Asking less than $1M after 4 years, this house by the most famous architect ever STILL won't sell
Want a Frank Lloyd Wright home?
Well, you can have one, and you can have one, and you can have one.
Homes designed by probably the most famous architect ever have popped up on the market so quickly -- especially in Chicago -- it's like Oprah’s giving them away. There's the Laura Gale House in the Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District of Oak Park, on the market for $1.1 million. Then there's the Winslow House in neighboring River Forest, on the market for $1.55 million, and the F.B. Henderson House in Elmhurst for a million (well, $995,000).
But wait, there's more. You can actually own a Frank Lloyd Wright for a lot less than a million dollars: the Millard House, at $799,000. (Click here or on a photo for a slideshow.)
It's not necessarily uncommon to find a number of FLW homes up for sale, especially in an area that has the nation's largest collection of Wright residences.
However, it is unusual to find one as relatively inexpensive and intact as the Millard House, which won a preservation award. It first hit the market in 2011 at $1,399,000, but after a number of price cuts, it's now asking almost half that -- apparently below land value.
A work by a master
The George Millard House—not to be confused with the Usonian, concrete-block Alice Millard House in Pasadena—is a prime example of the Prairie style for which Wright was celebrated. The board-and-batten four-bedroom home is in the middle of an old forest near Lake Michigan. It's hugged by ravines, winding pathways and streets that eventually end at the lake, where the land drops down from cliff edges to speckled beaches.
Back when it was built in 1906, it was one of just three buildings in sight, along with a cabin across the street and a hunting lodge closer to the lake, says owner Juan Montenegro. (The cabin still exists, though now incorporated into a larger building.) He and his wife, Claire, bought it more than 20 years ago in a "severely run-down state," according to Curbed Chicago, and embarked on a restoration project that would ultimately win them a preservation award.
(Click here or on a photo for a slideshow.)
Inside, the 3,000-square-foot home is designed with Wright's signature open concept. The living room has a fireplace and opens onto a large porch that has been "retrovated" to be open to the elements—the way it was intended.
The dining room sits opposite the foyer from the living room and is surrounded by windows. The kitchen is tucked away off the dining room. It was renovated at one point in the 1980s, but hasn't been updated much since.
Upstairs, the master bedroom also has a fireplace, as well as its own office (converted from a bedroom) and a balcony, barely visible from the ground level. The two remaining bedrooms are on opposite sides of the home.
Most of the home's initial design has been maintained. Sixty-eight of its windows are original, with a yellow-cast diamond shape in the middle, though some are cracked.
A few have been incorporated into an addition off the back—another of the Montenegros' retrovations. The previous owners had added a small family room to the main living room and covered it in wood paneling, says Claire Montenegro. So the Montenegros tore up the insides to match the clean look of the rest of the living room. Now, you wouldn't be able to tell they weren't original if you weren't told (unless you're a Wright expert).
That's the unfortunate fate of many Frank Lloyd Wright homes: After more than a century, many owners have passed through, and while some have maintained the homes, others have not. The Montenegros are at least the seventh or eighth owners of the George Millard House, they've estimated, though it's hard to tell, because sometimes the home passed from one family member to another.
Over time, some of the best features, like two benches sitting alongside the fireplace with bookshelf backings (the Millards were rare book dealers), have disappeared. The original banister is long gone, having been replaced by an interesting white banister when one previous owner "wanted everything to look Mediterranean for some reason," Claire says.
Like many owners of these homes, the Montenegros treasure the connection with the renowned architect, and appreciate the timeless beauty he was able to achieve. But they're still homeowners, living in the house day in and day out and raising two kids over the past two decades. They didn't have the time, money or inclination to hunt down and restore every detail.
Tough sell in a ritzy neighborhood
Some details may not be worth restoring anyway.
"The architect favored small kitchens and closets—at odds with current tastes—and usually omitted basements," the Wall Street Journal wrote in an article called "The Pleasures and Pitfalls of Frank Lloyd Wright Homes." Family rooms and bedrooms tend to be small, too, and most of his homes have no garages.
Strolling through the neighborhood where the home sits, it's easy to see why this property may be a harder sell. Highland Park is full of grand homes, worth millions, that are impeccably landscaped. New construction is almost always ongoing somewhere within a short distance, as teardowns, renovations and additions are always churning. Everything gets a little bigger and better every year.
In a place like this, old and a little awkward can be a tough sell, even when it's a Frank Lloyd Wright.
Click here or on a photo for a slideshow of Frank Lloyd Wright's under-$1-million Millard House -- plus pictures of pricier homes by the world-famous architect as points of comparison.
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