Designed in 1890 by Chicago architect Louis Sullivan, known as the "Father of the Skyscraper," and his young draftsman Frank Lloyd Wright, this was the vacation home of James Charnley and later Fredrick Norwood, both Chicago lumber magnates. The house's strong horizontal lines, open floor plan, and lavish use of glass to erase barriers between the interior and exterior were precursors of ideas that revolutionized 20th century American architecture. Norwood named the estate Bon Silene for its rose gardens.