Emil Bach House
- Architect
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- Year
- 1915
- Style
- Prairie School
- City
- Chicago, IL
- Collection
- wright’s chicago
Built in 1915 for Emil Bach, a German immigrant who cofounded the Bach Brick Company, this Rogers Park house came near the end of Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie period, just before he turned to Usonian houses. It's a two-story, single-family residence with a basement, its plan rooted in Wright's published 'Fireproof House' design. After decades as a private home, the house passed through several owners and sat unsold for years before being bought at auction in 2005 by Jane Elizabeth Ferrer.
the building
From residence to public house. Jennifer Pritzker bought the Bach House in 2010, renovated it, and opened it to the public in 2014 for tours, events, and overnight stays — turning a private Wright commission into a place anyone could actually sleep in. Pritzker donated the house to Loyola University Chicago in 2025.
A fireproof plan. The house's general layout draws on Wright's 'Fireproof House' design, one of the architect's published models for an affordable, structurally efficient home, adapted here into a two-story residence with a basement for its lakefront Rogers Park site.
the style
The Bach House belongs to Wright's late Prairie School work, built in 1915 just before he shifted toward the smaller, more affordable Usonian house type — making it something of a hinge point between the two phases of his career.
More on Prairie Schoolthe architect
Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Emil Bach House during the final stretch of his Prairie period, shortly before pivoting to the Usonian houses that would occupy much of his later career.
More on Frank Lloyd Wrightsignificance
Designated a Chicago Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 28, 1977. After sitting unsold through several attempts, the house was bought at auction in 2005, renovated by Jennifer Pritzker in 2010, and opened for public tours and overnight stays in 2014; Pritzker donated it to Loyola University Chicago in 2025.
more by Frank Lloyd Wright
nearby
- Westminster
- Madonna Della Strada Chapel
- Mundelein Center
- Indian Boundary Park Fieldhouse
- Perkins-Nordine House
- Gauler Twin House