The Winslow House is a building in River Forest, Illinois

River Forest, Illinois

River Forest is a suburban village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Two universities make their home in River Forest, Dominican University and Concordia University Chicago. The village is closely tied to the larger neighboring community of Oak Park, Illinois. There are significant...

 designed by architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 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...

. Built on a private street on the Edward Waller estate, the Winslow House was Wright's first important independent commission and his first attempt at reinventing the traditional house.

In 1894

1894 in architecture

The year 1894 in architecture involved some significant events.-Buildings:* Colegio de Santa Maria de Jesús in Barcelona designed by Antoni Gaudí is completed.* Guaranty Building in Buffalo, New York designed by Louis Sullivan is completed....

, the Winslow house was a marked departure from the traditional homes in the Oak Park

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,...

/River Forest area. The walls, made from Roman brick

Roman brick

Roman brick can refer either to a type of brick originating in Ancient Rome and spread by the Romans to the lands they conquered; or to a modern type of brick, inspired by the ancient prototypes...

, rise straight up from a cast stone coping.