An Oak Park house that was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and was one of Wright’s “bootleg houses” — so named because they were projects he took on the side without telling his employer at the time — sold on June 27 for $920,000.
Known as the Robert P. Parker house, the four-bedroom, 2,661-square-foot house was built in 1892 and was designed while Wright was working for the architectural firm of Adler & Sullivan. Wright left the firm shortly after designing the three “bootleg houses” — all of which are on the south side of Chicago Avenue in Oak Park — and struck out on his own.
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Sellers Brian Brodeur and Michael Coates, who also own the Wicker Park home goods store Wilderhouse, paid $685,000 for the house in 2019 and then embarked on an extensive rehabilitation of it, listing agent Jen Schreiber of Dream Town Realty told Elite Street.
“They redid the kitchen, they redid a half bath, they replaced floors and subfloors,” Schreiber said. “And in the work that they did they really respected the integrity of this house. They worked to maintain the integrity of this house. There’s a lot of original features, which are beautiful, and it’s a gorgeous kitchen.”
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The house has 2½ bathrooms, two fireplaces, two staircases, original polygonal windows and a kitchen with custom cabinetry, quartz countertops, a Sub-Zero refrigerator and wine refrigerator, a Smeg range, a waterfall island and heated floors. Other features include a lower level with an additional rec room and laundry room and a second-floor primary bedroom with a decorative fireplace, a skylight and a claw foot tub.
Outdoor features include multiple balconies, a rear patio, a two-car garage and a backyard and garden.
Schreiber said that as the “bootleg” homes sparked the start of Wright’s career as a solo practitioner, “You could say that this house really played a pivotal role in him becoming who he was.”
The house is about a block west of the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio.
The sellers had listed the house for $875,000 in May, meaning that it sold for well above its asking price.
The house had a $19,670 property tax bill in the 2020 tax year.
Bob Goldsborough is a freelance writer.
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