1952 - Mies van der Rohe completes McCormick House

Famous architect Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) completed a house for Robert McCormick at 299 Prospect Avenue in Elmhurst in 1952. Robert McCormick’s family owned the land in Chicago on which Mies had built his recent project at 860-880 Lake Shore Drive. The Lake Shore Drive apartments served for Mies as the starting point for the McCormick House. He wanted to experiment with the design of the tall skyscrapers in the format of a one-story single family home, so the frame and windows of the McCormick House were made identical to those of 860-880 Lake Shore Drive. Robert McCormick and his wife used the house as a vacation home for nine years.