The Glesner House is in Chicago, Illinois and was built to look strong but welcoming. This house, in contrast to Richardson’s other works is much more conservative. The design uses mostly squares instead of curves or circles. There is only one arch and it is flush with the rest of the structure and there are no turrets. The design is hardly ornate and the face of the house is practically two dimensional. It is said Richardson chose this design to symbolize a fortress to “protection to its inhabitants against the growing unrest” of the Gilded Age (Architecture.org).

http://www.architecture.org/learn/resources/buildings-of-chicago/building/glessner-house/