Oscar B. Balch House
|
Oscar B. Balch House
|
|
 |
|
 
|
|
| Location | Oak Park, Cook County, Illinois, USA |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°53′47″N 87°47′53″W / 41.89639°N 87.79806°WCoordinates: 41°53′47″N 87°47′53″W / 41.89639°N 87.79806°W |
| Built | 1911 |
| Architect | Frank Lloyd Wright |
| Architectural style | Prairie style |
| Part of | Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District (#73000699) |
| Added to NRHP | December 4, 1973 |
The Oscar B. Balch House is a home located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, United States. The Prairie style Balch House was designed by famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1911. The home was the first house Wright designed after returning from a trip to Europe with a client's wife. The subsequent social exile cost the architect friends, clients, and his family. The house is one of the first Wright houses to employ a flat roof which gives the home a horizontal linearity. Historian Thomas O'Gorman noted that the home may provide a glimpse into the subconscious mind of Wright. The Balch house is listed as a contributing property to a U.S. federally Registered Historic District.
The Oscar Balch House was one of the first homes designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright upon his return from an extended trip to Europe, during which he designed no houses. Wright had traveled to Europe with Mamah Borthwick, a client's wife. This flaunting of public morality lost him friends, clients and his family. Amongst those who by contrast stood by Wright was the interior decorator Oscar Balch. Balch was one of two partners in the decorating firm Pebbles & Balch. Wright had previously designed a building remodel for Balch's storefront on Lake Street in Oak Park, in 1907, a structure long since demolished.
The Balch House is one of Wright's first flat-roofed houses and its proportions are taller compared with later flat-roofed homes he designed. Wright brought new drama to his Prairie style with the addition of the flat roof. The expansive roof further refined the simplicity of Wright's Prairie style house. The house has broad, overhanging eaves, common to Prairie houses and in the case of the Balch House they further emphasize the Prairie theme. The exterior is sheathed in stucco which provides a sculpting effect on the exterior. The original color of the stucco on the exterior is unknown but photographs show that the house has undergone color changes.
...
Wikipedia