The private homes I’d toured in architecture school were wonderful, and helped me understand them in a different way. “They do many tours of Wright homes, and they had one scheduled here and they wanted to know if they could still come. “The week after we closed, we got a call from the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy,” she says. One of Beidler’s first moves was getting to know the home’s history. The architect says it’s extremely easy to use. Right: The staircase, described as a piece of art by Beidler, is designed so no stair rail is needed. Left: A fireplace warms the breakfast room. “I borrowed jewelry from my mother-in-law to seem legitimate.” “Our agent was really reluctant to show it to us, but she agreed if we would pretend to be real buyers, not just looky-loos,” says Megan. However, the house-hunting couple did visit, even though they didn’t think they would actually buy it. “I’ve heard that, while it was being built, people in town made fun of it, and Glore became defensive and didn’t allow locals to visit after it was finished.” “This house is definitely not the norm for Lake Forest, a place filled with traditional architecture,” says Beidler. Glore, a banker and boating enthusiast, was reportedly enamored with brand names, and perhaps Wright’s fame led Glore to hire the well-known architect. Although Chicago and its environs are Wright territory, this is the only home he designed in Lake Forest. Glore residence was created by Wright in 1951, and it’s considered a fine example of his Usonian homes (modern residences Wright designed for the masses toward the end of his career). The table is from Room & Board, the chairs were purchased on Amazon.
“The home has been very sensitively maintained,” she says. She remembers: “I glimpsed the house through the trees and I said, ‘That looks like a Frank Lloyd Wright!’ My husband said, ‘I think I’d know if I grew up two blocks from a Wright house!’”Īrchitect Megan Beidler says previous owners expanded the dining room of this Frank Lloyd Wright home by incorporating a deck. She was walking with her soon-to-be-husband (who is coincidently named Frank) in his hometown of Lake Forest, Illinois, when a home-for-sale sign caught her eye. Years later, while planning a move to Chicago, she came face-to-face with a Frank Lloyd Wright home that would change her life. “The interviewer said I’d listed Frank Lloyd Wright as one of my influences, and commented that I ‘might be a little naive about modern architecture.’ I thought: ‘Hey, just because he’s popular doesn’t mean I shouldn’t like him.’” “After I applied and was accepted to the school, I had the opportunity to look at the notes from my admissions interview,” she says. But even back then, she never dreamed she would actually own a home by the noted architect. Megan Beidler has loved Frank Lloyd Wright’s work since her days studying architecture at SCI-Arc in Los Angeles.