Coonley House - Frank Lloyd Wright Designed Buildings on Waymarking.com

Queene Ferry Coonley (1874-1958) was a philanthropist, progressive educator, and patron of architecture who commissioned works from noted American architects including Frank Lloyd Wright and William E. Drummond. Born in Detroit to a garden seed magnate, Queene graduated from Vassar College in 1896, and briefly studied early childhood education until her marriage to Avery Coonley in 1901.

Avery Coonley (1870-1920) was born in Rochester, New York, and graduated from Harvard in 1894 and MIT in 1895. He worked in the family business from 1895 to 1902 but left it to pursue his interests in education, public service, philanthropy and Christian Science.

Both Avery and Queene Ferry Coonley were born into wealthy families. Queene Ferry Coonley became a friend of Sarah Coonley, Avery’s sister, at Vassar and the couple met when Queene visited Sarah at the family home in Chicago. Following their marriage, the Coonleys settled in Hyde Park, Illinois where their only child, Elizabeth, was born in 1902. In 1904 the family moved to Riverside.

They led a comfortable lifestyle, with interests in the progressive education movement, the arts and the practice of Christian Science. In 1917, the Coonleys moved to Washington, DC. Avery died there in 1920. Several friends and former clients, including Queene Ferry Coonley, saved Wright’s estate, Taliesin, from the bank and paid off Wright’s debts in 1928. Queene remained in Washington DC until her death in 1958.

The Coonley Estate originally included the Coonley House, the Stable, the Gardener’s cottage and extensive gardens. After the estate was built (1907-1911), Jens Jensen designed a landscape plan for the property which utilized Wright’s hardscape plan. In the 1950s the property was purchased and sub-divided by Arnold Skow, an architect and builder. The Coonley House was split into two residences and the Stable and Gardener’s Cottage became separate residences. Five new houses were built nearby.

The Coonley House is Wright’s first zoned plan with four linked functional units. Frank Lloyd Wright describes the house in his 1910 Wasmuth portfolio:

“A one-story house for the prairie, with the basement entirely above ground, similar to Thomas, Heurtley and Tomek houses. All rooms, except entrance hall and playroom, are on one floor. Each separate function in the house is treated for and by itself, with light and air on three sides, and grouped together as an harmonious whole. The living room is the pivot of the arrangement, with entrance, playroom and terraces below, level with the ground, forming the main unit of the design. The dining room forms another unit. The kitchen and servants’ quarters are in an independent wing. Family sleeping rooms form still another unit, and the guestrooms a pendant wing. Stable and gardener’s cottage are grouped together and informally connected by a covered way, which terminates in the gardener’s veranda. An arbor crosses the garden to the rear, terminating in the service entrance. The stables, stable yards and gardens are enclosed by plastered walls.”

The main portion of the Coonley House (living room unit, dining room unit, kitchen and servants’ unit) has been fully restored. The Coonley House, Stable and Gardener’s Cottage became National Historic Landmarks in 1970. This is a private residence, but clearly visible from the sidewalk.

Year Completed: 1907 Commissioned By: Avery and Queene Coonley Nearest City or Town: Riverside Public/Private: Private Tours Available?: Not Listed Website: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
There are no specific visit requirements, however telling about your visit is strongly encouraged. Additional photos of the building or house to add to the gallery are also nice, but not required. Pictures with a GPS or you in them is highly discouraged.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   08/08/2009 adgorn visited it 05/18/2008 Go Boilers! visited it

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