Robie House

Oak Park, Illinois may be the location of a number of important Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, including Wright's home, but Hyde Park is the location of one important Wright work, the Robie House. The house was built between 1908 and 1910 for Chicago businessman Frederick C. Robie.  A University of Chicago website focused on architecture points out that it is "often cited as the best example of the Prairie style--long and low to the ground.  Like other Wright structures, the Robie House features angles and sharp horizontal lines, as well as wood and brick.  It also has the distinctive art glass windows.  The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1963, just four years after Wright died.

The Robie House is open Thursday through Monday 9:30AM to 4:30PM.  It is closed on holidays.  It is located just to the east of the University of Chicago's Hyde Park campus at 5757 South Woodlawn Avenue.  For more information, call 312.994.4000.  

Anyone visiting the Robie House will want to check the schedule at the Logan Center for the Arts, which is located in walking distance.  They should also consider visiting the Oriental Institute, the Smart Museum, and the DuSable Museum of African American History.  There is also excellent theatre at the Court Theatre.  And, of course, there is the Museum of Science of Industry.

This is not final effort to capture the Robie House.  I just so happened to be in the neighborhood, so I didn't have my technical camera or tripod.  This, however, is the perspective that shows the elements of the structure that exemplify Wright's Prairie style.