About Grace Bagley

Grace Hodges Bagley (1860-1944) was an important social reformer, suffragette, author, and early client of Frank Lloyd Wright, whose life and contributions have largely been forgotten. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Grace Hodges moved with her family to Chicago’s fashionable Prairie Avenue neighborhood during her childhood. In 1885, she married Frederick Phillips Bagley (1860-1933), the nephew of a Michigan governor. 

The young couple settled on the Near South Side, near Grace’s parents, and Frederick Bagley established himself as dealer in architectural marble. Between 1886 and 1892, Grace and Frederick Bagley had three children—Frederick Jr., Almeda, and Elizabeth. 

The Bagleys became active members of All Souls Church, the Unitarian congregation founded in Chicago by Jenkin Lloyd Jones, Frank Lloyd Wright’s uncle.  Family connections were important to the young architect, as he was then launching his own solo practice. The Bagleys shared Jenkin Lloyd Jones’s and Wright’s Progressive point of view. 

Like many like many other wealthy late-nineteenth century Chicagoans, the couple wanted to escape from the city during the summer months. In 1893, Grace and Frederick Bagley hired Wright to design a summer home in Hinsdale, Illinois for their young family.  This project would be one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s earliest independent commissions.