Guild to American Homes 1600 to Present
Amerian Colonial House Styles (1600 - 1800)
American Colonial House Styles (1600 - 1800)
http://architecture.about.com/od/housestyles/tp/housestylesindex.htm When North America was colonized, settlers brought building traditions from many different countries. Colonial architecture includes a wide range of styles, including New England Colonial, German Colonial, Dutch Colonial, Spanish Colonial, French Colonial, and, of course, the ever-popular Colonial Cape Cod. The pilgrims weren't the only people to settle in North America. Between 1600 and 1800, men and women poured in from many parts of the world, including Germany, France, Spain, and Latin America. Each group brought their own cultures and architectural traditions. Using locally available materials, the colonists built what they could and tried to meet the challenges posed by the climate and landscape of the new country. They constructed the types of homes they remembered, but they also innovated and, at times, learned new building techniques from Native Americans. As the country grew, these early settlers developed not one, but many, uniquely American styles. Centuries later, builders borrowed ideas from early American architecture to create Colonial Revival and Neo-colonial styles. So, even if your house is brand new, it may express the spirit of the America's colonial days. Look for features of these early American house styles: |
1. New England Colonial (1600 - 1740) 1600s - 1740 The first British settlers in New England built timber-frame dwellings like the ones they had known in their home country. There's a medieval flavor to the enormous chimneys and diamond-pane windows found on many of these homes. Because the British colonists built with wood, only a few of their houses remain intact today. Still, you'll find charming New England Colonial features incorporated into modern-day Neo-Colonial homes. A Neocolonial, Neo-Colonial, or Builder's Colonial house is not colonial at all. It was not constructed during America's colonial times. Neocolonial is a modern, Neoeclectic style that loosely borrows ideas from the past. Constructed in the late 20th century through the present time, Neocolonial houses have details suggested by historic Colonial and Colonial Revival architecture. Features may include:
Neocolonial, or Builder's Colonial, houses incorporate mixture of historic styles adapted for contemporary lifestyles. New England Colonial, Southern Colonial, Georgian, and Federal details are imitated using low-maintenance modern materials. The idea is to convey the traditional, refined atmosphere of a Colonial home, but not to recreate a Colonial style. Unlike the earlier Colonial Revival homes, the interiors of Neocolonial, or Builder's Colonial, homes are thoroughly modern with great rooms, high-tech kitchens, and other conveniences. A Neoeclectic home can be difficult to describe because it combines many styles. The shape of the roof, the design of the windows, and decorative details may be inspired by several different periods and cultures. Features of Neoeclectic Homes:
During the late 1960s, a rebellion against modernism and a longing for more traditional styles influenced the design of modest tract housing in North America. Builders began to borrow freely from a variety of historic traditions, offering Neoeclectic (or, Neo-eclectic) houses that were "customized" using a mixture of features selected from construction catalogs. These homes are sometimes called Postmodern because they borrow from a variety of styles without consideration for continuity or context. However, Neoeclectic homes are not usually experimental and do not reflect the artistic vision you would find in a truly original, architect-designed postmodern home. Critics use the term McMansion to describe a Neoeclectic home that is over-sized and pretentious. Coined from the McDonald's fast food restaurant, the name McMansion implies that these homes are hastily assembled using cheaply-made materials and a menu of mix-and-match decorative details. 2. German Colonial (1600 - mid-1800s) 1600s - mid-1800s When Germans traveled to North America, they settled in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Maryland. Stone was plentiful and the German colonists constructed sturdy homes with thick walls, exposed timbering, and hand-hewn beams. This historic photo shows the De Turck House in Oley, Pennsylvania, built in 1767. Learn About German Colonial Houses 3. Spanish Colonial (1600 - 1900) You may have heard the term Spanish Colonial used to describe elegant stucco homes with fountains, courtyards, and elaborate carvings. Those picturesque houses are actually romantic Spanish Colonial revivals. Early explorers from Spain, Mexico, and Latin America built rustic homes out of wood, adobe, crushed shells, or stone. Earth, thatch, or red clay tiles covered low, flat roofs. Few original Spanish Colonial homes remain, but wonderful examples have been preserved or restored in St. Augustine, Florida. Travel through California and the American Southwest and you'll also find Pueblo homes that combine Hispanic styling with Native American ideas. Learn About Spanish Colonial Houses 4. Dutch Colonial (1625 - mid-1800s) 1625 - mid-1800s Like the German colonists, Dutch settlers brought building traditions from their home country. Settling mainly in New York State, they built brick and stone houses with rooflines that echoed the architecture of the Netherlands. You can recognize the Dutch Colonial style by the gambrel roof. Dutch Colonial became a popular revival style, and you'll often see 20th century homes with the characteristic rounded roof. Learn About Dutch Colonial Houses 5. Cape Cod (1690 - mid-1800s) A Cape Cod house is actually a type of New England Colonial. Named after the spit of land where the Pilgrims first dropped anchor, Cape Cod houses are one-story structures designed to withstand cold and snow. Centuries later, builders embraced the practical, economical Cape Cod shape for budget housing in suburbs across the USA. Even today this no-nonsense style suggests cozy comfort. Browse our collection of Cape Cod house pictures to see historic and contemporary versions of the style. Learn About Cape Cod Houses 6. Georgian Colonial (1690 - 1830) As the thirteen original colonies prospered, more affluent families built refined homes that imitated the Georgian architecture of Great Britain. Named after English kings, a Georgian house is tall and rectangular with an orderly row windows symmetrically arranged on the second story. During the late 1800s and first half of the 20th century, many Colonial Revival homes echoed the regal Georgian style. Learn About Georgian Colonial Houses 7. French Colonial (1780 - 1840) While the English, Germans, and Dutch were building a new nation along the eastern shores of North America, French colonists settled in the Mississippi Valley, especially in Louisiana. French Colonial homes are an eclectic mix, combining European ideas with practices learned from Africa, the Caribbean, and the West Indies. Designed for the hot, swampy region, traditional French Colonial homes are raised on piers. Wide, open porches (called galleries) connect the interior rooms. Learn About French Colonial Houses 8. Federal and Adam (1780 - 1840) Federalist architecture marks the end of the colonial era in the newly-formed United States. Americans wanted to build homes and government buildings that expressed the ideals of their new country and also conveyed elegance and prosperity. Borrowing Neoclassical ideas from a Scottish family of designers--the Adam brothers--prosperous landowners constructed fancier versions of the austere Georgian Colonial style. These homes, which may be called Federal or Adam, were given porticoes, balustrades, fanlights, and other decorations. Learn About Federal and Adam Houses |
Neoclassical House Styles (1780 -1860)
During the founding of the United States, many people felt that ancient Greece expressed the ideals of democracy. Architecture reflected classical ideals of order and symmetry.
In 1563, Renaissance architect Giacomo da Vignola outlined the principles of Classical architecture in a treatise titled The Five Orders of Architecture. A few years later, another Renaissance architect, Andrea Palladio, described his own approach to Classical architecture in The Four Books of Architecture (compare prices). These books were widely translated and inspired builders throughout western Europe. By the 1700s, European architects were turning away from elaborate Baroque and Rococo styles in favor of restrained Neoclassical approaches. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the newly-formed United States also drew upon Classical ideals to construct grand government buildings and smaller private homes. |
Neoclassical, or "new" classical, architecture describes buildings that are
inspired by the classical architecture of ancient Greece and Rome. If you look closely at a Neoclassical building you may see echoes of the Parthenon in Athens or the Pantheon in Rome. Neoclassical buildings have many (although not necessarily all) of these features:
Neoclassical Houses The word Neoclassical is often used to describe an architectural style, but Neoclassicism is not actually any one distinct style. Neoclassicism is a trend, or approach to design, that can incorporate a variety of styles. You'll find Neoclassicism in these historic house styles:Greek Revival These stately, pillared homes became popular in the United States during the 1800s. Federalist A Federalist building does not always have imposing pillars, but its symmetry and decorative details are classically inspired Antebellum Architecture Stately plantation homes built before America's Civil War were often inspired by classical architecture. Beaux Arts Architecture In the late 1800s and early 1900s, ancient Greek and Roman ideas were combined with balustrades, balconies, and lavish decoration. |
Victorian House Styles (1840 - 1900)
Mass-production and factory-made building parts made large, elaborate houses more affordable. A variety of Victorian styles emerged: Italianate, Second Empire, Gothic, Queen Anne, Romanesque, and many others. Each style had its own distinctive features.
Oh those amazing Victorian builders! Born during the Industrial Revolution, they embraced new materials and technologies to create houses like no one had ever seen before. Mass-production and mass-transit made ornamental parts affordable. Victorian architects and builders applied decoration liberally, combining features borrowed from many different eras with flourishes from their own imaginations. When you look at a house built during the Victorian era, you might see Greek Revival pediments, Federalist Style balustrades, and other Colonial Revival details. You may also see medieval ideas such as Gothic windows and exposed trusses. And, of course, you'll find lots of brackets, spindles, scrollwork and other machine-made building parts. So it happens that there's not just one Victorian style, but many, each with its own unique array of features. Here are a few of the most popular. |
1. Italianate
During the 1840s when the Victorian era was just gearing up, Italianate style houses became the hot new trend. The style spread quickly across the USA via widely-published pattern books. With low roofs, wide eaves, and ornamental brackets, Victorian Italianate houses suggest an Italian Renaissance villa. Some even sport a romantic cupola on the roof. Learn About Victorian Italianate Houses 2. Gothic Revival Medieval architecture and the great cathedrals of the Gothic age inspired all sorts of flourishes during the Victorian era. Builders gave houses arches, pointed windows, and other elements borrowed from the middle ages. Some Victorian Gothic Revival homes are grand stone buildings like miniature castles. Others are rendered in wood. Small wooden cottages with Gothic Revival features are called Carpenter Gothic. Learn About Victorian Gothic House Styles 3. Queen Anne Towers, turrets, and rounded porches give Queen Anne architecture regal airs. But the style has nothing to do with British royalty, and Queen Anne houses do not resemble buildings from the medieval times of the English Queen Anne. Instead, Queen Anne architecture expresses the exuberance and inventiveness of industrial-age builders. Study the style and you'll discover several different subtypes, proving that there's no end to the variety of the Queen Anne style. Learn About Victorian Queen Anne Houses 4. Folk Victorian Folk Victorian is a generic, vernacular Victorian style. Builders added spindles or Gothic windows to simple square and L-shaped buildings. A creative carpenter with a newly-invented jigsaw may have created complicated trim, but look beyond the fancy dressing and you'll see a no-nonsense farmhouse. Learn About Folk Victorian Houses 5. Shingle Style Often built in coastal areas, Shingle Style homes are rambling and austere. But, the simplicity of the style is deceptive. These large, informal homes were adopted by the wealthy for lavish summer homes. Amazingly, a Shingle Style house isn't always sided with shingles! Learn About Victorian Shingle Houses 6. Stick Houses Tudor Style Stick style houses are, as the name implies, decorated with intricate stickwork and half-timbering. Vertical, horizontal, and diagonal boards create elaborate patterns on the facade. But if you look past these surface details, a stick style house is relatively plain. Stick Style houses don't have big bay windows or fancy ornaments. Learn About Victorian Stick Style Houses 7. Second Empire On first glance, you might mistake a Second Empire house for an Italianate. Both have a somewhat boxy shape. But a Second Empire house will always have a high mansard roof. Inspired by the architecture in Paris during the reign of Napoleon III, Second Empire is also known as the Mansard Style. Learn About Second Empire Houses 8. Richardsonian Romanesque Architect Henry Hobson Richardson is often credited with popularizing these romantic buildings. Constructed of stone, they resemble small castles. Romanesque was used more often for large public buildings, but some private homes were also built in the imposing Romanesque style. Learn About Richardsonian Romanesque Houses 9. Eastlake The ornate spindles and knobs found on so many Queen Anne houses were inspired by the decorative furniture by English designer, Charles Eastlake. When we call a house Eastlake, we're usually describing any number of Victorian styles with Eastlake decorations. Learn About Eastlake Houses 10. Octagon Style In the mid-1800s, innovative builders experimented with 8-sided houses which they believed would provide more light and ventilation. Octagon houses are rare. The few that remain are wonderful reminders of Victorian ingenuity. Learn About Octagon Houses |
Guilded Age (1880 - 1929)
The rise of Industrialism brought the period we know as the Gilded Age. Business leaders amassed enormous wealth and built palatial, elaborate homes. Beaux Arts Style
Renaissance Revival House Style Richardson Romanesque House Style Queen Anne House Style Tudor Revival House Style Neo-Classical House Style |
The Gilded Age. The name, popularized by American author Mark Twain,
conjures images of gold and jewels, lavish palaces, and wealth beyond imagination. And indeed, during the period we know as the Gilded Age (the late 1800s to the 1920s) American business leaders amassed huge fortunes, becoming a suddenly-rich baron class with a fondness for ostentatious displays of their new-found wealth. Millionaires built palatial and often gaudy homes in New York City. Before long, even refined families like the Astors, who had been wealthy for generations, joined in the whirlwind of architectural excesses. In large cities and then in upscale resort communities like Rhode Island, noted architects like Stanford White and Richard Morris Hunt were designing enormous homes and elegant hotels that mimicked the castles and palaces of Europe. Renaissance, Romanesque, and Rococo styles merged with the opulent European style known as Beaux Arts. The sinking of the Titanic in 1912 put a damper on the boundless optimism and excessive spending (often called, "conspicuous consumption") of the era. Historians often mark the end of the Gilded Age with the stock market crash of 1929. The grand homes of the Gilded Age now stand as monuments. Many are open for tours, and a few have been converted to luxury inns. Beaux Arts Style (1885 - 1920) In French, the term beaux arts means fine arts. Based on ideas taught at the legendary École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the Beaux Arts style flourished between 1885 and 1920. Beaux Arts buildings have many of these features:
Renaissance Revival House Style (1840 - 1915) Renaissance (French for "rebirth") refers to the artistic, architectural, and literary movement in Europe between the 14th and 16th centuries. The Renaissance Revival style is based on the architecture of 16th-century Renaissance Italy and France, with additional elements borrowed from Ancient Greek and Roman architecture. Renaissance Revival is a general term which encompasses the various Italian Renaissance Revival and French Renaissance Revival styles, including Second Empire. The Renaissance Revival style was popular during two separate phases. The first phase, or the First Renaissance Revival, was from about 1840 to 1885, and the Second Renaissance Revival, which was characterized by larger and more elaborately decorated buildings, was from 1890 to 1915. Due to the expensive materials required and the elaborate style, Renaissance Revival was best suited for public and commercial buildings, and very grand homes for the wealthy. Renaissance Revival houses have many of these features:
During the 1870s, Boston architect Henry Hobson Richardson captured the American imagination with rugged, forceful buildings like the Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh and Trinity Church in Boston. These buildings were called "Romanesque" because they had wide, rounded arches like buildings in ancient Rome. Henry Hobson Richardson became so famous for his Romanesque designs that the style is often called Richardsonian Romanesque. The heavy Romanesque Revival style was especially suited for grand public buildings. Most people could not afford to build private houses with Roman arches and massive stone walls. However, during the 1880s, a few wealthy industrialists embraced the Romanesque Revival to build elaborate and often fanciful Gilded Age mansions. During this time, elaborate Queen Anne architecture was at the height of fashion. Also, the rambling Shingle Style became a popular choice for vacation homes, especially along the northeast coast of the USA. Not surprisingly, Romanesque Revival homes often have Queen Anne and Shingle Style details. Romanesque Revival Features
Of all the Victorian house styles, Queen Anne is the most elaborate and the most eccentric. The style is often called romantic and feminine, yet it is the product of a most unromantic era -- the machine age. Queen Anne became an architectural fashion in the 1880s and 1890s, when the industrial revolution was building up steam. North America was caught up in the excitement of new technologies. Factory-made, pre-cut architectural parts were shuttled across the country on a rapidly expanding train network. Exuberant builders combined these pieces to create innovative, and sometimes excessive, homes. Also, widely-published pattern books touted spindles and towers and other flourishes we associate with Queen Anne architecture. Country folk yearned for fancy city trappings. Wealthy industrialists pulled out all stops as they built lavish "castles" using Queen Anne ideas. Although easy to spot, America's Queen Anne style is difficult to define. Some Queen Anne houses are lavished with gingerbread, but some are made of brick or stone. Many have turrets, but this crowning touch is not necessary to make a house a queen. So, what is Queen Anne? How to recognize a Queen Anne House Fanciful and flamboyant, America's Queen Anne architecture takes on many shapes. Some Queen Anne houses are lavishly decorated. Others are restrained in their embellishments. Yet the flashy painted ladies of San Francisco and the refined Brooklyn brownstones share many of the same features. There is an element of surprise to the typical Queen Anne home. The roof is steeply pitched and irregular. The overall shape of the house is asymmetrical. In general, a Queen Anne house is likely to have these features:
1. Spindled(See photo) This is the style we most frequently think of when we hear the term "Queen Anne." These are "gingerbread" houses with delicate turned porch posts and lacy, ornamental spindles. This type of decoration is often called Eastlake because it resembles the work of the famous English furniture designer, Charles Eastlake. 2. Free Classic (See photo) Instead of delicate turned spindles, these homes have classical columns, often raised on brick or stone piers. Like the Colonial Revival houses that would soon become fashionable, Free Classic Queen Anne homes may have Palladian windows and dentil moldings. 3. Half-Timbered Like the early Tudor style houses, these Queen Annes have decorative half-timbering in the gables. Porch posts are often thick. 4. Patterned Masonry (See photo) Most frequently found in the city, these Queen Annes have brick, stone, or terra-cotta walls. The masonry may be beautifully patterned, but there are few decorative details in wood. Cautions: A list of Queen Anne features can be deceptive. Queen Anne architecture is not an orderly or easily classified. Bay windows, balconies, stained glass, turrets, porches, brackets, and an abundance of decorative details combine in unexpected ways. Moreover, Queen Anne details can be found on less pretentious houses. In American cities, smaller working-class homes were given patterned shingles, spindlework, extensive porches, and bay windows. Many turn-of-the-century houses are in fact hybrids, combining Queen Anne motifs with features from earlier and later fashions. Fun Facts: Queen Anne architecture in North America is very different from the slightly earlier English versions of the style. Moreover, in both the USA and England, Victorian Queen Anne architecture has little do with the British Queen Anne who ruled during the 1700s. So, why are some Victorian houses called Queen Anne? Anne was the Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland in the early 1700s. Art and science flourished during her reign. One hundred and fifty years later, British architect Richard Norman Shaw and his followers used the term Queen Anne to describe their work. Their buildings didn't resemble the formal architecture of the Queen Anne period, but the name stuck. In the USA, builders began constructing homes with half-timbering and patterned masonry. These houses may have been inspired by the work of Richard Norman Shaw. Like Shaw's buildings, they were called Queen Anne. As builders added spindlework and other flourishes, America's Queen Anne houses grew increasingly elaborate. So it happened that the Queen Anne style in the United States became entirely different from the Queen Anne style in England, and both styles were nothing like the formal, symmetrical architecture found during the time of Queen Anne's reign. Ironically, the very qualities that made Queen Anne architecture so regal also made it fragile. These expansive and expressive buildings proved expensive and difficult to maintain. By the turn of the century, Queen Annes had fallen out of favor. In the early 1900s, American builders favored smaller Edwardian ("Princess Anne") and more austere Colonial Revival styles. While many Queen Annes have been preserved as private homes, others have been converted into apartment houses, offices and inns. In San Francisco, flamboyant homeowners have painted their Queen Annes a rainbow of psychedelic colors. Purists protest that bright colors are not historically authentic. But the owners of these "Painted Ladies" claim that Victorian architects would be pleased. Queen Anne designers did, after all, relish decorative excesses. Tudor Revival House (1890 to present) Heavy chimneys and decorative half-timbering give Tudor style houses a Medieval flavor. The Tudor style is sometimes called Medieval Revival. The name Tudor suggests that these houses were built in the 1500s, during the Tudor Dynasty in England. But of course, Tudor houses in the United States are modern-day re-inventions and are more accurately called Tudor Revival or Medieval Revival. Some Tudor Revival houses mimic humble Medieval cottages - They may even include a false thatched roof. Other Tudor Revival homes suggest Medieval palaces. They may have overlapping gables, parapets, and beautifully patterned brick or stonework. These historic details combine with Victorian or Craftsman flourishes. As in many Queen Anne and Stick style homes, Tudor style houses often feature striking decorative timbers. These timbers hint at - but do not reproduce - Medieval construction techniques. In Medieval houses, the timber framing was integral with the structure. Tudor Revival houses, however, merely suggest the structural framework with false half-timbering. This decorative woodwork comes in many different designs, with stucco or patterned brick between the timbers. Handsome examples of Tudor Revival architecture may be found throughout Great Britain, northern Europe, and the United States. The main square in Chester, England is surrounded by lavish Victorian Tudors that stand unapologetically alongside authentic medieval buildings. In the United States, Tudor styling takes on a variety of forms ranging from elaborate mansions to modest suburban homes with mock masonry veneers. The style became enormously popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and modified versions became fashionable in the 1970s and 1980s. One popular housing type inspired by inspired by Tudor ideas is the Cotswold Cottage. These quaint homes have an imitation thatched roof, massive chimneys, an uneven sloping roof, small window panes, and low doors. Tudor style homes have many of these features:
Neo-Classical House Style (1885 - 1925) Neoclassical, or "new" classical, architecture describes buildings that are inspired by the classical architecture of ancient Greece and Rome. The word Neoclassical is often used to describe an architectural style, but Neoclassicism is not actually any one distinct style. Neoclassicism is a trend, or approach to design, that can describe several very different styles. A Neoclassical house may resemble any of these historic styles: Antebellum houses are often Neoclassical. Beaux Arts is also a Neoclassical style. |
Frank Lloyd Write Styles (1901 - 1955)
Frank Lloyd Wright revolutionized the American home when he began to design houses with low horizontal lines and open interior spaces.
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Prairie Style (1893 - 1920)
Frank Lloyd Wright transformed the American home when he began to design "Prairie" style houses with low horizontal lines and open interior spaces. Frank Lloyd Wright believed that rooms in Victorian era homes were boxed-in and confining. He began to design houses with low horizontal lines and open interior spaces. Rooms were often divided by leaded glass panels. Furniture was either built-in or specially designed. These homes were called prairie style after Wright's 1901 Ladies Home Journal plan titled, "A Home in a Prairie Town." Prairie houses were designed to blend in with the flat, prairie landscape. The first Prairie houses were usually plaster with wood trim or sided with horizontal board and batten. Later Prairie homes used concrete block. Prairie homes can have many shapes: Square, L-shaped, T-shaped, Y-shaped, and even pinwheel-shaped. Many other architects designed Prairie homes and the style was popularized by pattern books. The popular American Foursquare style, sometimes called the Prairie Box, shared many features with the Prairie style. In 1936, during the USA depression, Frank Lloyd Wright developed a simplified version of Prairie architecture called Usonian. Wright believed these stripped-down houses represented the democratic ideals of the United States. Prairie style houses usually have these features:
Famous Prairie Houses by Frank Lloyd Wright
In 1936, when the United States was in the depths of an economic depression, American architect Frank Lloyd Wright developed a series of homes he called Usonian. Designed to control costs, Wright's Usonian houses had no attics, no basements, and little ornamentation. Some have said that the word Usonia is an abbreviation for United States of North America. This meaning explains Wright's aspiration to create a democratic, distinctly national style that was affordable for the "common people" of the United States. "Nationality is a craze with us," Wright said in 1927. "Samuel Butler fitted us with a good name. He called us Usonians, and our Nation of combined States, Usonia. Why not use the name?" So, Wright used the name. SOURCE: "Frank Lloyd Wright On Architecture: Selected Writings (1894-1940)," Frederick Gutheim, ed., Grosset's Universal Library, 1941, p. 100. Characteristics: Usonian architecture grew out of Frank Lloyd Wright's earlier Prairie style homes. Both styles featured low roofs and open living areas. Both styles made abundant use of brick, wood, and other natural material. However, Wright's Usonian homes were small, one-story structures set on concrete slabs with piping for radiant heat beneath. The kitchens were incorporated into the living areas. Open car ports took the place of garages. In the 1950s, when he was in his '80s, Frank Lloyd Wright first used the term Usonian Automatic to describe a Usonian style house made of inexpensive concrete blocks. The three-inch-thick modular blocks could be assembled in a variety of ways and secured with steel rods and grout. Frank Lloyd Wright hoped that home buyers would save money by building their own Usonian Automatic houses. But assembling the modular parts proved complicated - most buyers hired pros to construct their Usonian houses. Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian architecture played an important role in the evolution of America's Mid-century homes. But, despite Wright's aspirations toward simplicity and economy, Usonian houses often exceeded budgeted costs. Like all of Wright's designs, Usonians became unique, custom homes for families of comfortable means. Frank Lloyd Wright built more than a hundred Usonian houses. A few of the most famous Usonian houses are:
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