William H. Copeland House
- Architect
- Frank Lloyd Wright
- Style
- Prairie School
- City
- Chicago, IL
- Collection
- wright’s chicago
The William H. Copeland House began as an Italianate home built around 1873 for William H. Harman, typical of Oak Park before Frank Lloyd Wright reshaped the town's architecture. In 1909, Dr. William Copeland — a surgeon with offices in Chicago and Cleveland — commissioned Wright to remodel the house; Wright's initial three-story Prairie proposal was rejected in favor of the more restrained result seen today.
the building
The hip roof. Wright's most significant exterior change was replacing the original roofline with a low-pitched hip roof, the single alteration that pulls the 1870s Italianate house toward his Prairie vocabulary without fully committing to it.
the style
Wright's remodel is Prairie in spirit but deliberately subdued: his original three-story Prairie scheme was rejected by Copeland, leaving a house that gestures toward the style rather than fully embracing it.
More on Prairie Schoolthe architect
Wright's role here was remodeler rather than original architect: hired by Dr. Copeland in 1909, he proposed a full three-story Prairie house, which was rejected in favor of the more subdued redesign that survives today.
More on Frank Lloyd Wrightsignificance
The house has been listed as a contributing property to a U.S. Registered Historic District since 1973.
more by Frank Lloyd Wright
nearby
- Arthur Heurtley House
- Nathan G. Moore House
- Francis J. Woolley House
- Edward R. Hills House
- Robert P. Parker House
- Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio