At that home, now a contributing property to the U.S. federally Registered Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District, Roberts and his wife raised their two children Margaret and Elmer C.

After the office moved to 82 West Washington Street in Chicago in 1912 Roberts' son, Elmer, began to work in the practice as a draftsman until he left for architectural school in 1913.

[6] In 1930 the pair designed the Borden Dairy Building on Vincennes Road in Blue Island, Illinois in the Art Deco style.

His residential work began to adapt a more horizontal emphasis, featuring broad windows, hip roofs, wide eaves and large pier-supported porches dominating the front facade.

Many of Roberts' early 20th century residential works are of this type, commonly following the stock American Foursquare plan with wood-trimmed stucco exteriors and full-width porches with massive corner piers.

The horizontal emphasis, broad, overhanging eaves and hip roofs are all common elements of Prairie style, a school many houses of the foursquare tradition adhere to.

[5] One example of Roberts' commercial work in Oak Park, the Prairie style Scoville Square, is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.