When fans of the Prairie Style architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright converge on the Oak Park area in May for the Wright Plus 2025 tours and house walk, they’ll have the opportunity to explore four homes that have never been opened up to the public for the event, which has been held annually for decades.
Organized by the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust, the May 17 offers, in all, an opportunity to tour the interiors of eight private homes designed by Wright and some of his contemporaries, all in Oak Park. Owners of the historic homes will invite guests to spend time in their private living spaces, admire the original exteriors and get a glimpse of how individual owners have arranged the home interiors.
Susan Frost, a longtime volunteer with the Trust and a member of the House Selections committee, said houses for each year’s walk are chosen by a group that includes both Trust staff members and volunteers.
“We get started as soon as (each year’s) Wright Plus is over,” Frost said. “It usually starts with a neighborhood around Oak Park and River Forest.”
Frost said all of this year’s houses are in two neighborhoods of Oak Park. She said the walk always showcases some Wright-designed homes along with houses designed by his contemporaries. A number of owners have opened their houses several times for the walk.
“They’re so generous,” Frost said. “These people love their buildings and care about making them available to the community. It’s not just about architecture – it’s a community-wide event.”
While the eight houses on this year’s walk are all in Oak Park, a special weekend package – offered at a premium price — will also include a hotel stay and a additional day tour of two architecturally significant homes in Elmhurst – the Wright-designed F. B. Henderson House at 301 S. Kenilworth Ave. and the William H. Emery Jr. House at 281 Arlington Ave., designed by Walter Burley Griffin.
Wright called his architecture organic, a term that came to include some classic elements of style that Wright and some of his contemporaries and others incorporated into homes as well as commercial, religious and institutional spaces. While there are differences between the Wright-designed houses and those of his contemporaries, most incorporate distinctive style elements, including broad overhangs, porches and strong horizontal lines.
Wright Plus 2025 will feature the following residences designed by Frank Lloyd Wright: the Harry and Louisa Goodrich House (1896), the George W. and Lucy Smith II House (1898), and the William E. and Winifred Martin House (1903) and the George W. and Lucy Smith I House (1894).
The lineup also includes some beautiful private homes by other architects: the Sanford S. and Grace Vaughan House (E.E. Roberts, 1898), the E.E. and Ina Andrews House (Charles E. White, Jr., 1905), the John and Annie Shapcott/John and Margaret Coumbe House (E.E. Roberts, 1905) and the Vernon W. and Mary Skiff House (Nimmons & Fellowes, 1909).
New to the walk this year are the George W. and Lucy Smith II house by Wright, the Vaughan house and the Coumbe house, both by Roberts, and the Andrews house by White.
Photos of the eight houses can be seen on the Wright Trust website: Frank Lloyd Wright Trust | International Gateway to Wright’s Chicago
The housewalk is a continuing part of the mission of the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust “to engage, educate and inspire the public through interpretation of Frank Lloyd Wright’s design legacy and preservation of his original sites for future generations,” according to materials provided by the organization.
Tickets for the May 17 housewalk are $130 for general admission. According to the Trust, guides will be on hand at each house to offer information on history and architectural elements of the buildings. Housewalk tickets also include morning admission and a 45-minute self-guided audio tour of the Wright-designed Unity Temple, 875 Lake St., Oak Park.
In addition to basic admission tickets, several add-on packages are available. Those include a fast-pass version allowing priority admission to each house for $600.
Other ticket options include an Ultimate Saturday ticket which includes the Fast Pass option, a private luncheon and dining in Oak Park. Trust members receive discounts on all packages.
The Ultimate Plus Weekend package includes a Friday tour of Elmhurst and Oak Brook. The day trip will include tours of two private residences in the Elmhurst Historic District — the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed F.B. Henderson House and the Walter Burley Griffin-designed William H. Emery Jr. House, as well as a private tour of the Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook.
More information and ticket details are at https://flwright.org/wright-plus.
Graydon Megan is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
