Pay a visit to the leafy Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois and you’ll encounter some of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most celebrated works – his famous home and studio and his restored Unity Temple among them – and the throngs of tourists that follow. But just a few miles away, two stops east on the Green Line in Chicago’s Austin neighbourhood, Wright’s only Prairie Style home on the city’s West Side is in danger.
The Joseph Jacob Walser House, built by Wright more than a century ago, sits vacant. It has a hole in its roof; Its yard is choked with weeds and litter; its interior has been ransacked. The house is in such poor condition that it made a list of Chicago’s seven-most endangered buildings earlier this month, as compiled annually by the nonprofit, Preservation Chicago. 'This is one of those buildings that should be the pride of the Austin community,' says Ward Miller, the organisation’s executive director.
At one point, the house was just that. Wright designed the home for local businessman and real estate developer JJ Walser in 1903. Though not as grand as some of its Chicago area cousins, such as the Laura Gale House or the Robie House, it exhibited the hallmarks of Wright’s organic, Prairie School style: deep eaves; horizontal lines; bands of art glass windows; and an open floor plan. It even earned a spread in House Beautiful magazine in 1905.
The Walsers lived in the house for seven years before parting with it in 1910. The decades saw multiple homeowners – and just as many interior renovations – before it came into the hands of Anne and Hurley Teague in 1970. Austin also changed as the result of redlining and disinvestment and fell upon tough times. But the Teagues remained good stewards of the house for a half-century, during which it became a Chicago Landmark (1983) and was put on the National Register of Historic Places (2013).
For the Teagues, the Walser House was more than an architectural point of interest. ‘I wasn’t too much concerned about whether it was historical or what kind of story it was,’ Anne, who grew up in Atlanta, told the Austin Weekly News in 2009. ‘This is my dream house from a child.’
That all changed when Anne, by then in her nineties, passed away in 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic and the financial burden of maintaining the residence by her heirs caused the home to go into foreclosure. Miller, who says he’d been in touch with the Teagues over the years through Preservation Chicago, 'had no idea that she passed and that the house was vacant'.
Anne Teague outside of her home. She passed away in 2019.
The house’s future, because of its complicated status, remains uncertain. One thing’s for sure: it will continue to deteriorate until the legal issues are resolved (it cannot be demolished because of its landmark status). But organisations like Preservation Chicago and Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, another Chicago advocacy group, hope awareness of the Walser House, a gem that’s ‘hidden in plain sight’, will allow it to have a vibrant next chapter.
‘Austin is a community where there’s been a lot of challenges,’ Miller says. In an ideal scenario, the building would land in the hands of an educational organisation and be open to the neighborhood to enjoy. ‘It would be a great point of pride in the community to see this building celebrated and restored.’
-
This clever café-cum-playroom in Poznań makes space for everyoneDesigned by Poland’s Cudo Studio, Sunday proposes a warm, dynamic take on the family café
-
Irys is an app designed by photographers for photographers. We take it for a test runIrys celebrates the art and quality of photography, along with the joy of discovery. We discuss the nature of online creativity and the artlessness of social media with founder Alan Schaller
-
Pantone chose white as colour of the year: resistance to plurality, or quiet emblem of hope?The Pantone Colour of the Year 2026 – Cloud Dancer white – was met with both intrigue and horror from the design community. We speak to four design professionals who weigh in on this year's candid hue
-
Remembering Robert A.M. Stern, an architect who discovered possibility in the pastIt's easy to dismiss the late architect as a traditionalist. But Stern was, in fact, a design rebel whose buildings were as distinctly grand and buttoned-up as his chalk-striped suits
-
Own an early John Lautner, perched in LA’s Echo Park hillsThe restored and updated Jules Salkin Residence by John Lautner is a unique piece of Californian design heritage, an early private house by the Frank Lloyd Wright acolyte that points to his future iconic status
-
The Stahl House – an icon of mid-century modernism – is for sale in Los AngelesAfter 65 years in the hands of the same family, the home, also known as Case Study House #22, has been listed for $25 million
-
Houston's Ismaili Centre is the most dazzling new building in America. Here's a look insideLondon-based architect Farshid Moussavi designed a new building open to all – and in the process, has created a gleaming new monument
-
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fountainhead will be opened to the public for the first timeThe home, a defining example of the architect’s vision for American design, has been acquired by the Mississippi Museum of Art, which will open it to the public, giving visitors the chance to experience Frank Lloyd Wright’s genius firsthand
-
Clad in terracotta, these new Williamsburg homes blend loft living and an organic feelThe Williamsburg homes inside 103 Grand Street, designed by Brooklyn-based architects Of Possible, bring together elegant interiors and dramatic outdoor space in a slick, stacked volume
-
This ethereal Miami residence sprouted out of a wild, jungle-like gardenA Miami couple tapped local firm Brillhart Architecture to design them a house that merged Florida vernacular, Paul Rudolph and 'too many plants to count’
-
Tour Cano House, a Los Angeles home like no other, full of colour and quirkCano House is a case study for tranquil city living, cantilevering cleverly over a steep site in LA’s Mount Washington and fusing California modernism with contemporary flair
