THE FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT TOUR

                    

Avery Coonley Playhouse

350 Fairbanks Road

Riverside, Illinois 60546

After designing the Avery Coonley House for the Coonley family in 1908, Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Avery Coonley Playhouse a few blocks away in 1912. As with most Frank Lloyd Wright structures, the house is incredibly modern for its time. Approaching one hundred years old, the Avery Coonley Playhouse doesn't look a day over fifty! Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Coonley Playhouse as a kindergarten for the Coonley's daughter and other neighborhood children. The art glass windows of the Coonley Playhouse feature one of Frank Lloyd Wright's most well known designs with a pattern based on balloons and confetti, very festive for the intended use of the structure. The windows of the Coonley Playhouse are now all replicas, the originals having been removed in the middle of the 20th century. Many of  the originals can be seen in museums, such as the Art Institute which prominently displays one of the Coonley Playhouse windows near its main entrance. The colored side of the art glass windows face the inside of the house, while the outsides that face the exterior are white.