Kenneth Laurent House by Frank Lloyd Wright
Kenneth Laurent House, built by architect Frank Lloyd-Wright in 1952, in the leafy suburb of Rockford, Illinois, will go under the hammer on 15 December with Chicago auction house, Wright
The rear of the property features a gentle crescent swoop that curves around, and draws the bucolic greenery into the interior spaces
A tile on the wall of the three-bedroom, single-storey house - constructed from Chicago Common Brick and timber - bears Frank Lloyd Wright's signature
The home and original furnishings - including barrel chairs, hassocks, wrought iron fireplace grills, decorative screens and wall lights - are estimated at $500,000 and $700,000. All have been kept in mint condition by owners Kenneth and Phyllis Laurent
Wright was so fond of the house that its design and innovative features - including floors heated by hidden water-pipes - eventually became the core DNA for his future work. The property was also the only residence Wright designed that was accessible for the handicapped, featuring wide hallways, level thresholds at all entry points, and commanding rooms with low set windows
A detail of a folding screen designed by Ling Po, of Taliesin Architects. The screen illustrates a stylized view of the floor plan of the Kenneth Laurent House
The building comprises warm, light-washed rooms, with exposed brickwork and original custom-made furnishings designed by Wright
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The vanity in the master bedroom
The house is being sold by Wright as part of its biannual Important Design auction
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
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