The Francis W. Little home was built and designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1903. The home is designed in the %u201Cprairie%u201D style that Wright is famous for, with uniquely angular forms and built-in bookshelves and kitchen shelves. Wright was an authoritarian sort of man, designing everything in the home from the furniture to the gardens and sometimes even the clothes for the lady of the house. The current owner, Ruth Swardenski has tried to keep the home exactly as Wright would have liked. She has incorporated the earth colors and nature elements, which Wright loved.

The Swardenski%u2019s are the latest of several owners. Francis Little, the original owner, was a Chicago attorney and friend of Wright%u2019s. When Little moved to Peoria at the turn of the century, he asked Wright to build a house for him, a home that ended up costing $14,000. Little lived in the house for only a short time before moving to Minnesota. He sold the house to Robert Clarke who in turn sold it to a chicken rancher, Frank Foster in 1919. Foster sold it to Charles and Laura Buehler less than 10 years later. The Swardenski%u2019s bought the house through a real estate agent and lived there for more than twenty years. Since purchasing the home, Ruth has visited many of the Wright%u2019s famous designs and spent much time learning about Wright and his buildings.