Architecture:
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Goodrich House
Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Goodrich House in 1896, only three years after he launched his independent architectural practice. The house’s design was based on a series of plans that Wright had developed another Oak Park client, Charles E. Roberts. Still quite early in his career, Wright experimented with ideas that would influence his emerging Prairie style.
Side Elevation for House for Mr. C. E. Roberts, January, 1896. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Architect (The Museum of Modern Art, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library Columbia University, New York).
Widely recognized as one of the greatest architects in American history, Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) designed more than 1,000 buildings, and his work and ideas continue to garner attention across the globe today. Wright designed the Goodrich House in 1896. He was in his late twenties, and this was an early and important period in his career.
Charles E. Roberts in an electric car that he built for himself, ca. 1897, Oak Park River Forest Historical Society.
Self Portrait Photograph of Frank Lloyd Wright, ca. 1905. Collection of Frank Lloyd Wright Trust.
During the early 1890s, the nation was in a recession, and there was plenty of competition among Chicago’s many architectural firms. Through his Oak Park neighbors, friends, and fellow Unitarians, the young architect secured numerous commissions in the area. One of the most important of these was Charles E. Roberts (1843-1943), a successful inventor, mechanic, and businessman. Roberts was a prominent community leader who became a key mentor to the young architect.
After working under renowned Chicago architect Louis Sullivan, Wright launched his own independent practice in 1893. At that time, he and his wife Kitty had a growing family, and the young architect needed to establish himself quickly. Wright built a home for his own family in Oak Park, Illinois, onto which he soon added a studio for his practice.
Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, Oak Park, Illinois. Allix Rogers, Photographer.
Harry and Louisa Goodrich House, 2025. Photo by Julia Bachrach.
In 1896, when Wright was just starting out, Roberts commissioned him to design several projects, including remodeling and enlarging his own home at 321 N. Euclid Avenue and designing a summer house for the family. In an even more ambitious project, Roberts had Wright design a speculative development. Encompassing a two-block area in what would become the Ridgeland section of Oak Park, the proposal called for dozens of high-quality comfortable homes for middle-class residents.
Even at this early stage in his career Wright had produced impressive homes for wealthier clients. Projects like the Winslow House (River Forest, 1893) and the Moore House (Oak Park, 1895) show his creative approach for clients with large lots and generous budgets. But the Roberts development was for a neighborhood of modest houses on standard-sized lots. Wright strove to create beautiful, high-quality residences that would both maximize privacy and promote a sense of community. To appeal to potential buyers, the proposed homes were largely traditional in appearance but with unusual details, hinting at Wright’s evolving Prairie style.
By the end of January, 1896, Wright had completed an extensive set of plans for the Roberts development. These included several different model houses. While the project didn’t move forward at that time, one of the models provided the basis for the Harry and Louisa Goodrich House.
Harry Goodrich and Charles E. Roberts had been business associates and friends for over two decades. In fact, the two had founded the Chicago Screw Company in 1872. Although the details of how Harry and Louisa Goodrich first met Frank Lloyd Wright are unknown, it seems likely that Roberts made the introduction. He may have even encouraged them to move from Chicago to Oak Park. The plans labeled number 2 , with some modifications to the roofline, provided the basis for the Goodrich House that would soon be built on N. East Avenue.
Photograph published in 1900 of Goodrich House from Architectural Review (June 1900).
The Goodrich House’s exterior features a steeply-pitched roof that flares out at the base to form the deep eaves that Wright favored. Roughly square in plan, the house has porch projections at the front and the rear that repeat the flared eaves. A slatted wall conceals the front steps, providing an early example of Wright’s preferred ‘hidden’ entrance. Clapboard siding on the lower portion of the house flares out at the base to cover the raised basement, effectively merging the house silhouette with the surrounding ground. A continuous band of molding separates the first story from the second, enabling Wright to conceal the slight setback between the two.
Front Elevation, House for Mr. C. E. Roberts, January, 1896. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Architect (The Museum of Modern Art, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library Columbia University, New York).
Right: Similar perspective view of the Goodrich House, 2025.
Goodrich House same view, 2025.
Left: Wright’s perspective drawing for house No. 2. January 1896. It is unclear when Wright added the hipped roof revision (shown in pencil). However, the Goodrich house retained the gable roof shown in the original drawing.
Chicago Screw Company. Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1922); Nov 30, 1910; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune, pg. A4
House for Mr. C.E. Roberts, Front Elevation House No. 2. Frank Lloyd Wright. January 20, 1896. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Architect (The Museum of Modern Art, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library Columbia University, New York).
Winslow House, River Forest, 2024.
View of second-story windows, 2025. Photo by Julia Bachrach.
Most of the windows are simple: square in dimension and double hung with large, undivided panes. The second story windows are held within a smooth band of stucco. There is a large, two-story bay in the center of the front elevation with decoratively-divided windows on the second story. On the north elevation, a tall divided window with a matching decorative motif lights the stair hall. Wright’s theme for the house—diamonds and lozenges— was expressed in these windows and on the exterior columns and pilasters.
Grappling with new ideas about how to design a comfortable middle-class suburban home, Wright created a floor plan that he used many times in the 1890s, including in his own home.
At the Goodrich House, this includes a deep porch leading to a large entry hall and public spaces that flow easily from one room to the other. The spacious sitting room has a deep, three-sided bay across from a cozy fireplace inglenook. As was typical of this plan, Wright tucked the pantry and kitchen into the rear corner.
Modest residences like the Goodrich House inspired Wright to publish “A Small House with ‘Lots of Room in It’,” in the Ladies Home Journal in 1901. In this article, Wright focused on making a house “comfortable with modest outlay.” Suggesting that “average home-maker is partial to the gable roof,” he recommended a feature that can be seen his design of the Goodrich house “gently flaring eaves… slightly lifted at the peaks.”
Wright remained fascinated with the topic of designing a neighborhood of affordable homes. Roberts wanted to move forward on his speculative development, and he had Wright prepare additional plans for the project in 1903. As architectural historian Neil Levine explains in an article entitled “Wright’s Geometry of Community,” revisiting the project gave Wright the opportunity to explore new ideas about community planning. Levine explains that in his “initial project for the Roberts block” Wright laid the houses out following the “standard system of lining up individual houses along the four street fronts” while leaving an area in the center of the block for a garden.” In his 1903 drawings, often referred to as the Quadruple Block Plan, Wright grouped the houses into units of four and oriented them “as much, if not more, to each other than to the street.” Levine points out that in this arrangement “the communal space around and between [the houses] is not a leftover but a result of their geometric interaction.” Wright continued to experiment with this idea in later plans.
This close-up view shows the dramatic overhang and strong sense of horizontality articulated by the band beneath the roofline. 2025 Photo by Julia Bachrach.
Wright’s Floor Plan for House for Mr. C. E. Roberts, January, 1896. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Architect (The Museum of Modern Art, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library Columbia University, New York).
“The Work of Frank Lloyd Wright,” by Robert C. Spencer Jr., Architectural Review, June 1900, p. 63. Described as a cottage for Mr. Goodrich, the Harry and Louisa Goodrich House is shown in the upper left corner of the page.
Rendering on the cover of A Small House with “Lots of Room in It,” Ladies Home Journal, July, 1901.
Left: Wright’s Development Plan for Charles E. Roberts, Unbuilt Project Block Plan, 1903. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Architect (The Museum of Modern Art, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library Columbia University, New York).
Right: Wright’s Quadruple Block Plan for the Prairie Grid Iron, 1911. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Architect (The Museum of Modern Art, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library Columbia University, New York).
Unity Temple, Oak Park, Illinois. Allix Rogers, Photographer.
Visitors who flock to Oak Park to see Unity Temple and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Home and Studio may not be aware that Wright was deeply devoted to improving the design of moderately-priced houses like the Goodrich House. However, a 1900 article in Architectural Review by Wright’s friend and colleague, Robert Spencer, highlights this point.
Spencer published a photograph of the “Goodrich Cottage” alongside drawings and photos of more lavish projects like the Winslow House. Spencer wrote:
“Few architects have given us more poetic translations of material into structure than Frank Lloyd Wright… That some of this work has been the designing of simple houses of the less costly sort, does not detract from, but rather adds to the interest which it should inspire.”
The Goodrich House is a fascinating example not only of the early years of Wright’s Oak Park practice, but also his desire to create a pleasant, livable space for a middle-class family. As he had intended, the house continues to provide a comfortable home for an Oak Park family.
Charles E. Roberts never built his speculative development. In fact, he sold the unbuilt land in 1906. Nevertheless, Roberts played an instrumental role in Wright’s career. As a member of the board of trustees for Unity Temple, he helped Wright secure the commission to design the revolutionary Oak Park church in 1906.
A 1975 article in the Oak Park River Forest World newspaper explains that Charles E. Roberts was pivotal in making Unity Temple happen. According to Marion Herzog (the granddaughter of a church leader who had voted against the Wright design), when her grandfather became skeptical about the project, Roberts had Wright create a model and the two men “explained the building to the committee.” After this presentation, the board voted in favor of building Wright’s radical plans for Unity Temple. The building is recognized as one of his most important works— it is listed today as a National Historic Landmark and as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Close up view of porch column with decorative diamond element, 2025. Photo by Julia Bachrach.