Looking to staycation in historic Wrightian style? You'll soon be in luck thanks to Jennifer Pritzker (known as Col. James Pritzker until she announced the switch to employees last week), Frank Lloyd Wright buff and heir to the Pritzker family fortune. The busy billionaire plans to purchase and convert two Wright-designed homes in Kenwood to two five-bedroom bed and breakfasts, DNAInfo's reporting.
At an August 20 meeting led by a representative from Pritzker's Tawani Enterprises, neighbors apparently heard of Pritzker's plans to turn the side-by-side Warren McArthur and George Blossom houses, listed at $1.17M and $1.15M respectively, into inns. The South Kenwood Ave homes, which dropped in price since they were first listed last year, were "bootleg" projects for Wright when they were built in1892, i.e. he was still working for Louis Sullivan at the time and had yet to break out on his own. The Victorian McArthur house doesn't resemble its neoclassical other half much, but both properties come in at 5,000 square feet, both could use some restoration work, and each includes a coach house.
Sean McGowan, the Tawani representative cited in DNAInfo's article, says the negotiations are still in their early phases but this is hardly the first time Pritzker's gone after a Wright structure. The 1915 Emil Bach House undergoing restoration work in Rogers Park, which also aims to host overnight guests when it's completed, is her handiwork as well.
·Jennifer Pritzker Eyeing Frank LLoyd Wright Homes for Bed and Breakfast [DNAInfo]
·Wright's Side-by-Side Bootleg Homes Each Take $200K Chop [Curbed Chicago]
·4852 South Kenwood Avenue [Estately]
·4858 South Kenwood Avenue [Estately]
Loading comments...