Edwin H. Cheney House
Encyclopedia
Edwin H. Cheney House located in Oak Park, Illinois
, United States
, was Frank Lloyd Wright
's design of this residence for electrical engineer Edwin Cheney
. The house is part of the Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District
. It is a brick house with the living and sleeping rooms all on one floor under a single hipped roof (reminiscent of the design Heurtley House). Here, however, there is a less monumental and more intimate quality to the house partly because it is not raised a full story off the ground, and partly because of the way its windows are nestled in between the wide eaves of the roof and the substantial stone sill that girdles the house.
The living rooms, which take up the entire front of the house and open onto the walled terrace at the center, are trimmed in fir. Together they form a single longitudinal space under a continuous ceiling carried up in the form of a hip roof, the whole subdivided into dining room, living room, and library by wooden posts and cabinets. The basement features a large in-law suite. The house is currently a bed-and-breakfast inn.
It was this commission that precipitated the celebrated love affair between Wright, and Mamah Borthwick Cheney
, the climax of which occurred in 1909 when Wright abandoned his architectural practice and left with Mrs. Cheney for a year in Europe. This era of Wright's life ended in 1914 when Mrs. Cheney and her children were murdered at Taliesin
by an insane servant.
Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the twenty-fifth largest municipality in Illinois. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago due to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L' Blue and Green lines,...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, was Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
's design of this residence for electrical engineer Edwin Cheney
Edwin Cheney
Edwin Henry Cheney was an electrical engineer from Oak Park, Illinois, USA. Edwin has a goofy personality... but very loving and intelligent at the same time....
. The house is part of the Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District
Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District
The Frank Lloyd Wright/Prairie School of Architecture Historic District is a residential neighborhood in the Cook County, Illinois village of Oak Park, United States. The Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District is both a federally designated historic district listed on the U.S. National Register of...
. It is a brick house with the living and sleeping rooms all on one floor under a single hipped roof (reminiscent of the design Heurtley House). Here, however, there is a less monumental and more intimate quality to the house partly because it is not raised a full story off the ground, and partly because of the way its windows are nestled in between the wide eaves of the roof and the substantial stone sill that girdles the house.
The living rooms, which take up the entire front of the house and open onto the walled terrace at the center, are trimmed in fir. Together they form a single longitudinal space under a continuous ceiling carried up in the form of a hip roof, the whole subdivided into dining room, living room, and library by wooden posts and cabinets. The basement features a large in-law suite. The house is currently a bed-and-breakfast inn.
It was this commission that precipitated the celebrated love affair between Wright, and Mamah Borthwick Cheney
Mamah Borthwick
Martha "Mamah" Borthwick is primarily noted for her relationship with Frank Lloyd Wright, which ended when she was murdered....
, the climax of which occurred in 1909 when Wright abandoned his architectural practice and left with Mrs. Cheney for a year in Europe. This era of Wright's life ended in 1914 when Mrs. Cheney and her children were murdered at Taliesin
Taliesin (studio)
Taliesin , near Spring Green, Wisconsin, was the summer home of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright began the building in 1911 after leaving his first wife, Catherine Tobin, and his Oak Park, Illinois, home and studio in 1909. The impetus behind Wright's departure was his affair with...
by an insane servant.