Ingalls House
N 41° 53.453 W 087° 49.440
16T E 431641 N 4637989
This wonderful, symmetrical prairie house was designed for a friend and railroad president shortly before Wright's departure to Europe with his lover, Mamah Cheney...
Waymark Code: WM2KWC
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 11/18/2007
Views: 221
According to O'Gorman, Wright so relished his visits to the house he designed for his friend Kibben Ingalls that on one occasion, he was so overwhelmed with the visual beauty that was entrusted in this house that Wright remarked that he had not charged him enough for such a fine house and entertained the idea that he might want more money. Ingall replied that he would have none of this talk, that he had been fairly paid, and that if Wright persisted he would have no alternative but to toss him out.
The house is situated on a lot of unusual proportions, 50 ft wide by 270 ft deep and is designed in the form of a Greek cross. By special request of the client that every room should have windows on three sides resulted in the profusion of natural daylighting and cross-ventilation. From the street, the first floor is dominated by the veranda with low-hipped roof projecting off the living room. From the outside, the upper floor is reminiscent of the Hardy House (
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Kibben Ingalls died in 1937, but his widow continued to live in the house until about 1950 when she passed away. Their grandson later founded the iconic architectural bookstore, Hennessey and Ingalls, in Santa Monica, CA.
The present owner is a distinguished architect, who previously lived in the Beachy House (
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