archie
Sign in Get the app

James Charnley House

Architect
Adler and Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright
Year
1891
City
Chicago, IL
Collections
wright’s chicagoadler & sullivan
James Charnley House
Photo: Template:Frank Lloyd Wright, Public domain
See it on the map

The James Charnley House (later the Charnley-Persky House) is a Gold Coast residence at 1365 North Astor Street, designed in 1891 for lumber magnate James Charnley by Louis Sullivan of Adler & Sullivan, with a young Frank Lloyd Wright working under Sullivan on the project. Completed in 1892, it is one of the only buildings where both Sullivan and Wright were significantly involved in the design, and one of Sullivan's few residential commissions. It is now owned by the Society of Architectural Historians, which operates it as its headquarters and as a house museum.

the building

Sullivan and Wright, together. Charnley hired Sullivan, a family friend, in 1890, but design work fell partly to Sullivan's young draftsman Frank Lloyd Wright. The house is one of only a handful of buildings where both men were significantly involved, making it a rare document of the transition between Sullivan's Chicago School and Wright's own emerging style.

Ten years, then a relay of owners. The Charnley family moved in in May 1892 and lived there for a decade before selling. The house passed through several owners across the 20th century and was expanded in the mid-1920s before eventually becoming a museum.

the architect

Louis Sullivan, of Adler & Sullivan, was a defining figure of the Chicago School and mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, who worked under him as a young apprentice. The Charnley House is one of the few Sullivan residential designs and one of the rare projects where both architects were significantly involved, making it a hinge point in Wright's development before he struck out on his own.

significance

The Charnley-Persky House is a Chicago Landmark (L-65), a National Historic Landmark, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, designated a Chicago landmark on August 20, 1972. It remained a private residence until 1986; it is now owned by the Society of Architectural Historians, which operates it as its headquarters and as the Charnley-Persky House Museum.

nearby

All 382 buildings in Chicago