Yesterday, we reported on a slight price reduction to a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Batavia; today, we've learned that the Gold Coast house that Wright briefly lived in has been sold. Details of the transaction haven't yet emerged (calls to the buyer's agent haven't been returned), but the 6,000-square-foot home at 25 E. Cedar St. has been sold for $1.5 million — $200,000 less than it was listed for in August. The home was built in 1887, and Wright moved into it in 1914 after Taliesin was torched by a servant. It's not clear exactly how long FLW lived in the home — maybe less than a year — but long enough for the city to install a Marker of Distinction on the sidewalk in front. As several news outlets reported over the summer, the home was badly damaged during the construction of George Giannoulias' McMansion next door. A couple of weeks before the home hit the market, the Reader reported that the house's foundation had been undermined, and that efforts to raise it back up were unsuccessful. When it was on the market, the listing advertised the "ability to teardown and build your dream home!" But there's no word on who the new owners are and whether that's what they intend to do.
UPDATE: Chicago magazine's Dennis Rodkin confirms that the buyers only bought the home for the land, and that it is slated for demolition. Boo.
· Neighbors to demonstrate at house where FLW lived [Cityscapes]
· Did George Giannoulias's mansion do in FLW's love nest? [Chicago Reader]
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