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Jessie and William Adams House

Architect
Frank Lloyd Wright
Year
1901
Style
Prairie School
City
Chicago, IL
Collection
wright’s chicago
Jessie and William Adams House
Photo: Zol87 from Chicago, IL, USA], CC BY-SA 2.0
See it on the map

Built in 1900-1901 for William and Jessie Adams in the Beverly neighborhood, this Prairie-style house is credited to Frank Lloyd Wright — though the attribution is disputed. Its squarish massing, double-hung windows, and sizeable third-floor attic weren't standard Wright features of the period, leading some scholars to argue that William Adams, who worked as a contractor on several Wright commissions, may have designed the house himself.

the building

An unusual attribution. The house departs from typical Wright details of 1901: it's squarer than his usual Prairie compositions, uses double-hung rather than casement windows, and includes a sizeable third-floor attic. Those differences are part of why some historians credit the actual design to William Adams, the homeowner, who had worked as a contractor on several Wright projects.

the style

The house is classified as Prairie School architecture, the horizontal, Midwest-rooted style Wright pioneered — though this example bends several of the style's usual conventions, which is central to the debate over who actually drew it.

More on Prairie School

the architect

Frank Lloyd Wright is credited with the design, though the attribution here is disputed; some scholars believe William Adams, who served as a contractor on several other Wright homes, designed his own house instead.

More on Frank Lloyd Wright

significance

Designated a Chicago Landmark on June 16, 1994, with a landmark plaque embedded in the ground out front. The house sold for $980,000 in March 2014, having remained in the same family since 1952.

more by Frank Lloyd Wright

nearby

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