The House
A CHICAGO LANDMARK OF DESIGN, A BENCHMARK IN HOSPITALITY
Construction on the Emil Bach House began as Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous Midway Gardens project was completed in 1914, and before he left for Japan in 1916 to oversee construction of the Imperial Hotel. While the home incorporates elements familiar to Wright Prairie-style homes, the Bach House also points to future stylistic directions Wright’s work would take, including the home’s contained geometry, efficient scale and modern window designs.
The residence was built in 1915 for Emil and Anna Bach and is located near the shores of Lake Michigan on Chicago’s North Side. The property now includes the lot next door which is beautifully landscaped and has become an extension of the home and its lush surroundings.
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT’S DESIGN
In contrast to the expansive, open Prairie houses Wright designed just years earlier, the Bach House is strongly centered and self-contained. A flat roof with cantilevered projections shelters the residence and shades the small balconies off each of the bedrooms, which themselves add to the “outside inside” theme of the house.
The main entrance to the house is on the back of the house, away from the busy road on which the house sits, and obscured from public view. An open porch spans the back of the house and creates a dramatic horizontal projection toward Lake Michigan. When the home was built for the Bach family, they had a clear view of and access directly to the lake.
The Emil Bach House was designated a Chicago Landmark in 1977 and placed on the U.S. Register of Historic Places in 1979. In 2014, the home began its new life as a vacation getaway and event rental space, after nearly eight years of meticulous work that restored it as close to its original appearance as possible.
