Coonley House, Frank Lloyd Wright's Self-Described Masterpiece

On the banks of the Des Plaines River in Riverside stands one of Frank Lloyd Wright's most celebrated creations. He designed it in nineteen oh seven for industrialist Avery Coonley and his wife Queene, who gave the architect unusual creative freedom. Wright took full advantage: the estate grew into a multi-building Prairie complex with a main house, a stable, a gardener's cottage, and a separate playhouse built in nineteen twelve as an educational space for children.

Wright later called it the most successful of his houses, high praise from an architect not known for modesty. The low horizontal rooflines, interconnected wings, and deep integration with the landscape pushed Prairie School design to an extreme few other commissions ever matched. The estate is now a National Historic Landmark, recognized as one of Wright's rare multi-building Prairie estates.