About Anita Willets Burnham Log House
Historic Architecture, Architecture, Interesting Places, Other Buildings And Structures
The Anita Willets Burnham Log House, located at 1140 Willow Rd. in the Crow Island Woods of Winnetka, Illinois, United States, was the home and studio of artist and author Anita Willets-Burnham. The log house, which is 2 1/2 stories tall and made of hand-hewn, squared oak logs, was built approximately 1836 on a farmstead in south central Winnetka. In 1917, Willets-Burnham purchased the house and moved it to 1401 Tower Road in northwest Winnetka; she placed an addition on the home in the same year. Willets-Burnham was a prominent painter whose work was based on Impressionism and realism, and she often painted outdoors; in fact, she discovered the log house while on a painting expedition. She continued her artistic career until the 1930s, when she became a writer and authored Round the World on a Penny, an account of her travels in the 1920s. Willets-Burham lived in the cabin until her death in 1956.
