Exclusive | Rare Frank Lloyd Wright home in Chicago asks $350K

A foreclosed-upon masterpiece crafted by a celebrated American architect hit the Chicago real estate market this week.

The J. J. Walser Jr. House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1903, is on sale for just $350,000.

The catch? It’s a complete wreck.

The Chicago home is one of just five surviving Wright designed in the Windy City, and it’s Wright’s only single-family design on the city’s West Side. It’s also a coveted early example of Wright’s revolutionary Prairie-style architecture.

The six-bedroom home spans 3,235 square feet, according to the listing. Its unique design includes wide eaves, custom built-in furniture and Wright’s iconic art glass windows.

The city landmark last sold in 1970 to Anne and Hurley Teague. Hurley, a contractor, kept the home in tip-top shape until his death in 1997. The death of Anne in 2019 left the century-old home abandoned and vulnerable to Chicago’s brutal winters.

It entered into foreclosure in 2023, and inched towards collapse in the meantime, falling victim to water damage (Wright’s designs have a notorious leaking problem), vandalism and decay.

The neglect got so dire that the home was placed on Preservation Chicago’s annual list of the city’s most endangered architectural treasures in 2025. Local and architectural nonprofits used their own funds — and pro-bono contractors — to board up Walser’s doors and windows, and clean up the overgrown yard.

The foreclosing lender, PHH Mortgage, was compelled by the court to undertake urgent repairs to the stabilize the home, which consisted of covering it with tarps to halt water damage.

The home emerged from foreclosure in December. The ownership formally transferred from PHH Mortgage to Fannie Mae in early January.

Wright, arguably America’s most respected architect, pioneered uniquely American architectural styles throughout the early 20th century. His designs were strikingly modern for their time, yet timeless in their craftmanship. Despite Wright’s status as a starchitect, many of his homes were sculpted for everyday Americans for relatively affordable prices.

The Walser house was commissioned by printing executive Joseph Jacob Walser for the modest equivalent of $150,000 today. The home exemplifies Wright’s early Prairie style, characterized by strong horizontal lines, low-pitched roofs with deep overhands and earthy materials.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.