The Oscar B. Balch House is a home located in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

suburb of

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The

Prairie style Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped i ...

Balch House was designed by famous architect

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

in 1911. The home was the first house Wright designed after returning from a trip to Europe with a client's wife. The subsequent social exile cost the architect friends, clients, and his family. The house is one of the first Wright houses to employ a flat roof which gives the home a horizontal linearity. Historian Thomas O'Gorman noted that the home may provide a glimpse into the

subconscious mind In psychology, the subconscious is the part of the mind that is not currently of focal awareness. Scholarly use of the term The word ''subconscious'' represents an anglicized version of the French ''subconscient'' as coined in 1889 by the psycho ...

of Wright. The Balch house is listed as a contributing property to a U.S. federally

Registered Historic District A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from ce ...

History

The Oscar Balch House was one of the first homes designed by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

upon his return from an extended trip to Europe, during which he designed no houses.Oscar B. Balch House
, ''Oak Park Tourist,'' excerpted from: Sprague, Paul E. ''Guide to Frank Lloyd Wright & Prairie School Architecture in Oak Park'' Oak Park Bicentennial Commission of the American Revolution ndOak Park Landmarks Commission, Village of Oak Park: 1986, (). Retrieved 11 June 2007.O'Gorman, Thomas J. ''Frank Lloyd Wright's Chicago'', Thunder Bay Press, San Diego: 2004, pp. 276-77, (). Wright had traveled to Europe with

Mamah Borthwick Mary Bouton "Mamah" Borthwick (June 19, 1869 – August 15, 1914) was an American translator primarily noted for her relationship with architect Frank Lloyd Wright, which ended when she was murdered. She and Wright were instrumental in bringing th ...

, a client’s wife. This flaunting of public morality lost him friends, clients and his family. Amongst those who by contrast stood by Wright was the

interior decorator Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordin ...

Oscar Balch. Balch was one of two partners in the decorating firm Pebbles & Balch. In 1907, Wright created a building redesign for Balch's storefront on Lake Street in Oak Park; the building was later razed.

Architecture

The Balch House is one of Wright's first flat-roofed houses and its proportions are taller compared with later flat-roofed homes he designed.Heinz, Thomas A. ''The Vision of Frank Lloyd Wright'', Chartwell Books, Inc., Edison, New Jersey: 2006, pp. 156-57, (). Wright brought new drama to his

with the addition of the flat roof. The expansive roof further refined the simplicity of Wright's Prairie style house. The house has broad, overhanging

eave The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...

s, common to Prairie houses and in the case of the Balch House they further emphasize the Prairie theme. The exterior is sheathed in stucco which provides a sculpting effect on the exterior. The original color of the stucco on the exterior is unknown but photographs show that the house has undergone color changes. The design of the house is symbolic in its heightened

terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk an ...

walls, the security walls and its hidden and obscured entryway. The house clearly shows the signs of someone who feels trapped or "under siege." The events of Wright's personal life may be reflected in the design of the Balch House. Regardless, the house has a remarkable linear proportion and Wright managed to raise the eyeline with the rows of windows on the home's second floor. The home is part of a series of geometric, cubic homes with overhanging, flat roofs designed by Wright in the early 20th century. The first was the Laura Gale House in

, followed by the Oscar B. Balch House, also in Oak Park, Coonley Kindergarten, the Bogh House and then the Bach House.Emil Bach House
, ( PDF), National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, HAARGIS Database, ''Illinois Historic Preservation Agency''. Retrieved 5 June 2007. The first floor plan is similar to the Edwin H. Cheney House; both have a three part first floor layout that includes a library, a dining room and a living room. The interior spaces are separated by "low decks set at the window heads." In the living room the house is anchored by a

Roman brick Roman brick can refer either to a type of brick used in Ancient Roman architecture and spread by the Romans to the lands they conquered; or to a modern type inspired by the ancient prototypes. In both cases, it characteristically has longer and f ...

fireplace at its center and there are libraries on either side of two small setback pavilions. These features help the building's interior flow and symmetry. Copious use of glass brings natural light into the interior. As of 2021, the owner of the home was working with Tom Bassett-Dilley Architects (TBDA) to complete renovations in order to reduce its carbon footprint to net zero. The retrofit is expected to be completed by 2025.

Significance

The Oscar Balch House represents

's defiant return to the streets of Oak Park and to architecture after his absence and concurrent trip to Europe with Mamah Borthwick Cheney. The house was called "forged of Wright's personal courage and cheeky moral humbridge" by historian Thomas O'Gorman. O'Gorman concluded it was possible that the Balch House provides a rare glimpse into the

subconscious In psychology, the subconscious is the part of the mind that is not currently of focal awareness. Scholarly use of the term The word ''subconscious'' represents an anglicized version of the French ''subconscient'' as coined in 1889 by the psycho ...

mind of Frank Lloyd Wright. The Balch House is an example of Frank Lloyd Wright's fully mature

. Its flat roof and horizontal linearity are a continuation of the ideas Wright began to manifest in the Mrs. Thomas H. Gale House in 1909. The Oscar B. Balch House is listed as a contributing property to the

Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Cur ...

.Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District
, Property Information Report-District listing, HAARGIS Database, ''Illinois Historic Preservation Agency''. Retrieved 11 June 2007. The historic district was added to the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on December 4, 1973. The Balch House stands across the street from the home where

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

spent his boyhood years.

History

Architecture

Significance

See also

References

Further reading