Original Owner:	Frank Thomas
Address:	210 Forest Ave.
Architect:	Frank Lloyd Wright
Year Built:	1901
	The Thomas house is the first Prairie house Wright designed in Oak Park.  It is also the first of Wright's homes with an above ground basement; the family living quarters are on the second and third floors, with servants quarters and support areas on the first.  Other classic Prairie features include the low, wide praire chimney, low pitched hipped roof, wide overhanging eaves, and bands of windows.  Like many other of Wright's Prairie houses, the entrance is circuitous – after passing through the entrance arch a flight of stairs to the left leads up to a landing, then another flight of stairs leads to the entrance at the second level.  The room extending out toward Forest avenue is the dining room; the living room extends north towards an open terrace.  Wright deliberately omitted windows looking south, towards the Emerson Ingalls rowhouses next door - he preferred to offer a view of Henry Austin's lush, naturalistic lot across Forest. The home was commissioned by James Rogers as a wedding present for his daughter and son in law, Susan and Frank Thomas.  It was built on the site of the Grace Episcopal Church, which was relocated to Lake Street in 1901.  It is one of the few buildings constructed during Wright's brief partnership with Webster Tomlinson (1901-1902).  In 1922, the owners commissioned an addition by Talmedge and Watson at the rear of the building, designed with similar materials and styling to the original house.  In 1936 the Thomas' applied for a building permit to cover the exterior walls with wood shingles; this was probably due to the constant costly maintenance that the original stucco exterior required.  The house was restored to its original appearance in the mid 1970's, see the restoration page for more details.
	More pictures
	Pre-restoration photo of this home