Look for a stunning two-story house with a pale stucco exterior and strong wooden trim set among the trees on a corner lot, its low, wide rooflines and bands of windows just peeking through the green.
As you stand here, imagine it’s 1905 and Highland Park is swelling with hope and fresh ideas-just like the remarkable Mary W. Adams, who, at 70 years old, decided to do something wonderfully daring: she hired the young, already-famous Frank Lloyd Wright to design her home. Now, Mrs. Adams wasn’t just any client. She was Wright’s oldest, a teacher and a follower of Christian Science, which means she liked inspiring new things-kind of like inventing avocado toast before it was cool! At first, Wright proposed a design with grand porches, but-just like when you see your restaurant bill after ordering appetizers-Mary said, “Ouch, too expensive!” So Wright revised his plans, chopping off the south porch and serving up those wide-open views your eyes enjoy today.
Right now, notice the dramatic diagonal buttresses flaring from the corners-they look strong but are just showing off, not actually holding anything up. Step closer and you’d discover cypress wood lining the outside, while the floors inside are southern yellow pine and white oak. Mrs. Adams even had a clever call system, so if she wanted tea on the porch, all she had to do was push a button anywhere in the house.
Sadly, Mary only enjoyed her masterpiece for three years before passing away, but her innovative spirit lives on. The house went through some tough times-a short sale, a need for big restorations, a touch of architectural melodrama. Thankfully, new owners swooped in around 2010, restoring everything-even the little storage building out back-using Wright’s original blueprints. Your footsteps now echo history, right where fresh ideas and heritage meet.
