Battle heats up over Frank Lloyd Wright cottage facing possible demolition

Owner Vyautus Bickus said he hasn’t agreed to the Frank Lloyd Wright Conservancy’s proposal to move the Booth Cottage

Frank Lloyd Wright and Sherman Booth Cottage
Frank Lloyd Wright and Sherman Booth Cottage

A preservation group is seeking to move a historic Frank Lloyd Wright-designed cottage facing demolition from its current home — but the new owner of the property hasn’t even agreed to the idea.

Earlier this year, an LLC tied to Vyautus Bickus bought the Sherman Booth Cottage in suburban Glencoe for $550,000, and weeks later asked the village for approval to demolish the home.

Now the Frank Lloyd Wright Conservancy is seeking to save the building from the chopping block by moving it off the property, but doesn’t have Bickus’ support for the idea, according to Crain’s.

The conservancy group this week issued a request for proposals to move the cottage from the property in an effort to preserve it. The group has talked with Bickus about moving the home, but so far he has not agreed, according to Crain’s

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Bickus told Crain’s the preservation effort came only after he bought the property, and that conservation-minded groups had every opportunity to buy the home themselves, as it sat on the market for more than a year. Around the time of the sale, Landmarks Illinois added the cottage to its annual list of most endangered historic places.

Bickus, owner of Hoyd Builders, said he has not finalized plans for a new home on the lot, and could even incorporate the home into plans for the property.

Wright designed the cottage at 239 Franklin Street in Glencoe as a temporary home for Sherman and Elizabeth Booth in 1913. It is considered a precursor to Wright’s “system-built houses,” which sought to bring high-minded architecture to affordable housing, according to Crain’s. [Crain’s]Joe Ward