Another Frank Lloyd Wright house in the Chicago area was built in 1915 for Emil Bach and his family. The Bachs were not rich as so many of FLW clients were, so their house is smaller and has fewer leaded glass windows, just 2 in each bedroom. But, the design and attention to detail are still very visible.

This house has less emphasis on the horizontalness than the Robie House; it was built on a small city lot and therefore is a much smaller house. The front of the house faces west and also the street which was a busy street even in 1915. The windows on the west side are recessed which really cut down on the traffic noise and hot afternoon sun.

The entrance is not visible from the street. You have to walk along the path past the side of the house and actually to the back of the house. The entrance in this house isn’t as cramped vertically as some of FLW houses, but it’s small and narrow and once you are escorted into the house you must turn, go up some steps, turn again and then turn again to get into the great room. FLW liked to have entrances and hallways be places where you feel a lack of space so when you enter a room you are impressed with how the space opens up and invites you in.

This house is unique in that it is privately owned. It was heavily renovated in the 60s and all the beautiful woodwork and nooks and crannies were covered over so the rooms were plain and squared off. Also, while a few pieces of furniture were given to a museum, most were sold or tossed. In the 90s when the current owners purchased the house they renovated it back to as close as original as possible, tearing out the covered over walls to expose the original color and woodword, and replacing cabinets, windows and furniture as closely as possible to what shows in old photos. They did a beautiful job! One reason is that this house can be rented out for a weekend…they only do tours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and the rest of the week the house can be rented, totally furnished. It’s not cheap! Depending on the season, it might be as high as $1,800 per night with a 2-night minimum!

Here are some pictures we took: