NATURE & CULTURE: Revelation and Inspiration at Edith Farnsworth House

Edith Farnsworth House has become known internationally for its modern architecture, but little attention has been given to the land surrounding it – which has a rich and engaging history beginning centuries before the house was conceived.

When Edith Farnsworth acquired the site in 1945, she was aware of its recent past as the Chicago Tribune Experimental Farms owned by Colonel Robert R. McCormick, but it wasn’t until the 1960s that she investigated the Indigenous History of the site. The home’s second owner, Peter Palumbo, was keenly interested in the “American Indian” and “Pioneer Settlement” histories of the site (terms in use during the 1970s-1990s) – which added to the lore surrounding his use and development of the property as a rural retreat and artistic haven.

Since the early nineteenth century land survey imposed boundaries that did not previously exist, National Trust staff continue to study our site history in larger physical and social contexts. More recently, as part of the National Trust’s contemporary focus to “Tell the Full American Story,” a Cultural Landscape Report (Bachrach and Teska, 2022) and an Archaeological Report (Graff, 2022) began to reveal a multicultural history of tribal occupation from prehistory through the early-nineteenth century; a “first wave” of Mexican seasonal laborers dating back to World War I; and the steady increase in African American residents since the time of Spanish and French occupation in the 1500s-1700s.

During the late nineteenth century, Plano and the Fox River environs were considered a “beauty spot,” attracting travelers and new residents – including several gentleman farmers and weekend cottagers. No doubt Edith Farnsworth was aware of the area’s rural character and natural scenery when, in 1944, she discovered the site of her future weekend house. Arguably, she was the first to preserve a portion of the McCormick land holdings as a nature retreat, purchasing additional land in 1962, followed by the acquisition of the remaining McCormick lands by the State of Illinois during the late 1960s.

Peter Palumbo improved the nearly 60-acre Farnsworth site, adding naturalistic landscaping and sculpture – and opening a visitor center in 1996. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, Palumbo also purchased farmland north of Plano to slow the pace of development and help preserve Plano’s smalltown charm.

Like the house itself, the Farnsworth site continues to inspire, educate, and engage – as a site for history, the arts, and nature. A complex of designed, natural, and agrarian landscapes, it conveys a sense of the rural Midwest to visitors from around the world. Indeed, the now-famous house would not exist if the site hadn’t first inspired Edith Farnsworth and her architect, Mies van der Rohe, and later Peter Palumbo and the many artists and guests who gathered there in the last decades of the twentieth century.

As we celebrate our 20^th anniversary of opening Farnsworth to the public, NATURE & CULTURE will include tours, exhibitions, programs, and events representing diverse cultural perspectives and generating new information about, and connections to, the land. We hope the site’s many histories and natural treasures will be revealed and will continue to inspire you!