Bootleg Homes of Frank Lloyd Wright

Uncover the secret Chicago laboratory of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie Style.

Before Frank Lloyd Wright officially launched America’s most famous architectural career, he was designing the building blocks of his legendary prairie style on the side. In violation of his contract with his employers, Adler and Sullivan, Wright moonlighted as an independent architect from his Oak Park studio. From 1892 through the spring of 1893, he experimented with the elements that would become his signature in houses in Chicago, La Grange and Oak Park. The full roster of these “bootleg homes’? has remained a matter of mystery and debate. Robert Hartnett seeks to provide the first definitive account of the hidden artifacts of Wright’s storied legacy.

About the Author
Bob Hartnett has had a lifelong interest in Frank Lloyd Wright’s work–he found it interesting that this world-renowned architect began his career in Chicago. Hartnett has been a member of the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust as a tour guide at two of the most iconic buildings Wright created during his Oak Park years, namely the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio and Unity Temple. Hartnett lives in the Chicago suburbs, where he and his wife, Lin, raised their two children.