Walter Gale House

The Walter Gale House is a Queen Anne style residence in Oak Park featuring steep roof pitches, polygonal dormers, and wood clapboard siding on a stone base. Inside, a central fireplace services multiple rooms while diamond-pane leaded glass windows appear throughout the home.

The house was designed in 1893 by Frank Lloyd Wright as his first independent project after leaving the Adler and Sullivan architectural firm. It emerged during a period of major transformation in American residential design.

The house shows how Queen Anne style was evolving in Oak Park during the 1890s, mixing traditional features with new ideas that would shape local residential design for years to come.

Visiting allows you to observe the interior room arrangement and crafted details like the leaded glass windows up close. A sunny day is ideal for seeing how light filters through the colored panes and highlights the architectural features.

This home was one of three houses Wright designed while employed at Adler and Sullivan, breaking the firm's policy against outside commissions. These early works revealed his emerging approach to residential design that would later gain wider recognition.

Location: Oak Park

Inception: 1893

Architects: Frank Lloyd Wright

Architectural style: Queen Anne style architecture

Address: 1031 West Chicago Avenue

GPS coordinates: 41.89389,-87.80167

Latest update: December 8, 2025 19:59