Frederick Bagley House
Date: 1894
Address: 121 S. County Line Road, Hinsdale, IL
City: Hinsdale, Illinois
Accessibility: Private
Category: Residential
Restoration Status: original dark stained shingles were replaced with white siding; south living room window expanded to a picture window by subsequent owners; enclosed porch and pergola added at rear
The dormered gambrel roof and columned veranda, as well as the dark stained shingle siding that originally covered the Frederick Bagley house, were typical features of American domestic architecture by the late nineteenth century. These conventions likely reflect the tastes of Wright’s client, Frederick Bagley. Despite its apparent conservatism, the house features a number of innovations. Its first floor plan, which is organized around a centrally located fireplace set within an inglenook, closely resembles that of Wright’s Oak Park home, and the octagonal library, which sits slightly above ground level, is similar to the Studio library he eventually added to his own residence. The glass doors that open onto the veranda at the front of the house were heretofore unprecedented in Wright’s career. They appear with frequency in his later work. Wright also designed a communion rail and baptismal font for Bagley, a marble importer, in 1894.