{"nrhp_refnum":"04000867","name":"Farnsworth House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"14520 River Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Plano","county":"Kendall County","state":"IL","lat":41.63500120200007,"lon":-88.53573377199996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-10-07","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"2006-02-17","areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-story steel-and-glass house on the Fox River floodplain south of Plano, Kendall County, Illinois, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and completed in 1951 as a country retreat for Dr. Edith Farnsworth.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is nationally significant under Criterion C as a leading example of modernist domestic architecture and a refined work of Mies van der Rohe. It reduces a dwelling to minimal structure and maximum transparency, erasing the boundary between interior and exterior. It is also described as one of the most significant works in Mies's career, alongside the Barcelona Pavilion and the Seagram Building.","narrative":"Raised just over five feet above the Fox River floodplain south of Plano, Illinois, this one-story house consists of a white-painted steel frame holding floor and roof planes, enclosed by floor-to-ceiling glass. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed it for Dr. Edith Farnsworth beginning in 1945, and it was completed in 1951. Eight exterior steel columns support the slabs, and a central core holds the kitchen and bathrooms, leaving the rest of the interior open. Travertine floors, primavera wood partitions and plaster ceilings complete the limited palette. A separate terrace is offset from the main volume. The house was restored in 1972 and again after a 1996 flood, and a later landscape redesign extended the lawn. A garage, boathouse and pool are later additions that do not contribute to its significance. It was listed for its architectural importance as a pure statement of modernist ideas and as a major work by Mies van der Rohe, with 1951 as its period of significance.","period_of_significance":"1951","architect_builder":"Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig","architectural_style":"International Style; Other: Miesian","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used as a single dwelling; restored in 1972 and again after a 1996 flood. A garage, boathouse and pool on the property are non-contributing.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.158353-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/58/8932/28893258/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/04000867.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000867/008928a96c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000867/008928a96c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Victor Grigas","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Farnsworth_House_by_Mies_Van_Der_Rohe_-_exterior-8.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Victor Grigas</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Farnsworth_House_by_Mies_Van_Der_Rohe_-_exterior-8.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893258","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farnsworth_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1397013"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/kendall-county/farnsworth-house-04000867/"}