10 Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings We Love
“The good building is not one that hurts the landscape, but one which makes the landscape more beautiful than it was before the building was built.”—Frank Lloyd Wright
The leader of the Prairie School movement of architecture, Wright was an American architect who designed structures that were in harmony with their environment—a philosophy he called organic architecture. We’ve rounded up ten of Frank Lloyd Wright’s modernist structures that we love—all of which seem just as contemporary today as they did when they were originally built.
Frank Lloyd Wright in 1954.
Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia
Fallingwater
Mill Run, Pennsylvania
The legendary Fallingwater residence, a masterpiece in concrete, steel, and glass, is built with three levels that project over a 30-foot waterfall.
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Often considered one of Wright’s greatest masterpieces and his most iconic work, Fallingwater was built as three levels that are engulfed in nature, and sit over a 30-foot waterfall in Mill Run, Pennsylvania.
The Seth Peterson Cottage
Reedsburg, Wisconsin
With a chimney that rises more than two stories, the Seth Peterson Cottage features an angled roof that frames views to the west and south.
Courtesy of Modern in Denver Magazine
This Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building is actually a rental. Located on a bucolic Wisconsin lakeside, the modernist cabin packs a lot into only 880 square feet and could be your very own chance to stay in a Wright abode.
Hollyhock House
Los Angeles, California
In an attempt to create a strong connection to nature, Wright incorporated outdoor sleeping porches on all five of the bays.
Photo: Emma Geiszler
Wright’s first L.A. project, the construction of the iconic Hollyhock House, was filled with all the drama of Hollywood. Built between 1919 and 1921 for Aline Barnsdall, a wealthy oil heiress—Wright used an open concept plan and incorporated outdoor sleeping porches in an attempt to create a strong connection to nature. It was an experimental and forward-thinking design element that both Richard Neutra and Rudolph Schindler eventually also adapted into their L.A. designs. Surprisingly enough, it was never actually lived in.
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
New York, New York
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, photographed in 1959. Gelatin silver print.
Photo Courtesy of Carnegie Museum of Art, Copyright Ezra Stoller/Esto, Yossi Milo Gallery
Wright’s last major work—and one of his most iconic—sadly didn’t open until six months after the architect’s death. Nevertheless, the Guggenheim Museum is one of the most important pieces of American architecture and is considered to be Wright’s most important contribution.
The Burnham Houses
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The only grouping of Frank Lloyd Wright's early American System-Built Homes—built by Arthur Richards and designed with standardized components for mass appeal to moderate-income families—is situated in the Burnham Park neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The four model 7A duplexes, one model B1 bungalow (shown here), and model C3 bungalow were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
Photo via McNees.org
The half-dozen duplexes and bungalows known as the American System-Built Homes, were built between 1915 and 1917 in the Burnham Park neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Constructed with precut factory lumber to save on labor costs, the homes were Wright’s first attempts at architecture for moderate-income families.
Taliesin West
Scottsdale, Arizona
Taliesin West, 1939.
Photo: Pedro E. Guerrero
Now the main campus of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, Taliesin West was Wright’s winter home in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Taliesin (1911)
Spring Green, Wisconsin
Wright's home and studio, rebuilt after two fires, is a peaceful retreat that demonstrates the architect's graceful merging of architecture and landscape.
The site of Wright’s primary studio and his summer home, Taliesin was built on the land of his childhood home in Spring Green, Wisconsin. The name Taliesin was derived from the Welsh term for radiant or shining brow, as the main housing complex was built on a hill that overlooked the land. Rebuilt twice during Wright’s lifetime, it’s one of the structures that’s most commonly associated with the architect.
Robie House
Chicago, Illinois
The Frederick C. Robie house seen from the south elevation in Chicago, Illinois.
The Frederick C. Robie house established a new concept for open-plan living that no longer relied on walls to designate the interior spaces, and is one of the best examples of Wright’s Prairie style.
The Yodokō Guest House
Hyogo, Japan
Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Yodokō Guest House to be a second home for Tazaemon Yamamura, an eight-generation brewer of of Sakuramasamune sake.
While Frank Lloyd Wright’s fascination with Japan was well known, the architect was also a collector and dealer of Japanese prints. The Yodokō Guest House was built as a summer villa for Tazaemon Yamamura, a prosperous sake brewer, and set in the hills overlooking the Port of Kobe. It’s the only surviving Wright residence in Japan. Reminiscent of Wright’s Los Angeles residences—this home demonstrates his genius for spacial composition, while creating a dialog between his organic style and traditional Japanese home design.
The Goetsch-Winckler House
Okemos, Michigan
Photo by Steve Vorderman
Located on a 1.7-acre triangular-shaped lot in a residential neighborhood in Michigan, this one-story Usonian house is a Wright classic.
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Frank Lloyd Wright: Meet the Architect!
The life and work of visionary American architect Frank Lloyd Wright launches our new activity book series, Meet the Architect!, an expansion of our Meet the Artist! series. Flaps, cutouts, and pull tabs, take readers on a fascinating journey through Wright’s famous works—the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Fallingwater, and Taliesin, among others—and the materials and techniques he used to create them. This hands-on introduction will inspire budding architects from ages eight to eighty. Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press Photo Courtesy of Chronicle Books
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