Ben Rose House, International Style house in Highland Park, Illinois.
The Ben Rose House is a 1950s residence with steel framing and expansive glass walls that hovers on pylons above a natural ravine setting. The structure merges open interior spaces with the surrounding landscape and includes a separate pavilion added later for additional living quarters.
The house was designed in 1953 by architect A. James Speyer, a student of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, for textile artist Ben Rose. A second pavilion was added in 1974, and in 2017 an underground level was incorporated to expand the original layout.
The house appeared in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) after John Hughes chose it through studio executive Ned Tanen, a Ferrari collector and acquaintance of Ben Rose. In the scene, a red 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California crashes through a window of the car pavilion, fitted with sugar glass for the shot.
The Ben Rose House is a private residence in Highland Park, Illinois, and is not open to visitors; it can only be seen from the public street. The steel-and-glass house and the 1974 auto pavilion stand behind a broad gravel forecourt, with trees in the ravine behind them.
In 2017 the owners dug a 15-foot trench beneath the house to create a two-car garage, children's play area, storage space and laundry room; its submerged configuration keeps it almost completely hidden. The adjoining car pavilion was to be used as a guest house or extra space.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,654 contributors worldwide.