Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the Farnsworth House was built between 1945 and 1951. It is a one-room weekend retreat in what then was a rural setting, south of the city of Plano, Illinois. The steel and glass house was commissioned by Edith Farnsworth, a prominent Chicago nephrologist, as a place where she could engage in her hobbies — playing the violin, translating poetry, and enjoying nature.