The characteristic low slung Prairie house floor plans style with its emphasis on open spaces was developed in the American Midwest by Frank Lloyd Wright, whose premise was that homes should serve people's real needs without being ostentatious or showy. Wright was reacting to the architectural excess of the Victorian architectural style, and he was deeply influenced by the nineteenth century Arts and Crafts movement. Whereas the typical Victorian style home had many little rooms, Wright's open Prairie style was a direct assault on this box-like thinking. Wright conceived that the entire ground floor should be one room, to create a flow within the house. The appearance of the outside of the house took its form from what was going on inside the house, rather than dictated it. This style is named "Prairie" from Wright's 1901 building plans published in A House in a Prairie Town. The style quickly caught on among other architects, especially in and around Chicago, and it inspired the America Foursquare style.
Distinguishing features of Prairie style home plans include the horizontal lines and orientation inspired by Japanese prints and architecture. The homes emphasize the flow of space through the house, and from inside to outside. Wright viewed homes as promoting family life, so Prairie homes were usually centered on the dining and living rooms. Prairie homes featured open, flowing space for entertaining. Wide views of the outdoors were obtained from rows of large windows placed together to form a glass wall. Wright favored organic patterns, such as the geometric patterns on window dividers which resembled wheat plants. Everything in a Prairie home was oriented horizontally, such as the bricks, the trim, and the cedar siding. Wright rejected the overwrought and frivolous Victoria style of decorating, so Prairie homes featured built in furniture, and simple and functional decoration. Another Wright hallmark is the use of simple materials and natural stains, in order to allow the wood's character to show through. Prairie homes featured flat, cantilevered roofs with large, straight overhangs - up to four feet wide.
The chief drawback of Prairie house plans is that Wright favored a living- or dining- area centered house, whereas most modern families prefer a kitchen-centered house. This means opening the kitchen area to the rest of the house, and designing the house around appliances. However, the original homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright - of which there are several hundred around the U.S. - are extremely expensive to buy, and very few of them come onto the market in a given year. Most of the existing Prairie homes are located in the Midwest, where the style began, especially in Wisconsin and Illinois. The tradition is being carried on by the Taliesin School of Architecture in Wisconsin and Arizona.
By:Alice Lane
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