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The American Prairie Style (1890 - 1918)

Frank Lloyd Wright was the creator of the prairie style. The ideas and principles of the Prairie School of Architecture evolved out of the inspirational and philosophical teachings of Louis Sullivan and were realized on the drafting boards of the shared drafting room loft of the Steinway Piano Company Building in Chicago, Illinois beginning in the 1890’s. Following the lead of Frank Lloyd Wright, were a group of architects and artisans that over the course of the next 25 years worked and shared ideas together that developed into a style of architecture that was unique to America. Through the turn of the century, Wright's distinctively personal style was evolving, and his work in these years foreshadowed his so-called "prairie style," a term deriving from the publication in 1901 of "A Home in a Prairie Town" which he designed for the Ladies' Home Journal.
Prairie houses were characterized by low, horizontal lines that were meant to blend with the flat landscape around them. Typically, these structures were built around a central chimney, consisted of broad open spaces instead of strictly defined rooms, and deliberately blurred the distinction between interior space and the surrounding terrain. Wright acclaimed "the new reality that is space instead of matter" and, about architectural interiors, said that the "reality of a building is not the container but the space within." The W.W. Willits house, built in Highland Park, Illinois in 1902, was the first house that embodied all the elements of the prairie style. His masterpiece of the prairie style is the Robie House, built in Chicago in 1909.
Wright did not aspire simply to design a house, but to create a complete environment, and he often dictated the details of the interior. He designed stained glass, fabrics, furniture, carpet and the accessories of the house. Legend has it that, in at least one case, he even designed the gowns of his client's wife.The controlling factor was seldom the wishes of the individual client, but Wright's belief that buildings strongly influence the people who inhabit them. He believed that "the architect is a molder of men, whether or not he consciously assumes the responsibility."

Construction of the Frederick C. Robie House began in 1908 and was completed the following year. The house was built on a narrow corner lot in Chicago and is considered Wright's best expression of the Prairie style masonry structure. Built at a cost of sixty thousand dollars, the house was commissioned by a successful young inventor who asked Wright to incorporate the newest technology in his design for a contemporary house that had everything in it, from furnishings to modern utilities. Robie House is a national landmark and has been designated by the American Institute of Architects as one of seventeen buildings designed by Wright to be retained as an example of his architectural contribution to American culture. Called "the house of the century" by House and Home magazine in 1958, Robie House is now owned by the University of Chicago.