Frank Lloyd Wright’s Schoolhouse!

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Schoolhouse!

Frank Lloyd Wright's Schoolhouse!

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One of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most unique designs was also a testing ground for new architectural ideas. Wright’s original preschool commissioned in 1912 as The Cottage School and later turned residence in the Riverside bedroom community outside of Chicago is on the market for the first time in 40 years, priced at $800,000.

Wright was at a turning point between the end of his Prairie phase and the beginning of his Usonian when he was commissioned by Avery Coonley and Queene Ferry Coonley in 1908 to design and build a large house for them on an acre in Riverside and gave him free artistic reign. By 1912 when construction was complete, the Averys were so impressed with the work he did for them that Queene Coonley immediately added a new commission for a private preschool nearby, which she would call The Cottage School. In a very short time the school grew in enrollment and had to be moved out of Wright’s schoolhouse, at which time she changed the name to the Avery Coonley School that still exists today.

Designing a school was a new creative adventure for Wright. It was the first time his design theme would revolve around children, which allowed for a touch of whimsy to be included. The architecture displays Wright’s first use of the flat roof, and the first shift from the squares and rectangles in his previous art glass windows to colorful circles, representing balloons. Tiny, grouped mosaic-like pieces of glass create the impression of movement and the windows are the only time he has also incorporated the American flag. Several of the original windows still exist and the others have been replaced with impeccable replicas. The Art Institute of Chicago is now home to the original triptych window that has been viewed by Wright students and aficionados around the world.

Measuring in at 3,503 square feet on a half-acre of mature landscaping, the home is shaped like a cross and contains two bedrooms, two baths, a child-friendly kitchen, copious built-in shelving, large open spaces and a raised fireplace level broad enough to act as a large stage. By 1919, the school’s enrollment outgrew the structure and an associate of Wright, William Drummond, was engaged to convert the school into a home.

The home was purchased by its current owners in 1980 and they have painstakingly replaced the damaged windows with museum-quality reproductions and have made authentic repairs to areas of floor that needed replacing. A new roof was added in 2012 and all plumbing, heating and electrical have been replaced. Restorations have been made to maintain the original structure and a buyer would be responsible for adding more modern updates to their taste. The existing original kitchen was designed so that children could help prepare their lunches at their own lowered counter and it still contains the original soda fountain fixtures reminiscent of the old corner drug stores of the era.

Whether referred to as The Cottage School, the Avery Coonley School or the Avery Coonley Playhouse, Wright’s design was a practical and cheerful design that was successfully repurposed into a single-family residence by his assistant. Now for sale for the first time in 40 years, it is priced at $800,000. The listing agent is Mike McCurry of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Chicago, Riverside, Illinois.

Source: www.coldwellbanker.com