ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) – There are plans to open a visitors’ center in Rockford for the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Laurent House, which opened as a museum four years ago.
The Rockford Register Star reports the Laurent House Foundation plans to renovate dilapidated properties across the street from the home. It will offer a visitors’ center, gift shop and restrooms and have offices and parking. Private donations are funding the $500,000 project. An estimated 2,000 people toured the home last year and it has attracted visitors from Australia, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
The 2,600-square-foot Laurent House is on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s the only house Wright designed specifically for someone with disabilities. It was built in 1951 and 1952.
The foundation on Monday won approval from the Rockford City Council to annex the properties and grant a special use permit.
