205 Essex Road is Kenilworth’s only residence designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Built for Hiram and Agnes Baldwin, the home fully embodies the Prairie style. 205 Essex Road has a strong horizontal emphasis with its low-pitched hipped roof, flat overhanging eaves, exterior wood stripping, and bands of casement windows. One signature Wright feature showcased in the home is the concealed entrance. In 1983, the home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Similar Centennial Homes: 240 Essex Road (1911) by Tallmadge and Watson and 304 Melrose Avenue by George Maher (c. 1914)
326 Essex Road was built for Frank and Harriet Elizabeth Root in 1896. Frank Root was a music publisher whose brother, Walter Root, also lived in Kenilworth. In 1900, A. Shreeve Badger, a lumber merchant, and Sarah Frances Cowles Badger moved into the residence. The Badgers kept horses and a donkey on the property. In 1992, the home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
326 Essex Road was designed in the Classical Revival style, which gained popularity following its prominent use in the White City of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Inspired by classical Greek and Roman architecture, Classical Revival homes feature symmetrical facades with a central entrance and low-pitched or flat roofs. The entryway often includes a pediment, portico, or a porch. The homes are adorned with columns, pilasters, balustrades, and other classical detailing.
The Kenilworth Historical Society holds original architectural drawings of the house, which include an inscription at the bottom that reads: “The Franklin Burnham Co. Architects, Chicago, ILL.” Although a few secondary sources attribute the design to Daniel Burnham, the renowned Chicago architect, it is more likely that Franklin Burnham was the actual architect of the home. The two are of no relation.
Similar Centennial Home: 236 Cumnor Road (c. 1905)
205 Essex, 1905
211 Essex, 1924
226 Essex, 1926
236 Essex, 1925
239 Essex, 1905
240 Essex, 1911
312 Essex, 1899
319 Essex, 1909
326 Essex, 1893
331 Essex, 1905
336 Essex, 1895
337 Essex, 1900
423 Essex, 1893
430 Essex, 1908
431 Essex, 1895
514 Essex, 1897
515 Essex, 1895
522 Essex, 1904
523 Essex, 1905
545 Essex, 1922
605 Essex, 1921
610 Essex, 1922
614 Essex, 1921
615 Essex, 1924