Usonia is a word that was used by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright to refer to the United States in general, and more specifically to his vision for the landscape of the country, including the planning of cities and the architecture of buildings. Wright proposed the use of the adjective Usonian to describe the particular New World character of the American landscape as distinct and free of previous architectural conventions.
The architecture of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, especially Kansas City, Missouri, includes major works by some of the world's most distinguished architects and firms, including McKim, Mead and White; Jarvis Hunt; Wight and Wight; Graham, Anderson, Probst and White; Hoit, Price & Barnes; Frank Lloyd Wright; the Office of Mies van der Rohe; Barry Byrne; Edward Larrabee Barnes; Harry Weese; and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
The Rosenbaum House is a single-family house designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built for Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum in Florence, Alabama. A noted example of his Usonian house concept, it is the only Wright building in Alabama, and is one of only 26 pre-World War II Usonian houses. Wright scholar John Sergeant called it "the purest example of the Usonian."
The Thomas E. Keys Residence is a house in Rochester, Minnesota designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built with earth berms in 1950. The design is based on a previous Wright design for a cooperative in Detroit, Michigan, which never materialized due to the onset of World War II. The house is an example of Wright's Usonian genre of architecture, a style he envisioned to meet the needs of middle-class families desiring a more refined architecture for their homes. The home had three bedrooms and one bathroom, and is constructed with concrete block. It is based on a square module of four feet on a side. Architect John H. "Jack" Howe converted the home's carport into a guest bedroom and bath in 1970.
The Pope–Leighey House, formerly known as the Loren Pope Residence, is a suburban home in Virginia designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The house, which belongs to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has been relocated twice and sits on the grounds of Woodlawn Plantation, Alexandria, Virginia. Along with the Andrew B. Cooke House and the Luis Marden House, it is one of the three homes in Virginia designed by Wright.
The Frieda and Henry J. Neils House is a house in Minneapolis, Minnesota, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The home was designed for Henry J. Neils, a stone and architectural materials distributor, and his wife Frieda. It is unusual for a Wright-designed home both in the type of stone used as well as in its aluminum window framing.
Cedric G. Boulter and Patricia Neils House is a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed registered historic home in the Clifton neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. It was commissioned in 1953, with construction beginning in 1954, and completed in 1956. Additions to the design were completed in 1958.
The Gerald B. and Beverley Tonkens House, also known as the Tonkens House, is a single story private residence designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1954. The house was commissioned by Gerald B. Tonkens and his first wife Rosalie. It is located in Amberley Village, a village in Hamilton County, Ohio.
The Gordon House is a residence designed by influential architect Frank Lloyd Wright, now located within the Oregon Garden, in Silverton, Oregon. It is an example of Wright's Usonian vision for America. It is one of the last of the Usonian series that Wright designed as affordable housing for American working class consumers, which—in 1939—were considered to have an annual income of $5,000–6,000. The house is based on a design for a modern home commissioned by Life magazine in 1938.
Herbert and Katherine Jacobs First House, commonly referred to as Jacobs I, is a single family home located at 441 Toepfer Avenue in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Designed by noted American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, it was constructed in 1937 and is considered by most to be the first Usonian home. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2003. The house and seven other properties by Wright were inscribed on the World Heritage List under the title "The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright" in July 2019.
The William and Mary Palmer House is a house in Ann Arbor, Michigan, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1952. The home was designed for William Palmer, an economics professor at the University of Michigan, and his wife Mary. It sits on three lots at the end of a quiet, dirt road cul-de-sac. The location is near the Nichols Arboretum, and less than a mile (1.2 km) from the university.
Roland Reisley House was built in Pleasantville, New York in 1951. The third of the "Usonia Homes" designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. this is a building on a hillside with a masonry "core" and wood siding. Roland Reisley was 26 when he built his home. The entrance is dominated by a dramatic wood cantilevered carport, which leads to an impressive yet unpresumptuous low-slung house with cypress paneling and indigenous stone.
The Stuart Richardson House (affectionately named 'Scherzo' by Frank Lloyd Wright) in Glen Ridge, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, was built in 1951 for Stuart Richardson (an actuary) and his wife Elisabeth. The Richardsons, with their two daughters Margot and Edith, moved in on October 23, 1951, and owned the house until 1970. It is one of Wright's "Usonian" homes, designed to be functional houses for people of average means. The primary building construction materials employed in the design of the house were red brick, old growth tidewater cypress wood, and glass on a Cherokee red radiant heated concrete floor mat.
The J.A. Sweeton Residence was built in 1950 in Cherry Hill, in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. At 1,500 square feet (140 m2), it is the smallest of the four Frank Lloyd Wright houses in New Jersey. This Usonian scheme house was constructed of concrete blocks and redwood plywood.
The Suntop Homes, also known under the early name of The Ardmore Experiment, were quadruple residences located in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, and based largely upon the 1935 conceptual Broadacre City model of the minimum houses. The design was commissioned by Otto Tod Mallery of the Tod Company in 1938 in an attempt to set a new standard for the entry-level housing market in the United States and to increase single-family dwelling density in the suburbs. In cooperation with Frank Lloyd Wright, the Tod Company secured a patent for the unique design, intending to sell development rights for Suntops across the country.
The Walter and Mary Ellen Rudin House is a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Marshall Erdman prefab building located at 110 Marinette Trail, Madison, Wisconsin. Designed in 1957, it is the first of the only two examples of the second type of the Marshall Erdman Prefab Houses. This house and the James McBean Residence have the same floor plan and vary only in minor details such as paint color and siting. Construction was completed in June, 1959 and the house was sold to UW-Madison mathematicians Walter and Mary Ellen Rudin.
The Maynard Buehler House in Orinda, California is a 4,000 square feet Usonian home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1948 for Katherine Z. "Katie" and Maynard P. Buehler. Since 2016 the house has been used as a venue for weddings, after being featured in Vogue magazine.
Throughout his career, Frank Lloyd Wright was interested in mass production of housing. In 1954, he discovered that Marshall Erdman, who contracted the First Unitarian Society of Madison, was selling modest prefabricated homes. Wright offered to design better prefabs, ones that he believed could be marketed for $15,000, which was half as much as Marshall Erdman and Associates, Inc. (ME&A) were charging for their own version. Wright didn't do much on the project until late 1955, but by spring of 1956 he had final plans for three Usonian-type homes to be built exclusively by ME&A. The December 1956 issue of House & Home Magazine featured the Wright designed Marshall Erdman Prefab Houses and included Marshall in the cover story. No examples of Prefab #3 were ever built.
The Paul J. and Ida Trier House is a historic building located in Johnston, Iowa, United States. It is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed Usonian home that was constructed in 1958. It was the last of seven Wright Usonians built in Iowa. While it is now located in a residential area, it was constructed in an area surrounded by rural farmland. The Trier house is a variation on the 1953 Exhibition House at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. The north wing of the house was designed by Taliesin Associates and built in 1967. It was originally the carport, which was enclosed for a playroom. The present carport on the front and an extension of the shop was added at the same time.
The Kenneth and Phyllis Laurent House is a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Usonian house in Rockford, Illinois. It was the only house that Wright designed for a physically disabled client.
