The glass-walled weekend house designed by Mies van der Rohe in Plano, Illinois, is Farnsworth House.
Farnsworth House was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for Edith Farnsworth, a Chicago physician, as a weekend retreat beside the Fox River. Construction began in 1949, and Farnsworth moved into the completed house in December 1950. It is located near Plano, about 58 miles southwest of Chicago.
The house is a landmark of International Style modernism. Its transparent glass walls, steel frame, raised terraces, and open interior create the impression of a single room suspended above the landscape. A central wood core contains practical elements such as the kitchen, fireplace, bathroom, and mechanical systems, while furniture helps define the living areas.
The design was admired but the project became controversial because costs rose sharply and the building faced flooding, heat, insects, and privacy problems. Farnsworth and Mies eventually sued one another over the dispute. The National Trust for Historic Preservation acquired the property in 2003, and it now operates as a historic house museum. Glass House is a different modernist residence designed by Philip Johnson.