Photography by Claudiu Voichin
From Chicago’s Sheridan Road just off Lake Michigan, the Emil Bach House looks like an exquisite but impregnable cube. Follow the walkway around a few right-angle turns, however, and you’ll arrive at the entrance, tucked away at the rear of the house. Open the door and step inside as a series of architectural marvels unfolds before you.
More marvelous yet is the fact that this masterful example of Prairie style design by Frank Lloyd Wright can be all yours for a long weekend. Built in 1915 for brick manufacturer Emil Bach, the recently renovated landmark is available as a vacation rental. Wright designed a slew of houses in Chicago and the surrounding communities, including his own home in Oak Park, but the Bach house is the only one that can be rented for overnight stays.
Although the expansive lake view of its earlier days has been reduced to a sliver by subsequent development, the house itself remains a feast for the eyes, with fascinating details at every turn. In an inglenook in front of the fireplace, where Mrs. Bach liked to read and write in her diary, bricks set on their sides in the floor create the illusion of a woven rug. Around the corner is a built-in dining table (a common feature in Wright’s later designs but unusual for a house of this period) surrounded by low-seated chairs with stiff backs that extend almost to the floor. A band of unstained black walnut runs around the first floor, tying the spaces together and complementing the horizontal lines of the exterior.
While many of the house’s features have been meticulously recreated from original drawings and photographs, contemporary touches have been added to bring the house into the 21st century. In the kitchen, a Sub-Zero refrigerator and other high-end appliances provide guests with modern-day conveniences. Upstairs, the former maid’s quarters have been converted to a modern bathroom; the original bathroom also has been thoroughly updated.
The two second-floor guest rooms — one furnished with a king bed, the other with a queen — feature glass windows based on the design of an original window, now on display at the Art Institute of Chicago. They’re both surprisingly peaceful and quiet considering they overlook a main thoroughfare. The walls are a soothing yellow, carefully crafted to match the custom color created by Wright that he dubbed “Sunshine.” Each bedroom has a private balcony. Guests also can relax in a second-floor day room or on the restored screen porch at the rear of the first floor.
In contrast to the general density of the surrounding neighborhood, the Bach house grounds are invitingly spacious. An expanse of open lawn flanks one side; behind it is a Japanese-style teahouse with sliding screen walls and a grass-covered roof. Getting into the heart of Chicago from the Emil Bach House is a straight shot on Sheridan or a quick ride on the Red Line from a station just a couple blocks away. And at the end of the day, it’s a short trip back to your own private architectural masterpiece.
Rentable Wrights
BERNARD SCHWARTZ HOUSE
In Two Rivers, Wisconsin, a harbor town on the shore of Lake Michigan just north of Manitowoc, the Bernard Schwartz House — or, as the designer called it, “Still Bend” — was modified by Wright from a design he originally created for an Edina family as part of a “dream house” competition sponsored by LIFE magazine. Completed in 1940, the fourbedroom Usonian house has a surprisingly open floor plan for its era. The house can be rented for $295 to $425 a night. theschwartzhouse.com
ELAM HOUSE
Frank Lloyd Wright fans looking for a close-to-home getaway should consider Austin’s Elam House. One of the designer’s largest Usonian homes, the house was built in 1951 and has been owned by the Plunkett family since 1959. A wing of the house was recently converted into a roomy guest suite. The roof slants upward to a cantilevered point, like the prow of a ship, above a private entrance. A glass wall running along one side of the main room opens it to the secluded site. Against another wall is a massive limestone fireplace that warms the space on chilly nights. A small but well-equipped kitchen is tucked into a corner. The cozy bedroom has a queen bed and a full en-suite bathroom. Included in the nightly rate of $225 to $275 is a tour of the entire house by the owner. theelamhouse.com
SETH PETERSON COTTAGE
With its skyward-slanting roof and glass walls, the Seth Peterson Cottage bears resemblance to the Elam House and is about the same size as the guest suite there. But its location on a lushly wooded bluff overlooking Mirror Lake in the Wisconsin state park of the same name is incomparable. Designed by Wright shortly before he died in 1959, it was his last commission in his home state. Nightly rates of $250 to $300 include use of a canoe. sethpeterson.org
Read this article as it appears in the magazine.
