page_title: Plano, Illinois
section_title: The Farnsworth House
hierarchical_section_title: Plano, Illinois / History / The Farnsworth House
caption_attribution_description: Farnsworth House Farnsworth House
context_page_description: Plano is a U.S. city near Aurora in Kendall County, Illinois, with a population of 10,856 at the 2010 census, nearly doubling from its size from 2000. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. The city was home to the Plano Harvester Company in the late nineteenth century, as well as the Plano Molding Company more recently. In 2011, downtown Plano was used as a set for Man of Steel.
context_section_description: Master Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe had worked on a retreat for Dr. Edith Farnsworth, a doctor from Chicago, whose complicated relationship with the architect soured the project. Cost overruns as well as questions on the house's actual usefulness led to a lawsuit between the two parties, with van der Rohe winning the suit.  In later years, the County Board decided to buy some of Farnsworth's land in order to straighten Fox River Drive (Ben Street in Plano), which would need a new bridge as well. Farnsworth pleaded her case to the County Board, citing evidence that the Board would be doing construction on an old Indian Site, but to no avail.  The road was straightened and the new bridge built; however, to this day, the old bridge piers are still visible. Around the same time, Silver Springs State Park and Wildlife Area was designated, down the road and across the river from Farnsworth's house, forever protecting the land from development.
caption: The Farnsworth House in July 2011
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