Robie House

Robie House, located in Chicago and built in 1906, is probably the best known of all Frank Lloyd Wright’s (1867 – 1959) residences. As far as American garages, it’s the number one ground level attached garage, and in 1906 it was a new feature for a home.

To put the year in perspective with what Wright had in mind for this attached space, 1906 was also the same year that Ford Motor Company overtook Olds, Buick and Cadillac to become the #1 auto maker in the U.S., producing 8,729 cars. However, Frank obviously knew Henry was on to something. He not only attached a garage to one of his homes he did so two full years before Ford would introduce the Model T that went on to produce 15 million examples between the introduction year of 1908 and the final Model T year of 1927.

Fabyan Forest Preserve

Early 1900’s garages also included the eccentric Colonel George Fabyan’s garage hard by Rt. 31 in Geneva, IL. Colonel Fabyan’s garage was on the grounds of his 300 acre estate along the Fox River, lingering somewhere between Batavia and Geneva, Illinois. The garage is currently owned by the Kane County Forest Preserve District. It was spared the wrecking ball in 2005, and is in need of approximately $350,000 of restoration work. One thing that will not be restored is the giant turntable used to always have the Colonel’s cars headed out. The turntable was believed to have stopped working while Colonel Fabyan and his wife lived on the estate.

Kootenai Lodge

Bet the people of Northwest Montana would enjoy displaying bumper stickers that read “Leaving Montana… Take a Developer”. Between 1905 and 1925 the copper kings that would eventually form Anaconda Copper built an idyllic mountain hideaway for their families to use during the hot summer months, in Big Fork, MT. What began as a simple fishing camp soon grew into a grand lodge: 14 rustic cabins, a 31 stall barn for thoroughbred horses, polo grounds, and a six-car garage for the families fleet of Pierce Arrow and Dusenberg limousines.

The main lodge was designed by Kirtland Cutter, the architect of the Lake McDonald Lodge in Glacier National Park just a few miles North of the Kootenai Lodge

Unfortunately a developer has started mucking up the grounds in the past year. The lodge is still there but several out buildings have been changed. There have been numerous efforts by local and national groups, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation, to prevent what the Historic Trust deemed for their 2006 list as one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. Local word is the new residences have not received much interest from buyers and the
pace of development has slowed.