Emil Bach House  The Emil Bach House is a Prairie style house in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States that was designed by famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The house was built in 1915 for an admirer of Wright's work, Emil Bach. Bach was co-owner of the Bach Brick Company. The house is representative of Wright's late Prairie style and is an expression of his creativity from a period just before his work shifted stylistic focus. The Bach House was declared a Chicago Landmark on September 28, 1977, and was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on January 23, 1979. On December 5, 1914, Emil Bach and his wife Anna purchased the site of the Bach House from Amelia Ludwick and her husband. In 1915 Bach commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design the house. Joseph Peacock purchased the house from the Bachs in 1934 and owned it until 1947. The property changed hands twice in 1951; the final sale was in December to Manuel Weiss who held the property until 1959. That year he sold the house to Joseph Blinder. In 2003, Toulabi put the home up for sale with a price of US$2.5 million, it was later listed at $1.9 million. The house lingered on the market for months before it was finally put up for auction with a starting bid of $750,000, less than a third of the original asking price. Factors contributing to the slow market for the Wright designed landmark included the restrictive nature of local landmark ordinances which prevent owners from making significant alterations without prior approval. The Rogers Park neighborhood changed from a once quiet lake front, country area to a busy street, which also contributed to the sluggish demand for the house. Preservationists expressed concern surrounding the auction and the question of the final destiny for the expansive 45 ft (13.72 m) by 150 ft (45.72 m) side yard. The yard is zoned "RT-4" which, among other residential uses, allowed bidders the option to develop high rise apartments or condominiums. When the home finally sold at auction, "well above the opening bid of $750,000," the new owners revealed that they intended to live in the house and preserve the yard. In 2009, according to Crain's Chicago, James Pritzker paid $1.7 million to acquire the house. "The seller, Jane Elizabeth Feerer, bought the famous architect’s Prairie-style home at a 2005 auction for $1.17 million.