Walter Burley Griffin Historic District

On the quiet block of 104th Place, running between Prospect Avenue to the east to Wood Avenue on the west, lies an unexpected surprise. This block contains eight houses of the Prairie school of design, all but one designed by an architect just starting out with his own practice after leaving the employ of Frank Lloyd Wright. His name was Walter Burley Griffin. These eight houses make up the largest concentration of Prairie-school houses in Chicago.

Griffin was commissioned in 1909 for his first house in the area by a Russell L. Blount, a real estate manager for a bank, as a home for Blount and his wife. Blount never lived in that house, however, because he was offered a considerable amount of money for the home before it was even finished being constructed (Barton, 104th, 3). Blount accepted this offer (and commissioned Griffin for another house for his now-homeless family. He chose to build it on the same street as his last home. Blount himself became a real estate developer, using Griffin for all of the homes he built in the area.

Many houses on the street were built as homes for the families of contractors and builders. These houses were built according to designs in popular magazines at the time. When Griffin’s designs came on the scene, it must have been like a foreign wind blowing through the leaves on the sidewalk. These designs were actually based on a Wright design, “A Fireproof Home for $5,000”, that had been published in Ladies’ Home Journal in 1907 (Barton, 104th, 7). These houses started to sell like hotcakes.

Griffin designed seven houses for Blount before leaving for Australia; he had won the design competition held for the right to design the new capital city, Canberra.

: 104th Place

: An example of a builder’s home

: The Van Nostrand House. 1666 W 104th Place Built in 1910. Harry Van Nostrand, a salesman, rented the house from July 1911 to June 1912, and bought it in 1916.

: The (second) Blount House. 1724 W 104th Place. The house that the Blount family eventually moved into, after selling their first home. Built in 1910.

: The Jenkinson House. 1727 W 104th Place Built in 1913

: The Clarke House. 1731 W 104th Place Built in 1913, commissioned by William N Clarke, built by Tracy Ridge Const Comp, designed by Griffin. Same floor plan as Van Nostrand House, but with slight differences on the outside. Differences include the porch elevation and the lot’s orientation, with the main entrance being on the side rather than the front.

: The Newland House. 1737 W 104th, Built in 1913, sold to Harry Newland, designed by Spencer and Powers. Based on Griffin’s designs a bit, but the wood siding takes more substantial role. Griffin did not design this house, as he had recently won the position to design the new capital of Australia, the city of Canberra.