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. [1] [2] [3] 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. [4] No examples of Prefab #3 were ever built.
The prefab package Erdman offered included all the major structural components, interior and exterior walls, floors, windows and doors, as well as cabinets and woodwork. In addition to a lot, the buyer had to provide the foundation, the plumbing fixtures, heating units, electric wiring, and drywall, plus the paint. [1] [2] [3]
Buyers had to submit a topographic map and photos of the lot to Wright before purchasing the property. Wright would determine where the home should sit on the lot. Wright also intended to inspect each home after completion, and to apply his famous glazed red signature brick to the home if it had been completed as planned. [1] [2] [3]
Wright's design was for a single story, L-shaped home with a pitched-roof bedroom wing joining a flat-roofed living-dining-kitchen area centered on a large masonry fireplace. A carport with one end of its roof resting on a detached storage shed completed the design. Eventually, Wright produced variations, including a fourth bedroom and options for a full or partial basement. The versions ranged in size from 1,860 to 2,400 square feet (173 to 223 m2). [1] [2] [3]
To limit costs, Wright used standard Andersen windows and Pella doors, and designed the prefab to be built using standard sheets of plywood, Masonite and drywall. The exterior was to be painted Masonite with horizontal redwood battens attached, though the house could also be built of stone or concrete block, or partially faced with stone. [3]
Prefab #1 Houses:
Prefab #2 is a square, 2 story home with a flat roof. The house has a large, square 2-story living room which is lit by a wall of windows. Also on the first floor are the dining area, kitchen, entry hall, utility room, and the master bedroom. A large concrete block fireplace separates the kitchen and living room. A stairway leads to a balcony and three second-story bedrooms. [1]
The house is constructed from concrete block with horizontal board and batten siding. A row of windows just below the soffit make the chunky flat roof appear to float above the house. A carport attached to one corner of the house completes the design. [1]
Prefab #2 Houses:
Both houses have the same floor plan and vary only in minor details such as paint color and siting.
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 James McBean Residence is a house in Rochester, Minnesota designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. This Usonian house is an example of the second type of the Marshall Erdman Prefab Houses. This house and the Walter Rudin House have the same floor plan and vary only in minor details such as paint color and siting, because they are the only two Prefab #2 houses in existence.
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 Crimson Beech is a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright located in the Lighthouse Hill neighborhood of the New York City borough of Staten Island. Its original owners, Catherine and William Cass, had it manufactured by Marshall Erdman in kit form in Madison, Wisconsin and shipped to Staten Island where it was erected in 1959. It is the only residence designed by Wright in New York City and one of eleven Marshall Erdman Prefab Houses that were built. The particular model is known as the Prefab #1.
Marshall Erdman was a Lithuanian-American builder and colleague of Frank Lloyd Wright.
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.
Robert and Rae Levin House, also Robert Levin House and Robert Levin Residence, is a single-family home in Kalamazoo, Michigan and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
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 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.
The E. Clarke and Julia Arnold House is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed Usonian home in Columbus, Wisconsin, United States.
The Karl A. Staley House was designed in 1950 by Frank Lloyd Wright. Situated on the shores of Lake Erie in North Madison, Ohio, this home is constructed with stone, in an I-plan form. The home originally had two bedrooms, as well as a separate workspace and study. In addition, there was a shop accessible on the other side of the carport.
The Clarence Sondern House is a historic residence located at 3600 Belleview Ave in the Roanoke neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri. It is also known as the Sondern-Adler House.
The Goetsch–Winckler House is a building that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, built in 1940. It is located at 2410 Hulett Road, Okemos, Michigan. The house is an example of Wright's later Usonian architectural style, and it is considered to be one of the most elegant. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 and is #95001423.
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 Robert M. Lamp House is a residence built in 1903 two blocks northeast of the capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for his lifelong friend "Robie" Lamp, a realtor, insurance agent, and Madison City Treasurer. The oldest Wright-designed house in Madison, its style is transitional between Chicago school and Prairie School. In 1978 the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
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.
The Elizabeth Murphy House is an American System-Built Home (ASBH), Model A203, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and located in the Village of Shorewood near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The house takes its name from Elizabeth Murphy, wife of loan broker Lawrence Murphy, who purchased a lot as an investment on which to build the house speculatively, and who contracted with Herman F. Krause, Jr., a carpenter, to build the house in 1917 according to plans supplied by Frank Lloyd Wright via Wright's marketing agent for ASBH projects, the Arthur L. Richards Company.