his early 20s, and soon became an internationally recognized collector of Japanese woodblock prints.
The house sits on a quarter acre of land, surrounded with lush greenery.
The wood-paneled home, painted in hues of forest green and canary yellow, has five bedrooms, a sweeping front porch, a horse stable and a chicken coop out back, and an original (and functional) fireplace. In 1996 it was declared a Chicago landmark, setting rules into place that changes cannot be made without approval from the city. The property was originally listed for $205,000 in 2017, but subsequent price reductions reflect the amount of work it needs, as well as the average sale price for homes in the area.
