Harry C. and Louisa Goodrich House
534 North East Avenue
Oak Park, IL. 60302
Frank Lloyd Wright, 1896
The Goodrich House is a beautifully restored, privately owned house that Frank Lloyd Wright designed during the early phase of his architectural practice. With this website, the owners want to share what they have learned about the history of the house and its design and its fascinating original owners, as well as the many lessons they’ve learned as stewards and residents of the 100+ year old building.
The house is only open to the public during special tours such as Wright Plus in the spring of 2025. If you visit Oak Park and view or photograph the house, please stay on the public way and be respectful of the family’s privacy.
Goodrich House, September, 2023
Early Project for Frank Lloyd Wright
After training under renowned Chicago architect Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) launched his independent practice in 1893. At that time, he, his wife Kitty, and their growing family were living in Oak Park, Illinois, a quiet tree-lined railroad suburb of Chicago. Friend s and neighbors helped the young architect get established, and Oak Park would serve as a laboratory for Wright’s architectural ideas.
One of Wright’s most important Oak Park connections was Charles E. Roberts, a fellow Unitarian, inventor, and businessman. Around 1895, Roberts commissioned Wright to prepare plans for a block of houses in Oak Park. Although the speculative project never materialized, the plans appear to have inspired Wright’s designs for two homes, including one for Harry C. Goodrich, a friend and colleague of Roberts.
Frank Lloyd Wright, self-portrait photograph, ca. 1905.
House for Mr. C.E. Roberts, Frank Lloyd Wright, 1896. This elevation was one of the proposed “block plan” houses for a speculative development in the new Ridgeland subdivision in Oak Park. Courtesy of the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives, Avery Library, Columbia University.
Goodrich House, photograph by Gilman Lane, ca. 1935. Courtesy of Oak Park Public Library.
Harry C. and Louisa Goodrich
Harry Clinton Goodrich (1832-1926) was an inventor and businessman who, with his wife Louisa Fowler Goodrich (1830-1901), had raised a large family in a mansion on Chicago’s fashionable Washington Boulevard. Although Goodrich had invented and manufactured some extremely successful products, such as a tuck-marking attachment for sewing machines, by the 1890s he had lost much of his fortune. Likely introduced to Wright by C.E. Roberts, Harry and Louisa Goodrich hired the up-and-coming architect to design a comfortable seven room house in Oak Park in 1896.
Harry C. Goodrich, ca. 1882. Courtesy of Adelaide Eunice Goodrich Collection, University of Chicago, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections.
Johnston Tuck Marker. Harry Goodrich patented his tuck marker sewing machine attachment in 1867. He went on to invent hundreds, if not thousands, of other devices and products.
Living in and Caring for an Historic Wright-Designed Home
Historic houses generally, and Wright houses specifically, require a great deal of investment, ingenuity, and care to maintain. Mark and Mary, owners of the Goodrich House, have undertaken an astonishing list of projects over the last 25 years: not just the usual kitchens and bathrooms, but structural repairs, restoration and recreation of original features and the creation of additional living spaces. Cleverly designed energy efficient storm windows, thorough insulation, and geothermal heating all add to the house’s energy efficiency.
According to preservation architect John Eifler, who has been working on the Goodrich House since 2006, Mark’s “fastidious” approach has included meticulous research into both original details and possible retrofits. As Eifler notes, “We’ll never have another client like him.” Mark’s deep level of involvement has resulted in a beautifully restored historic house that is both sustainable and perfectly suited for modern living.
Stair hall window, exterior, 2024. This specially designed storm window has a piano hinge that gives access to all surfaces of the window for cleaning.