The Frederick C. Robie House, located on the University of Chicago campus in Hyde Park, was designated a National Historic Landmark because it is a masterpiece of the Prairie style of architecture that some say inspired an architectural revolution and changed the course of American residential design.
It was built in 1909 by Frank Lloyd Wright for Robie, a bicycle manufacturer, a year after the two. Robie had left Purdue University's mechanical engineering school to work for his father, who had expanded his sewing machine supply business into bicycle manufacturing. Because Robie was making a substantial profit working for his father, he had large-scale plans for an expensive residence for himself and his wife, the former Lora Hieronymus.
Robie was just the sort of client that Wright preferred -- 'American men of business with unspoiled instincts and untainted ideals.' And the narrow dimensions of the vacant lot that Robie had purchased 'allowed Wright's horizontal vision to soar.'
The house was one of the first ever to use steel beams in residential architecture, which allowed the roof to extend 20 feet beyond the walls at either end of the house. The house also used 174 art glass windows and doors.
Upon completion, the Robie House stood in sharp contrast to the University's collegiate Gothic structures. Its design was likened to that of a steamship.
The Robies moved out in 1911, but it remained a private residence until 1926, when it was sold -- furnishings included -- to the Chicago Theological Seminary for use as a dormitory.
Wright himself saved the house from demolition in 1957. Ninety years of age at the time, he pronounced it as beautiful as the day it was built. Referring to it as 'the cornerstone of modern architecture,' Wright proclaimed that tearing it down 'would be like destroying a fine piece of sculpture or a beautiful painting.'
Obviously others agreed. Later that year, it was purchased by Webb and Knapp, the development firm in charge of urban renewal in the surrounding Hyde Park neighborhood. They kept the house until 1963, when they donated it to the University of Chicago. It served as the Adlai E. Stevenson Institute of International Affairs, and then home to many university offices until 1997 when the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Foundation signed an agreement with the University to assume management, restoration, and interpretation of the structure.
Work began in August 1999 on a $4 million, 10-year renovation of the building as a house museum. It will remain open to the public during all restoration phases.
Leave plenty of time to check out the Robie House's newly-opened bookshop, housed in the structure's former three-car garage, which carries a wide array of books, museum reproductions, and Wright-inspired gift items.
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