Cedar Rock State Park

Last updated

Cedar Rock State Park
Lowell Walter House, June 2015.jpg
South-southwest face of the Lowell Walter Residence
USA Iowa relief location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Cedar Rock State Park in Iowa
Location Buchanan County, Iowa, United States
Coordinates 42°24′22″N91°46′12″W / 42.40611°N 91.77000°W / 42.40611; -91.77000
Area320 acres (130 ha)
Elevation906 ft (276 m) [1]
Established1981
Governing bodyIowa Department of Natural Resources
Website Cedar Rock State Park

Cedar Rock State Park is a state park in Buchanan County, Iowa, United States, preserving the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Lowell Walter Residence, also known as Cedar Rock. The Usonian- style house was constructed on a bank of the Wapsipinicon River near Quasqueton, Iowa, in 1950. Following Lowell Walter's death in 1981, the home was donated to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and opened to the public.

Contents

The Walter House at Cedar Rock is one of Frank Lloyd Wright's most complete signature designs. Nearly everything at Cedar Rock bears the architect's imprint. Wright designed the furniture, chose the draperies, and even picked out the accessories.

Background

The house's living room CedarRock LivingRoom.JPG
The house's living room

Cedar Rock is an important example of the Midwestern residential style created by Wright, characterized by its provisions for living simply and in harmony with nature. The Walter Residence is an example of a simplified style Wright called “Usonian". These designs were typically created as a single story with zoned areas for living. Wright accomplished this by designing this home in a "tadpole" shape.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Lloyd Wright</span> American architect (1867–1959)

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements of the twentieth century, influencing architects worldwide through his works and hundreds of apprentices in his Taliesin Fellowship. Wright believed in designing in harmony with humanity and the environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture. This philosophy was exemplified in Fallingwater (1935), which has been called "the best all-time work of American architecture".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Usonia</span> Term for the U.S. coined by Frank Lloyd Wright

Usonia is a word that was used by the 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prairie School</span> Architectural style

Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands, integration with the landscape, solid construction, craftsmanship, and discipline in the use of ornament. Horizontal lines were thought to evoke and relate to the wide, flat, treeless expanses of America's native prairie landscape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosenbaum House</span> Historic house in Alabama, United States

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."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herman T. Mossberg Residence</span> House in South Bend, Indiana

Herman T. Mossberg Residence is a house designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It was built for Herman T. Mossberg and his wife Gertrude in 1948 in South Bend, Indiana, and remains in private hands today. It is one of two Wright residences in South Bend, the other being the K. C. DeRhodes House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald B. and Beverley Tonkens House</span> Historic house in Ohio, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isabel Roberts House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

Isabel Roberts House is a 1908 Prairie Style house by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, located at 603 Edgewood Place in River Forest, Illinois It was built for Isabel Roberts and her widowed mother, Mary Roberts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert and Katherine Jacobs First House</span> House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert H. Sunday House</span> Historic house in Iowa, United States

The Robert H. Sunday House is located in Marshalltown, Iowa, United States. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the Usonian style, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. Initially the Sunday's choose the Usonian Automatic, a natural concrete block model, for their home. When it provided unworkable, Wright sent the plans for this house. In style and materials it is very similar to the 1953 Usonian Exhibition House. It was the sixth of seven houses designed by Wright and built in this style in Iowa. Sunday, who owned Marshall Lumber in Marshalltown, acted as his own general contractor. In fact, he and his wife did much of the work themselves. It is also believed to be last of this style built in brick. John H. "Jack" Howe, a Wright assistant who supervised the initial construction, designed an addition to this house in 1970 that conforms seamlessly with the original. It includes the family room, family room terrace, and the dining room. The original house followed an "L" shaped plan, and with the addition it is now a "T" shaped plan. Howe had previously designed (1964) the building for Sunday's business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bachman–Wilson House</span> House in New Jersey, New Jersey

The Bachman–Wilson House, built in and originally located in Millstone, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States, was originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1954 for Abraham Wilson and his first wife, Gloria Bachman. Ms. Bachman's brother, Marvin, had studied with Wright at Taliesin West, his home and studio in Scottsdale, Arizona. In 2014 the house was acquired by the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas and has been relocated in its entirety to the museum's campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stuart Richardson House</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles L. Manson House</span> House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

The Charles L. and Dorothy Manson home is a single-family house located at 1224 Highland Park Boulevard in Wausau, Wisconsin. Designated a National Historic Landmark, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 5, 2016, reference Number, 16000149.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Lamberson House</span> Historic house in Iowa, United States

The Alice and Jack Lamberson House, also known as the Peter Maunu and Irmi Maunu-Kocian house, is a historic residence located in Oskaloosa, Iowa, United States. It is one of seven Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Usonian houses located in Iowa, and one of two that were constructed in Oskaloosa. Both were completed in 1951. The Lamberson house is unique from the other Iowa Usonians for its extensive use of 60º and 120º angles. It features a low, sweeping pitched roof that makes the house look deceptively large, yet it is the second smallest of Iowa's Usonians. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goetsch–Winckler House</span> United States historic place

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 Ray Brandes House is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed Usonian home located at 2202 212th Avenue SE, Sammamish, Washington It was constructed in 1952. The home is constructed in Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian style which is designed to create flow between nature, the home and its interior. It is one of the better preserved examples of this style, and one of three homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Washington State. Landscaping was selected from local flora and fauna, typical of Frank Lloyd Wright's preference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul J. and Ida Trier House</span> Historic house in Iowa, United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alvin Miller House</span> Historic house in Iowa, United States

The Alvin Miller House is a Usonian home beside the Cedar River in Charles City, Iowa. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and constructed over a five-year period completed in 1951. The single-story structure features a two-level flat roof which allows for clerestory windows. It was severely damaged in the flood of 2008. Restoration efforts surrounding the house after the flooding are detailed in the Alvin Miller House website.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas and Charlotte Grant House</span> United States historic place

The Douglas and Charlotte Grant House is a historic building located in Marion, Iowa, United States. Located on 40 acres (16 ha) of land, this Frank Lloyd Wright designed Usonian-style dwelling was constructed from 1949 to 1951, with some construction continuing to about 1960. This is one of the first houses in Iowa built in this style, having been completed a year after the Lowell E. Walter House located near Quasqueton, Iowa. The characteristics that mark this as a Wright-designed house include: the house integrated into the site and opened to the outdoors; the use of window walls and horizontal bands of windows; natural lighting and ventilation; use of natural materials; a horizontal emphasis in mass and proportion; a car port in place of a garage; slab-on-grade construction with radiant heat system embedded in the slab; a flat roof; an open-plan interior; varied ceiling heights on the interior; built-in furniture; and 3 large scale fireplaces with a central hearth. The limestone for the house was quarried by the owners on the property. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

The Last Wright is an American documentary film released in 2008. It focuses on the only surviving hotel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was produced by Travelfilm Company and McMar Ltd/28, was written by Garry McGee and Lucille Carra, and directed by Lucille Carra. It was researched and filmed over a seven-year period, the film is the only video record of the distressed condition of the hotel. The film explores the history of the Mason City Bank and Hotel Commission (1908) as well as the struggles of the rural city of Mason City, Iowa to restore the Park Inn Hotel, which, along with the City National Bank, was a rare example of a Prairie School style mixed-use structure by Wright.

The Keland House, also known as the Keland-Johnson House, located in Racine, Wisconsin, in the United States, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1954, almost 50 years after he designed the Thomas P. Hardy House in Racine. It is currently known as the Boyd Home.

References

  1. "Cedar Rock State Park". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey. January 1, 2000. Retrieved February 25, 2011.