Wright house auctioned

CHICAGO – A Frank Lloyd Wright house that sat on the market for months was auctioned Tuesday for an undisclosed amount, a real estate company said.

The 1915 house had been on the market for several months and went unsold even as the asking price dropped from $2.5 million to $1.9 million. The owner then took the unusual step of putting the house on the auction block.

Frank Diliberto, senior vice president of Inland Real Estate Auction, would not divulge the sale price of the Prairie-style home, and those who attended the auction signed confidentiality agreements prohibiting them from disclosing it.

But Diliberto said the winning bid was “well in excess” of the $750,000 price at which the bidding began.

Diliberto would not say who bought the four-bedroom home other than to say that the family plans to live there.

The house was designated a Chicago landmark in 1977, and both the city and the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois must sign off on any substantial changes.

The house is one of about 380 Wright homes in the United States.