The Emil Bach House, Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie School masterpiece located in Rogers Park is nearing the end of its nearly two year renovation and boy, does it look incredible. Starting May 7, the landmark home will be available as a vacation rental and event space. Weekly guided tours will also be available during the summer. Built in 1915, the home has changed hands only a few times and was most recently purchased by Jennifer Pritzker's Tawani Enterprises in 2009 for $1.7 million. In 2011, Gunny Harboe of Harboe Architects was tapped to lead the restoration process which sought to return the house back to its original appearance.
When the major restoration effort began in the Autumn of 2012, the home was already well on its way according to Gunny Harboe. "The house was in pretty good shape when we started. The previous owner had done a lot of renovation work but had stopped short of restoring the house to its more authentic 1915 appearance."
Some of the challenges of the renovation included finding a proper match for the home's textured brick and making sure the colors in the reproduced art glass window panes were true to original.
Overall, the home is mostly original, however over the years it has received some significant changes according to Harboe.
Most of the interior surfaces such as wood trim and plaster were removed in previous renovations. The exterior stucco and some of the wood trellises have also been replaced. Some of this work was done by the previously owner but most of it was done by Tawani. The renovation of this historic Wright home marks the beginning of its life as a vacation getaway and event rental space. If booked before the end of May, guests will receive full reign over the two bedroom, two bathroom home for $750 per day or night. However, starting in June, the rate leaps to $1,495 to book the landmark home for a night stay or an event lasting more than four hours.
· Emil Bach House to be Polished Up and Opened to Public [Curbed Chicago]
· Emil Bach House [Official Website]
· Tawani Enterprises [Official Website]
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