Mrs. A. W. Gridley House (Ravine House)
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Location: | 605 North Batavia Road, Batavia, Illinois |
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Area: | 5,100 sq ft (470 m2) |
Built: | 1906 |
Architect: | Frank Lloyd Wright |
Architectural style: | Prairie School |
Governing body: | Private |
NRHP Reference#: | 92001850[1] |
Added to NRHP: | February 3, 1993 |
The Mrs. A. W. Gridley House is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed Prairie School home in Batavia, Illinois.
This 5,100-square-foot (470 m2) house is on a 2.3 wooded acre lot, set well back from the street. Gridley met Wright through P. D. Hoyt, owner of the P. D. Hoyt House in nearby Geneva. The Gridley house was built in 1906. Wright named the house "Ravine House", because of the sloping wildflower ravine to the south of the house. With a low-pitch hip roof, projecting eaves, uninterrupted cedar trim and casement windows, the fourteen room stucco and cypress house is an excellent example of Wright's Prairie School style. The house features include three roman brick fireplaces, elegant woodwork & built-ins. Wright's plan included a stucco wall surrounding the front wing which has been removed and a barn that was never built.
Gridley had financial problems and only lived in the house a short time. In 1912, the house was sold to Frank Snow, president of Batavia's Challenge Feed Mill and Wind Mill Company. Members of the family lived in the house until 1981. The property has been well maintained and any alterations have been well designed in keeping with the original integrity of the house.