Mrs. A. W. Gridley House
Encyclopedia
The Mrs. A. W. Gridley House is a Frank Lloyd Wright
designed Prairie School
home
in Batavia
, Illinois.
This 5100 square feet (473.8 m²) house is on a 2.3 wooded acre lot, set well back from the street. Gridley
met Wright through P. D. Hoyt, owner of the P. D. Hoyt House in nearby Geneva.
The Gridley house was built in 1906. Wright named the house "Ravine House", because of the sloping wildflower ravine to the south of the house. With a low-pitch hip roof, projecting eaves, uninterrupted cedar trim and casement windows, the fourteen room stucco and cypress house is an excellent example of Wright's Prairie School style. The house features include three roman brick
fireplaces, elegant woodwork & built-ins. Wright's plan included a stucco wall surrounding the front wing which has been removed and a barn that was never built.
Gridley had financial problems and only lived in the house a short time. In 1912, the house
was sold to Frank Snow, president of Batavia's Challenge Feed Mill and Wind Mill Company.
Members of the family lived in the house until 1981. The property has been well maintained
and any alterations have been well designed in keeping with the original integrity of the
house.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
designed Prairie School
Prairie School
Prairie School was a late 19th and early 20th century architectural style, most common to the Midwestern United States.The works of the Prairie School architects are usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands,...
home
in Batavia
Batavia, Illinois
Batavia was founded in 1833, and is the oldest city in Kane County, Illinois, with a small portion in DuPage County. During the Industrial Revolution, Batavia became known as ‘The Windmill City’ for being the largest windmill producer of the time...
, Illinois.
This 5100 square feet (473.8 m²) house is on a 2.3 wooded acre lot, set well back from the street. Gridley
met Wright through P. D. Hoyt, owner of the P. D. Hoyt House in nearby Geneva.
The Gridley house was built in 1906. Wright named the house "Ravine House", because of the sloping wildflower ravine to the south of the house. With a low-pitch hip roof, projecting eaves, uninterrupted cedar trim and casement windows, the fourteen room stucco and cypress house is an excellent example of Wright's Prairie School style. The house features include three roman brick
Roman brick
Roman brick can refer either to a type of brick originating in Ancient Rome and spread by the Romans to the lands they conquered; or to a modern type of brick, inspired by the ancient prototypes...
fireplaces, elegant woodwork & built-ins. Wright's plan included a stucco wall surrounding the front wing which has been removed and a barn that was never built.
Gridley had financial problems and only lived in the house a short time. In 1912, the house
was sold to Frank Snow, president of Batavia's Challenge Feed Mill and Wind Mill Company.
Members of the family lived in the house until 1981. The property has been well maintained
and any alterations have been well designed in keeping with the original integrity of the
house.