WILMETTE, IL — A historic Wilmette bungalow designed by Frank Lloyd Wright sold last month for $635,000. Built in 1915 for Thomas E. Sullivan, the Lewis E. Burleigh House on Gregory Avenue is a rare surviving example of one of Wright’s American Systems-Built homes.
Aiming for affordability, the homes were designed to be built out of pre-cut materials shipped ready to be assembled. They were manufactured in Arthur Richards’ Milwaukee factory, with Wright designing more than 30 variations, according to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
The Gregory Avenue property is one of at least six surviving American System-Built houses in Illinois, with three on the North Shore and two in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood, according to the foundation. Shortages of supplies after the U.S. entered World War I stalled the project, with very few of the homes ever produced.
According to its listing, the…