America's Favorite Architecture

this is a really BAD photo. does not do this place justice

went thru the Robiein the 90's. The picture appears to be of the side of the house, not the front; and I agree, it does not do justice to this wonderful structure!!.. Incidentally, Mr Robie only lived there for and short while and eventually declared bankruptcy !!....

With its long cantilevered roof overhangs, horizontal bands of art glass doors/casement windows (174 in total), stark geometric massing of limestone/roman brick, and continuous flow of interior space, FLW's Robie House is unquestionably the definitive example of the Prairie Style of architecture.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust (who also manage FLW's home and studio in Oak Park, IL) is presently undertaking a $4 million fund-raising campaign to complete the restoration of this masterpiece to its original 1910 condition. Log onto www.wrightplus.org for more info on how you can become intimately involved in the restoration and also for tour times and reservations. The Robie House is open for tours every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.
This photo is a worm's eye perspective of the famous view FLW immortalized in the Wasmuth Portfolio. It is NOT the back side of the building, but rather the front (west) and right-hand (south) sides.

the Robie house is well worth a visit. although most photos emphasize the dramatic cantilevered roof, the sublety of the interior spaces must be experienced. Wright computed all the angles of the roofs, windows, and balconies, to provide maximum light but yet privacy from the street. In addition the golden/tan glow of the interior created by the stained glass and natural woods is well worth attempting to emulate, even today.

While I agree that a poor Image was picked... you have to realize that many Wright houses are difficult to photograph. robie has behind it a lovely [not!] concrete box apartment building, rendering the front view almost impossible to use. When you visit the house, your brain simply screens the environs that detract. The view linked below, I believe is a good one, with the other buildings obscured by trees, while giving a feel for the scope of the house. If you are ever in Chicago metro you owe it to yourself to see them all, esp. the concentration in Oak Park [this doesn't incl. Robie, btw]

Robie from OU.edu

I highly recommend visiting before they finish the rennovation. you can see a lot of the buidling's insides and structure. Fascinating stuff. This should be higher on the list, of course.

what's amazing is what you don't see in this photo, the very complicated steel structure that makes these impossible cantilevers work!
I think this is Wright's masterpiece