Prairie House Plans

Living in a welcoming home in a lovely setting is the American dream. Maybe you have country farm house plans of your own after seeing television shows featuring old-time family life. The rich history of prairie style homes makes them a modern delight.

Updated prairie homes were originally built in the early 1900s by world famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. He designed prairie houses to blend into the flatter prairie landscape. The homes got their name after 1901 when Wright's plan entitled "A Home in a Prairie Town" in Ladies Home Journal.

The original prairie houses were made of plaster with wood trim. Some prairie style houses were sided with horizontal batten and board. Now prairie style homes use concrete block. They can be square, T-shaped, Y-shaped, L-shaped or shaped like a pinwheel.

Prairie house plans typically include certain features. A prairie style home is recognized by its low-pitched roof, horizontal lines, overhanging eaves, central chimney, claerestory windows and an open floor plan. Wright designed prairie homes because he felt the rooms in Victorian houses were confining and boxed-in. Leaded glass panels often divide the rooms for a more open, spacious feeling.

Many consider the Frederic C. Robie House the finest example of the Frank Lloyd Wright prairie style. The Frederic C. Robie House was built in Chicago in 1909. The Frank W. Thomas House in Oak Park, Illinois is considered to be Wright's first prairie house and was also one of he first times he used stucco.

Prairie style houses actually used Japanese architecture. Flowing interior areas and long, banded windows create geometric shapes and patterns. The low-lying design is meant to integrate right into the surrounding landscapes. Wright believed homes should exist in harmony with nature. Prairie house floor plans are designed so they will not intrude on the landscapes around them.

Prairie houses were the first American architecture style that was seriously considered in Europe. This attractive house design remains popular throughout the United States. Unbelievably, Wright never even attended architecture school. Wright's down-to-earth beginnings were working on his uncle's farm during his childhood.

Wright enjoyed a 70-year career and extremely designed 1,141 buildings of all sorts. Of all these designs, 532 were completed and 409 are standing today. Wright realized how noticeable his work was and stated, "The physicist can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his clients to plant vines."

Other architects designed variations of the prairie style house. The American foursquare style is also known as a Prairie Box. In 1936, Wright designed a simplified version of prairie style houses called Usonian. A modern prairie style house is a luxurious oasis tucked away in lush landscapes.