Edith Farnsworth House

10/24/2026

A Closer Look at Mexican Modernist Design at the Edith Farnsworth House:

How did Modernist design evolve across borders?

10/22/2026

🍂🕯️ A little mystery. A little folklore. An unforgettable evening at Farnsworth House.

This Halloween, follow the glow of lanterns along the Fox River and discover the stories woven into the landscape during our All Hallows’ Eve Lantern Walk & Tour on Saturday, October 31, at 4 p.m.

Led by horticultural expert Heather Prince, this atmospheric experience brings to life seasonal tales from Indigenous traditions, Mexican folklore, and European fairy tales inspired by trees, rivers, and the natural world.

Explore the house and Fertile Ground before gathering in the Visitor Center for warm c***r and good company.

🎟️ Reserve your spot: edithfarnsworthhouse.org/events/

Image credit: Cristina Kahlo

10/21/2026

Did you know a piece in Fertile Ground connects directly to Mies van der Rohe?

Michael van Beuren studied under Mies at the Bauhaus in Germany. After the school closed under N**i pressure, van Beuren planned to join Mies in Chicago but instead found himself in Mexico. As curator Ana Elena Mallet explains, the country’s vibrant creative and design culture inspired him to stay and continue his career—with Mies’s blessing.

Today, a chair from van Beuren’s Danish Line is on view inside one of Mies’s most celebrated designs: Edith Farnsworth House.

See this unexpected connection in Fertile Ground: Crossroads of Design in Mid-Century Mexico, on view at Edith Farnsworth House. MUAC Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo

Plan your visit: https://edithfarnsworthhouse.org/visit/

10/20/2026

Fall color is putting on a beautiful show at Edith Farnsworth House! 🍂

Celebrate 75 years of Farnsworth House this Sunday, October 25, at A Fall Garden Party: Celebrating 75 Years. Enjoy an autumn afternoon on the terrace and grounds, explore Fertile Ground, and help support the ongoing preservation and stewardship of this architectural landmark.

Can’t attend? You can still be part of the celebration by bidding in our online silent auction!

🎟️ Event tickets: edithfarnsworthhouse.org/fallgardenparty/

🛍️ Browse the silent auction: givebutter.com/c/fall-garden-party-utm3ke/auction

10/17/2026

🍂 Tomorrow looks like a perfect fall day at Farnsworth House!

Join us Sunday, October 18, from noon–4 p.m. for the Farnsworth Fall Festival! Explore Mies van der Rohe’s architectural masterpiece, shop from more than 20 vendors, grab food and drinks from Two Partners Cafe, and soak up the autumn sunshine and changing colors across our nearly 60-acre landscape along the Fox River.

Make the most of this beautiful fall weather and spend the afternoon with us!

📍 Edith Farnsworth House | Plano, IL
🗓️ Sunday, October 18 | Noon–4 p.m.

🎟️ Plan your visit: edithfarnsworthhouse.org/farnsworthfallfestival/

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10/14/2026

How can tradition shape modern design?

At Edith Farnsworth House, we celebrate the women whose ideas have challenged conventions and shaped the built environment. In Fertile Ground: Crossroads of Design in Mid-Century Mexico, discover the work of Clara Porset, a pioneering designer who looked to Mexico’s material culture to create a distinctly modern design language.

One of Porset’s most well-known designs, Butaque, drew on a form with both pre-Columbian and Spanish influences. She studied its regional variations, structure, and use of materials, then reimagined its proportions and experimented with woven fibers to meet modern needs for comfort. Rather than treating tradition as something fixed in the past, Porset used it as a foundation for innovation.

The result? A design that connects modern living to Mexico’s history, climate, craftsmanship, and sense of place.

See Clara Porset’s work in Fertile Ground at Edith Farnsworth House. MUAC Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo

Plan your visit: edithfarnsworthhouse.org/
Photos 1 and 2: Erin Law
Photo 3: Interior of Juan Sordo Madaleno’s Home, 1952, Archivo Histórico de Sordo Madaleno

10/13/2026

🍂 Fall colors are beginning to arrive at Farnsworth House!

The landscape is turning, and there are plenty of reasons to plan a visit this October.

🍁 Farnsworth Fall Festival | This Sunday, October 18, noon–4 p.m.
Explore more than 20 vendors, enjoy food and drinks from Two Partners Cafe, and wander our nearly 60-acre landscape. Make a day of it at Farnsworth House!

🍂 A Fall Garden Party | Sunday, October 25, 2–5 p.m.
Celebrate 75 years of Edith Farnsworth House with an autumn afternoon on the terrace and grounds, featuring Fertile Ground: Crossroads of Design in Mid-Century Mexico, seasonal refreshments, and our silent auction.

Can't attend the Garden Party? You can still support Farnsworth House by bidding in our silent auction! https://givebutter.com/c/fall-garden-party-utm3ke/auction Every bid helps support this remarkable place and its future.

🍁 Find event details and plan your visit at edithfarnsworthhouse.org/events

10/08/2026

This DAF Day, make a lasting impact at Edith Farnsworth House.

As we celebrate 75 years of Farnsworth House, your support helps ensure this extraordinary place remains preserved, accessible, and relevant for generations to come.

A Donor Advised Fund (DAF) is one way to support that work. By recommending a grant to Edith Farnsworth House, you can help fund preservation, exhibitions, education, landscape stewardship, and the ongoing care of Mies van der Rohe’s masterpiece.

Your DAF gift can help carry Edith Farnsworth House into its next 75 years.

Learn more about giving through a Donor Advised Fund:
edithfarnsworthhouse.org/waystogive/

10/06/2026

🍂 Fall is in full swing at Farnsworth House—and there’s plenty to experience.

From exploring the changing landscape to evening events under the stars, make plans to visit us this October:

🍁 Self-Guided Experience | October 9 | 3-5pm
Explore Farnsworth House and its grounds at your own pace, with a guide nearby to answer questions. Take in the fall colors and experience Fertile Ground: Crossroads of Design in Mid-Century Mexico.

🍂 Farnsworth Fall Festival | October 18 | 12-4pm
Spend the afternoon exploring the grounds, enjoying fall favorites, and shopping from more than 20 vendors.

🌙 Moonlight & Mies | October 24 | 6-8pm
Experience Farnsworth House after dark on a special evening tour.

🍁 A Fall Garden Party | October 25 | 2-5pm
Celebrate 75 years of Farnsworth House with an afternoon among the fall colors, Fertile Ground, food and drinks, and more.

🎃 All Hallows Event: Lantern Walk | October 31 | 4-6pm
End the month with an atmospheric evening walk through the landscape by lantern light.

Make a fall visit to Farnsworth House: edithfarnsworthhouse.org/events/

10/06/2026

It's World Architecture Day.

Architecture shapes how we experience light, landscape, materials, and the spaces we share. At Edith Farnsworth House, Mies van der Rohe’s careful reduction of structure and materials creates an architecture that is both specific to its site and part of a larger modernist conversation that continues around the world.

As we celebrate 75 years of Farnsworth House, we’re looking not only at its place in architectural history, but at the ideas it continues to inspire—and the new perspectives that can emerge from it.