Servants' Wing
September 2008


The servants’ bath is being restored to a functioning bathroom after years of being used as an office. The room, with its newly repaired floor, conserved wood trim and restored walls, awaits the return of its windows and bath fixtures. 
Collection of the FLWPT.

Frank Lloyd Wright designed the 9,000-square-foot Robie House with almost one third of its floor space devoted to the servants’ living and working quarters. While the Victorian house relegated servants to cramped attic or basement quarters, Wright brought them to the main floor of the house, building them small but comfortable rooms, adorned with art glass windows and separated by a full bathroom. While the servants’ wing is being restored to its original configuration, the two servant bedrooms and sitting room will be used as offices by the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust staff.

In the servants’ wing, restoration progress includes stripping of paint from all plaster and conserving all the wood. The plaster walls are now the original brownish gold color. The oak floors have been patched, stripped of old varnish and then stained to match the original stain. Window frames are being stabilized and the artglass conserved. The servants’ bathroom is in the process of being returned to its original configuration.