The Prairie Style

Through the turn of the century, Wright's distinctively personal style was evolving, and his work in these years foreshadowed his so-called "prairie style," a term deriving from the publication in 1901 of "A Home in a Prairie Town" which he designed for the Ladies' Home Journal.

Prairie houses were characterized by low, horizontal lines that were meant to blend with the flat landscape around them. Typically, these structures were built around a central chimney, consisted of broad open spaces instead of strictly defined rooms, and deliberately blurred the distinction between interior space and the surrounding terrain. Wright acclaimed "the new reality that is space instead of matter" and, about architectural interiors, said that the "reality of a building is not the container but the space within." The W.W. Willits house, built in Highland Park, Illinois in 1902, was the first house that embodied all the elements of the prairie style. His masterpiece of the prairie style is the Robie House, built in Chicago in 1909.

Wright did not aspire simply to design a house, but to create a complete environment, and he often dictated the details of the interior. He designed stained glass, fabrics, furniture, carpet and the accessories of the house. Legend has it that, in at least one case, he even designed the gowns of his client's wife.The controlling factor was seldom the wishes of the individual client, but Wright's belief that buildings stongly influence the people who inhabit them. He believed that "the architect is a molder of men, whether or not he consciously assumes the responsibility."

Links to photographs and other materials:

Bradley Residence (1900), Kankakee, Illinois. B/W photograph.

Warren Hickox House (1900), Kankakee, Illinois. B/W photograph and floor plan.

Ward W. Willits House (1901), Highland Park, Illinois. B/W photograph and floor plan of the house generally considered to be the first house in true Prairie style.

Willits House. Color photographs of exterior.

Frank Wright Thomas House, "The Harem" (1901), Oak Park, Illinois. Color photograph.

Frank Wright Thomas House. Color photographs of exterior.

Susan Lawrence Dana "Dana-Thomas" House (1902) and Lawrence Library (1905), Springfield, Illinois. This is the official web site of the Dana-Thomas House Foundation. In addition to a history of the house, biographical information, construction plans, etc., this site contains a discussion of prairie period design.

Dana-Thomas House. The State of Illinois historic site.

Dana-Thomas House. Virtual tour site.

William Martin House (1902), Oak Park, Illinois. Color photographs of exterior.

Arthur Heurtley Residence (1902), Oak Park, Illinois. Color photographs of exterior.

Heurtley Residence. Color photograph of exterior.

Edward Cheney House (1903), Oak Park, Illinois. B/W photograph.

Cheney House. Color photograph.

Mrs. Thomas H. Gale House (1904), Oak Park, Illinois. Color photograph.

Gale House. Color photographs of exterior.

Darwin D. Martin House (1904), Buffalo, New York. Official site. History and photographs of house and restoration.

Darwin D. Martin House. Color photographs of exterior and interior.

Mary Adams House (1905), Highland Park, Illinois. Color photographs of exterior.

K. C. DeRhodes House (1906), South Bend, Indiana. Color photograph of exterior.

Edward R. Hills House (1906), Oak Park, Illinois. Color photograph; B/W photograph.

Frederick C. Robie House (1906), Chicago, Illinois. Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust site.

Robie House. Color photographs.

Robie House. Color photograph & discussion.

Avery Coonley House (1907), Riverside, Illinois. Color photographs.

Porter House, "Tan-y-deri" (1907), Spring Green, Wisconsin. Color photo & discussion.

Porter House, "Tan-y-deri" (1907), Spring Green, Wisconsin. Color photo & discussion.

G. C. Stockman House (1908), Mason CIty, Iowa. Slide show of interior and exterior views of house.

Stockman House. House museum site; color photo & discussion.

Isabel Roberts House (1908), River Forest, Illinois. Color photographs of exterior.

Frank J. Baker House (1909), Wilmette, Illinois. B/W photograph.

Oscar Steffens House (1909), Peoria, Illinois. (demolished) B/W photograph.

Rev. J. R. Ziegler House (1909), Frankfort, Kentucky. Color photographs & discussion.

J.H. Amberg House (1909), Grand Rapids, Michigan. Color photograph.

J.K. Ingalls House (1909), River Forest, Illinois. Color photographs of exterior.

Ingwald Moe House (1909-10), Gary, Indiana. Color photograph and commentary.

O.B. Balch House (1911), Oak Park, Illinois. B/W photograph.

Balch House. Color photographs of exterior.

Francis W. Little House II (1912), Deephaven, Minnesota, living room. (house demolished) Living room reconstructed in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; color photograph of exhibit and brief text.

Avery Coonley Playhouse (1912), Riverside, Illinois, stained-glass triptych window. Color photograph.

Harry Adams Residence (1913), Oak Park, Illinois. Color photographs of exterior.

Henry Allen "Allen-Lambe" House (1917), Wichita, Kansas. House museum site; color photographs of exterior and interior.

Unified Vision: The Architecture and Design of the Prairie School. Frank Lloyd Wright objects