Historic Significance: The Walser House is among the best of Wright’s early experiments with designs for inexpensive residences, which he went on to modify for several subsequent houses.

Wright’s 1903 Walser House in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago is a significant example of Wright’s work.  As noted in the house’s Chicago Landmark listing:
Built four years after the suburb of Austin was annexed to Chicago, this is among the best of Wright’s design experiments with inexpensive residences. Within a narrow lot, the house has all the features of his mature Prairie style: a horizontal emphasis resulting from deep roof eaves and bands of windows, a straightforward use of simple materials, and a spacious but efficient open interior plan.

Designed for printing executive Joseph Jacob Walser, Wright reworked the Walser plan for several subsequent projects, specifically the Barton House in Buffalo (1903), the DeRhodes House in South Bend, Indiana (a near-twin, designed in 1906), and the now-demolished Horner House in Chicago (1908).

The house is one of only seven extant Wright-designed Prairie-period residential structures in the city of Chicago; two others were demolished. It is the only Wright-designed single-family residence on Chicago’s West Side.

Current Threat: The property is currently the subject of a foreclosure suit, blocking efforts to find a new steward for the house.

Read More: https://savewright.org/endangered-walser-house-in-chicago/