'Endangered' Frank Lloyd Wright Home In Glencoe Sold For $550,000

GLENCOE, IL — Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1913, the Booth Cottage in Glencoe sold for $550,000 last week, days after it was listed as one of the most "endangered" historical sites in the state. The one-story, 1,755-square-foot home on a third of an acre was declared a local landmark more than two decades ago but is not protected from demolition under village code.

The one-story house originally served as a temporary home for the family of Sherman and Elizabeth Booth during the construction of their larger home in what became Ravine Bluffs. The cottage was later moved to its current location on Franklin Road, where it is now located amid much larger homes.

Though not intended as permanent housing, the cedar three-bedroom still includes several elements associated with Wright's work, including its flat roof with overhanging eaves, window design, leaded glass and wood banding along its ceilings.

The Booths' main house has on Sylvan Road been on the market since July 2016 and currently has a $1.15 million asking price. It is a downsized version of the mansion originally planned for a 15-acre site. Wright and Booth, a founding member of the Glencoe Park District, had initially hoped to create more than two dozen customizable Wright homes. Only five, all based on the 1907 design "Fireproof House for $5,000," were ever built.

The Booth Cottage was last purchased in 1956 by Doris Rudoff, an artist and Lake Bluff Junior High art teacher who died in 2014 and Meyer Rudoff, an architect who died in 2003. Their family hoped to avoid selling the property to anyone interested in demolishing the structure. After initially listing the property for $1 million in October 2017, the price was lowered to $825,000 in September 2018 and then to $600,000 in January. The sale was listed as pending on April 4.

On May 1, the preservation nonprofit Landmarks Illinois included the Booth Cottage among the 12 "most endangered historic places" in the state. It said roughly half of homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright are legally protected by a preservation easement or local certified landmarking.

The Glencoe Historical Society, Glencoe Historic Preservation Commission and the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy have been working to find ways to ensure the house remains intact, according to Landmarks Illinois.

The Conservancy collaborated with AIA Chicago, Landmark's Illinois and Glencoe's planning department to develop multiple possibilities for adaptive reuses of the Booth Cottage in an effort to keep the Booth Cottage from being the first Wright house demolished since the Carr House in Grand Beach, Michigan in 2004.

Landmark Illinois also named as endangered in Glencoe the Hoover Estate at 1801 Green Bay Road, which includes a 10,000-square-foot manor house, coach house and stables. The 12.2-acre property was purchased for $10 million in December 2018 by developer Arthur Goldner's firm from the estate of a widow of a nephew of the man who began the vacuum cleaner empire. His representatives have presented a subdivision plan to turn the estate into 29 lots and indicated an intention to demolish all three structures on the property. According to village staff, the firm filed a demolition application in January but no permit may be issued until the subdivision process is complete.

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Glencoe village code does not forbid the demolition of local historic landmarks. For instance, if a new owner of the Wright-designed house sought to demolish it, it could be delayed 180 days but it could not be prevented by the Historic Preservation Commission.

"Operating under a weak village historic preservation ordinance," Landmarks Illinois said, the Commission's "ability to facilitate preservation outcomes for any historic properties in the future remains a challenge."

When the landmark house hit the market, the daughter of its late longtime occupants told Crain's Chicago business that demolition was not something her "parents would want, Wright fans would want or I would want. I would feel really sorry if I let it go. It's got to go to someone who appreciates the architecture." The house had not been significantly updated since the 1950s and needed "a lot of work," according to its listing agent at the time.

The sellers received offers for the land alone that were higher than the property's eventual selling price, the listing agent told the Chicago Tribune's Elite Street column, which first reported its sale. The buyers' agent said she did not believe the buyers had decided whether they plan to demolish the cottage yet, noting it was a "challenge" due to how the home is placed on the property. Public records do not yet identify the home's new owners.

• Address: 239 Franklin Road, Glencoe
• Built: 1913
• Lot size: 0.34 acres
• Square Feet: 1,755
• Bedrooms: 3
• Bathrooms: 2 full, 1 half
• First Listed: $1 million in October 2017
• Sold: $555,000 on May 9

Listing information originally appeared on realtor.com. For more information and photos, click here.

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