In 1937, a most unusual building made its debut about a mile north
of Chicago’s Loop. It was built of white brick, quite rare for this gritty city.
It was called organic rather than functional by its architects, an almost
preposterous statement for the time. And it combined old-style stained glass with futuristic glass block to create a style that — at the very least — confounded critics.

The streamlined Frank F. Fisher Apartments did not go unnoticed. The Chicago Tribune, which published its model, hailed it as Chicago’s first air-conditioned apartment building. Architectural Forum, which stated that it was built in no recognizable style, declared: “It would be hard to carry romantic eclecticism any farther.”

For most, the building was born with no direct ancestors; it evinced a wash of Art Deco or Art Moderne, Expressionism, even Russian Constructivist influences. But it was firmly planted as the terminus of a short line of four remarkable homes built over a ten-year stretch on Chicago’s North Side.

The homes were all handmade, crafted by an artist named Edgar Miller and architect Andrew N. Rebori. Miller was the guiding force behind the first three homes. He put them together piece-by-piece, like a sculptor, creating what he called “total art environments.” Rebori served as Miller’s consulting architect, but as Rebori admitted years later, he was consulted “damned little.”