Avery Coonley Estate

Tim · Post by **Tim** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 6:10 pm

Is the house mostly livable?

Does it have views of the river?

How much would it cost to have a qualified architect put together a study and plan for stabilizing, rehabilitating and restoring the house? Rough number...

Thank you

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 7:35 pm

RG, okay, thanks for correcting me on that. I definitely would not want to continue in that mistake. I need to study this project and thread for a time before more questions. Again thanks.

Mod mom · Post by **Mod mom** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:10 pm

Tim,
Realtor.com shows the house as "contingent" and no longer "active" so it must be in contract but the sale hasn't been finalized yet. Sometimes these properties are priced low to encourage bidding wars.

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Sun Feb 23, 2014 7:32 am

But that room does remind me of Fallingwater. The low ceiling height and the surrounding glass I think.
The dust cover on M3! Never knew about that either. I have always specially admired that photograph and assumed it was Wright's work.

Roderick Grant · Post by **Roderick Grant** » Sun Feb 23, 2014 3:25 pm

This is why we need a tome on Coonley, specifically. For such a major opus, there's too little published about its history, chronology of alterations, too few photos recording the project in its entirety, too much guessing about things that should be known. Coonley is as important as Robie and deserves as much attention.

Paul Ringstrom · Post by **Paul Ringstrom** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 12:56 pm

Frank Lloyd Wright's Coonley House: Story of a Masterpiece
by Dean Eastman
http://www.amazon.com/Frank-Lloyd-Wrigh ... an+eastman

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 1:30 pm

Whoa!
On my list.

jim · Post by **jim** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 4:49 pm

Somewhere I have read, in I believe an on-line article on either Henry Feuermann or George Niedecken, that the first owners after the Coonleys "found the house, almost unbelievably, too small" and were responsible for the complete reconfiguration and expansion of the bed room wing. This would have been in the teens, far earlier than when the property was split in the '50s. The assumption was that William Drummond was the architect, as he had worked for QFC on Thorncroft across the street, and presumably worked on the original house for FLLW. Since the balcony on the new master bedroom (now living room of the south wing) matches the balcony that was a subsequent addition on the (original) living room, one might surmise the living room and playroom revisions would also be Drummond.

Yes, there is research to be done, I suspect, in excess of what the current owner has written.

Roderick Grant · Post by **Roderick Grant** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 12:33 pm

If the large addition at the south end was taken on by the second owner, then it was after the remodeling which converted the living room planter into a balcony and the play room windows into French doors, plus the addition of the trellis across the terrace ... all of which was done in stages. That work was done by FLW while the Coonleys were still in residence. There is an article by Robert Sweeney in the Nov/Dec 1978 issue of Thomas Heinz's FLW Newsletter with photos of the Coonley children mounting a play on the remodeled terrace (with the pool drained and arranged to accomodate an audience).

The earlier alteration date for the master bedroom makes sense, since that sort of refined work would hardly have been done in the 50s. William Drummond also makes sense, since he was best suited for the job of making an addition that seamlessly blends with the original.

Oak Park Jogger · Post by **Oak Park Jogger** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 1:37 pm

Eastman's book is $39.95 at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio. . . . .

jfkaestnerjr · Post by **jfkaestnerjr** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 9:57 am

Roderick Grant wrote:The bedroom with the blue walls (9, 10) is the middle one with bath (13) just north of the old master. (It appears bath 11 was added; I can't match it to any of the originals.) The small room with the fireplace (eight) is the ground floor sewing room, which is the main entrance of the new unit (15). The new master is a combination of the two guest rooms in the wing bridging the driveway (3,4). The kitchen (7) and dining area (6) occupy the north bedroom and study, with a new fireplace at the north end, as shown by the addition of a chimney visible in the aerial view, next to the fire wall.

You may be correct, but after studying the floor plan posted here and the real estate listing it does not appear that the original layout was altered that radically.

According to Mr. Eastmanâ€™s interview with Chicago Magazine, QFCâ€™s study is part of the other residence and is used as a third bedroom.

Looking at the photo of the blue room, you can just see through a tiled room into another (purple?) room, so I would surmise that these are the two original childrenâ€™s rooms and their shared bath.

The dimensions and photo of the current master bedroom that appear in the listing would not make it large enough to be the entire guest wing. It does appear to be that room at the end of the guest wing, which would lead me to conclude that the original guest bath is the now used as the master bath.

Based on the dimensions the office, which was not photographed for the listing, would probably have been QFCâ€™s dressing room. There is what I believe to be a photo of this room, with its excellent cabinetry, in a photo with a Lyne Bryant watermark on the web.

This leaves quite a few rooms to fit into the former master bedroom, and one guest room, but suggests that the early edition that eliminated the master balcony was much larger than it first appears.

Again, based on the photos from the listing, Iâ€™d conclude that the dining room occupies the original master bedroom, and features its, possibly altered fireplace. The living room, which was also featured in a Lyne Bryant watermarked photo, occupies the addition. The near guest room would have been converted to the kitchen.

The bathroom you do not recognize may be the original master bath reconfigured without a pass-through to the first childrenâ€™s bedroom, or possible just one on the ground floor. As for the second chimney against the firewall, my only guess would be that it was added to vent a boiler when the house was divided.

Forest · Post by **Forest** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 10:50 am

There is bad news regarding this property:

http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/7- ... Riverside/

bryannc · Post by **bryannc** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 3:04 pm

Very interesting article. Even more interesting, how can anyone get a clean title without owning a great deal of their windows? What is the story behind all this? Is that part of the reason why the house is listed in such a low price without a taker for so long? Can someone fill in the blanks here for the readers?

Thank you very much.

DRN · Post by **DRN** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 4:24 pm

The leaded glass windows in question were deeded to the FLWBC by an owner of the house to prevent them from being removed and sold by a subsequent owner. This is a condition called a preservation easement.
This should have no effect on value if the potential buyer wants the building as a home or work of art...if the potential buyer wants to do a tear down or strip the windows out for profit, the easement is a deterrent.

bryannc · Post by **bryannc** » Fri Aug 01, 2014 5:12 pm

Thank you DRN. I understand the concept and the need for protecting those windows. Did the current owner actually receive the $390,000 a decade ago? If that is the case, the current and future owner do not and will not own those windows, no matter what their intentions are. Who is responsible for repairing those windows if they are damaged? Should those information be disclosed in the sale?