Arts & Entertainment
Take a Look Inside the 1903 Frank Lloyd Wright House a Chicago Nonprofit Is Working to Restore
In the Austin community on Chicago’s West Side sits the J.J. Walser House, designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1903.
A local organization is working to preserve the landmark and transform it into a community asset for generations to come.
“Behind us is the J.J. Walser House,” Darnell Shields, executive director of Austin Coming Together, told WTTW News on a recent tour. “This is a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the world-famous architect. It’s one of five surviving standalone Frank Lloyd Wright homes in the city of Chicago.”
The home is an early example of Wright’s Prairie-style architecture, featuring low-pitched roofs, overhanging eaves and an open floor plan that was considered groundbreaking at the time.
“This is one of his first representations of the Prairie style, this open concept that you see here where we literally have the separate spaces, but you can stand from one end of the home and just see through the living room, dining room, all the way to the backyard,” Shields said. “It was just really cutting-edge for the time.”
More than 120 years later, time has taken its toll.
After years of uncertainty following the death of the home’s longtime owner, Austin Coming Together purchased the house. The nonprofit plans to restore the property.
“Back in the ‘70s, they (the previous owners) were, I believe, the fourth or fifth stewards of the home,” Shields said. “And they had the home from the 1970s all the way up until it transferred over to us.”
For Shields, preserving the home isn’t just about saving an architectural treasure. It’s about investing in the neighborhood where he grew up.
“It’s not just about rebuilding or restoring the asset,” Shields said. “It’s: How’s this asset actually going to work for the folks that live here? How’s it going to create some betterment that they can be proud of?”
Walking through the home today, it’s easy to imagine what it once was. Despite years of wear and tear, pieces of Wright’s original vision remain throughout the property. The home’s original brick fireplace still stands, showcasing one of the architect’s signature design elements.
“Coming into this home and seeing this fireplace and hearth still intact with the original bricks, these bricks are very difficult to find,” Shields said. “They were made in the 1900s.”
Bringing the home back to life won’t happen overnight. Austin Coming Together’s first priority is stabilizing the property before winter.
“It’s going to take a tremendous amount of fundraising efforts to be able to bring this project to full realization,” Shields said.
The restoration won’t come cheap. Shields estimates it will take close to $3 million to restore the home.
But the nonprofit’s vision goes beyond preservation. The organization hopes the J.J. Walser House will become a gathering place for the community.
“It can actually serve a purpose for the community as a center where we can gather, we can take part in different kinds of events or forums or educational seminars and things like that,” Shields said. “We can partner with our schools to introduce young people to preservation, history and architecture.”
Working on projects of this scale isn’t new for Shields. He was among those who helped transform the shuttered school across the street into the Aspire Center, a community hub that now provides programs and resources for residents. He hopes the J.J. Walser House can become another source of pride for Austin.
When asked what he hopes residents will feel when the restoration is complete, Shields didn’t hesitate.
“I want them to feel the beauty of something majestic that is theirs and that is here for them to experience and take part in and they can brag about, like, ‘Hey, that’s in my neighborhood. I live on that block. We have a Frank Lloyd Wright. People come from all over the world to see something in my community,’” Shields said.
Austin Coming Together launched a fundraising campaign to support the restoration of the J.J. Walser House. For more information, visit austincomingtogether.org/walser.
WTTW News arts coverage is supported by the JCS Arts, Health & Education Fund of the DuPage Foundation.
