By
MICHAEL LIPTROT/Block Club Chicago
The West Side’s only single-family home designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright is due for a multimillion-dollar refresh under new ownership after spending years in disrepair.West Side nonprofit Austin Coming Together announced Wednesday that it purchased the J.J. Walser House at 42 N. Central Ave., which Wright designed for the Austin real estate developer for which the home is named.The house, built in 1903 in Wright’s signature Prairie Style, became a city landmark in 1984, but it has sat in deteriorating condition and was the subject of foreclosure proceedings since its longtime owner died in 2019. The nonprofit is now planning to undertake restoration efforts expected to cost millions.“The J.J. Walser House is part of Austin’s story, and we believe its next chapter should be shaped by the people who call this community home,” Darnell Shields, executive director of Austin Coming Together, said in a statement.
The home was previously owned by Hurley and Anne Teague since their 1970 purchase, according to Austin Coming Together. Following Anne Teague’s 2019 death, the property sat vacant for years. Without an heir who could pay for the property’s upkeep, it eventually fell into disrepair.
