George Furbeck House
Encyclopedia
The George W. Furbeck House is a house located in the Chicago
suburb of Oak Park, Illinois
, United States
. The house was designed by famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright
in 1897 and constructed for Chicago electrical contractor George W. Furbeck and his new bride Sue Allin Harrington. The home's interior is much as it appeared when the house was completed but the exterior has seen some alteration. The house is an important example of Frank Lloyd Wright's transitional period of the late 1890s which culminated with the birth of the first fully mature early modern Prairie style house. The Furbeck House was listed as a contributing property
to a U.S. federal Registered Historic District in 1973 and declared a local Oak Park Landmark in 2002.
designed home on the site his father had purchased five years earlier. The site of the Furbeck home provided George Furbeck with easy access to the Oak Park Avenue train station and thus, to his office in Chicago. On June 29, 1897, two weeks after ground was broken
on his new home, Furbeck married Sue Allin Harrington of Michigan
. The next day Warren Furbeck's deed for the site of the George Furbeck House was transferred to his son. The George Furbeck House was completed in late 1897 or early 1898
The interior of the home has seen very little alteration and is mostly intact as Wright originally envisioned it. The exterior underwent significant alteration in 1920 when the enclosed brick
front porch
was built on the retaining wall
that surrounded the original, smaller, open porch. The third floor dormer
was also extended as well.
in the early 20th century with such projects as the Arthur Heurtley House
and the Frank Thomas House
, both in Oak Park. It combines elements from the traditional Queen Anne style and from Wright's own Prairie style, as such the home represents a transition by Wright toward early modern style.
The home's windows are wood with wooden frames and mostly casement style
, most of the first floor windows are topped with plain gray limestone lintels. Some of the casement windows feature original art glass
with simple geometric designs. The art glass, which is one of Wright's earliest completely original designs of the type, features three vertical lines with simple colored borders. When compared with the art glass on the Isidore Heller House, designed the same year, the Furbeck glass is uninteresting and may represent the start of Wright's glass border art work. Beneath the first and second floor windows a continuous stone sill course wraps around the house.
The front (east) elevation is framed by two octagonal towers and the entire structure is clad in a pink-colored brick. The building's hip roof
features overhanging eaves, an element common to Prairie style architecture. The entire structure rests upon a stepped, limestone
water table. The main feature of the front facade, besides the octagonal towers, is the 20 ft (6.10 m) X 20 ft, one-story sun porch projecting from the building. The sun porch has a low-pitched hip roof with an eave that projects over the front door, which is centered on the porch and flanked by two pairs of casement windows. Above the sun porch, on the second floor, is a pair of art glass
doors which open onto a balcony
between the two octagonal towers.
to the Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District
. The historic district was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
on December 4, 1973. On November 18, 2002 the Furbeck House was declared a local Oak Park Landmark by the Oak Park Village Board.
As part of Wright's transitional decade of the 1890s the Furbeck House is significant as the beginning of a three year period of experimentation by the architect
which resulted in the first fully modern style residential buildings. The George Furbeck House connects Wright's early period, which included geometric Queen Anne houses such as the Robert P. Parker House
, with his fully mature Prairie style which resulted in early modern homes such as the Heurtley House. Prominent features reminiscent of Wright's early work includes the octagon towers
; a shape he was exploring throughout his transitional decade. The home's rectilinear massing, hip roof
, casement windows and horizontal sill course all featured extensively in later Prairie style homes by Wright.
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
suburb of Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the twenty-fifth largest municipality in Illinois. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago due to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L' Blue and Green lines,...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The house was designed by famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
in 1897 and constructed for Chicago electrical contractor George W. Furbeck and his new bride Sue Allin Harrington. The home's interior is much as it appeared when the house was completed but the exterior has seen some alteration. The house is an important example of Frank Lloyd Wright's transitional period of the late 1890s which culminated with the birth of the first fully mature early modern Prairie style house. The Furbeck House was listed as a contributing property
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to a U.S. federal Registered Historic District in 1973 and declared a local Oak Park Landmark in 2002.
History
George Furbeck's father, Warren, purchased the future site of the George W. Furbeck House in 1892. Furbeck was working as an electrical contractor in Chicago at the time and maintained a residence with his parents. On April 9, 1897 the Oak Park Reporter announced that George Furbeck would be erecting a Frank Lloyd WrightFrank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
designed home on the site his father had purchased five years earlier. The site of the Furbeck home provided George Furbeck with easy access to the Oak Park Avenue train station and thus, to his office in Chicago. On June 29, 1897, two weeks after ground was broken
Groundbreaking
Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are often attended by dignitaries such as politicians and...
on his new home, Furbeck married Sue Allin Harrington of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. The next day Warren Furbeck's deed for the site of the George Furbeck House was transferred to his son. The George Furbeck House was completed in late 1897 or early 1898
The interior of the home has seen very little alteration and is mostly intact as Wright originally envisioned it. The exterior underwent significant alteration in 1920 when the enclosed brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
front porch
Porch
A porch is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure.There are various styles of porches, all of which depend on the architectural tradition of its location...
was built on the retaining wall
Retaining wall
Retaining walls are built in order to hold back earth which would otherwise move downwards. Their purpose is to stabilize slopes and provide useful areas at different elevations, e.g...
that surrounded the original, smaller, open porch. The third floor dormer
Dormer
A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows.Often...
was also extended as well.
Architecture
The house was designed at the beginning of Wright's three year period of experimentation that resulted in the fully mature Prairie housePrairie School
Prairie School was a late 19th and early 20th century architectural style, most common to the Midwestern United States.The works of the Prairie School architects are usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands,...
in the early 20th century with such projects as the Arthur Heurtley House
Arthur Heurtley House
The Arthur B. Heurtley House is located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, United States. The house was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and constructed in 1902. The Heurtley House is considered one of the earliest examples of a Frank Lloyd Wright house in full Prairie style. The...
and the Frank Thomas House
Frank Thomas House
The Frank W. Thomas House is located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, United States. The building was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1901 and cast in the Wright-developed Prairie School of Architecture. By Wright's own definition, this was the first of the Prairie houses -...
, both in Oak Park. It combines elements from the traditional Queen Anne style and from Wright's own Prairie style, as such the home represents a transition by Wright toward early modern style.
The home's windows are wood with wooden frames and mostly casement style
Casement window
A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges. Casement windows are hinged at the side. A casement window (or casement) is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges. Casement windows are hinged at the side. A casement window (or casement) is a...
, most of the first floor windows are topped with plain gray limestone lintels. Some of the casement windows feature original art glass
Art glass
Definitions of art glass can be as complex and contentious as definitions of what constitutes "art" and will inevitably include many refinements and exceptions...
with simple geometric designs. The art glass, which is one of Wright's earliest completely original designs of the type, features three vertical lines with simple colored borders. When compared with the art glass on the Isidore Heller House, designed the same year, the Furbeck glass is uninteresting and may represent the start of Wright's glass border art work. Beneath the first and second floor windows a continuous stone sill course wraps around the house.
The front (east) elevation is framed by two octagonal towers and the entire structure is clad in a pink-colored brick. The building's hip roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
features overhanging eaves, an element common to Prairie style architecture. The entire structure rests upon a stepped, limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
water table. The main feature of the front facade, besides the octagonal towers, is the 20 ft (6.10 m) X 20 ft, one-story sun porch projecting from the building. The sun porch has a low-pitched hip roof with an eave that projects over the front door, which is centered on the porch and flanked by two pairs of casement windows. Above the sun porch, on the second floor, is a pair of art glass
Art glass
Definitions of art glass can be as complex and contentious as definitions of what constitutes "art" and will inevitably include many refinements and exceptions...
doors which open onto a balcony
Balcony
Balcony , a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade.-Types:The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a...
between the two octagonal towers.
Significance
The George Furbeck House is listed as a contributing propertyContributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to the Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District
Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District
The Frank Lloyd Wright/Prairie School of Architecture Historic District is a residential neighborhood in the Cook County, Illinois village of Oak Park, United States. The Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District is both a federally designated historic district listed on the U.S. National Register of...
. The historic district was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on December 4, 1973. On November 18, 2002 the Furbeck House was declared a local Oak Park Landmark by the Oak Park Village Board.
As part of Wright's transitional decade of the 1890s the Furbeck House is significant as the beginning of a three year period of experimentation by the architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
which resulted in the first fully modern style residential buildings. The George Furbeck House connects Wright's early period, which included geometric Queen Anne houses such as the Robert P. Parker House
Robert P. Parker House
The Robert P. Parker House is a house located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, United States. The house was designed by famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1892 and is an example of his early work. Real-estate agent Thomas H. Gale had it built and sold it to Robert P. Parker...
, with his fully mature Prairie style which resulted in early modern homes such as the Heurtley House. Prominent features reminiscent of Wright's early work includes the octagon towers
Turret
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...
; a shape he was exploring throughout his transitional decade. The home's rectilinear massing, hip roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
, casement windows and horizontal sill course all featured extensively in later Prairie style homes by Wright.