The S. B. and Lestine Fuller House in Robbins, Illinois, is an ultramodern binuclear residence completed in 1958. Fuller at the time was regarded as America’s wealthiest African American entrepreneur who had made his fortune in cosmetics. He commissioned his house from Elmer Carlson, one of Chicago’s mid-20th-century architects. Carlson died during design development and the project was completed by his son, Richard Carlson. Their design represented a compromise between the Moderne tastes of the elder architect and the more Wrightian sensibility of the younger. Once a showplace featured in Ebony magazine (1959) and because of Fuller’s prominence a major component of the U.S.A.’ s African American heritage the house deteriorated while languishing on the real estate market for some eight years when an anonymous donor purchased the property and presented it to the Robbins History Museum. Since the current condition of the house makes restoration unlikely, the Museum aims instead to conserve parts of the house while renovating the structure for its own use.
About the presenterAlfred Willis
Alfred Willis is an independent scholar in the Nashville, Tennessee, area. His current research includes work on Southern Modernism and the architectural history of the American community mausoleum.