Dec. 16--A four-bedroom house in Highland Park designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright that is at risk of demolition sold on Tuesday for $687,500.
Built in 1906 for rare-book dealer George Madison Millard, the Prairie-style home sits on a 0.66-acre lot just a block from Lake Michigan in east Highland Park and is best known for its 68 original art glass windows. The National Park Service added the house to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The 3,000-square-foot, T-shaped house had languished on the market for more than four and a half years. It first was listed in May 2011 for $1.399 million and underwent a dozen price reductions, including its most recent price cut to $749,000 in September. The house went under contract in October.
Public records do not yet identify the buyer. The sellers, Juan and Claire Montenegro, on Oct. 8 received conditional approval from the Highland Park Historic Preservation Commission to demolish the house. That permission holds even if the house changes hands, meaning that the buyer also would have the right to proceed with razing it, starting in October 2016.
However, listing agent Julie Deutsch told Elite Street on Tuesday night that while she represented only the seller and not the buyers, "to my knowledge, (the new buyers) are keeping it (and not tearing it down), which is great."
Deutsch added that "everyone who's owned (the Millard house) has taken very, very good care of it."
"I love that house," she said. "It's just a beautiful piece of property."
The Millard house is one of three homes Wright designed in Highland Park. The other two still stand.
Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
