Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian House Plans
What is a Usonian Home?
The Usonian houses were the result of architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s goal to design a simple, modern, affordable home for the masses. The first Usonian home, Jacobs 1, was built in Madison, WI, in 1936. The last Usonian house was completed after Wright’s death in 1959. Usonian homes were the prototypes for the ranch style homes that have since proliferated across the suburban United States.
The Lindal Imagine Series consists of respectful modern translations of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian homes, developed in partnership with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and the School of Architecture at Taliesin. Wright originally designed the Usonian house plans because of his desire to provide custom residences to the middle class. He believed that beautiful architect-designed homes should be available to more than the wealthy, and that living in a beautiful home could positively influence the homeowners.
Usonian House Design Principles
The first Usonian homes were built in the 1930s. They are the precursor of traditional home designs such as the ranch house. The Frank Lloyd Wright house plans emphasize both beauty and functionality. Blueprints for Usonian homes have several design features in common. The homes have low-pitched roofs. This creates a streamlined modern profile. The roofs have deep overhangs to blur the distinction between indoors and outdoors and protect the home and its residents from the elements. Usonian homes are constructed of natural materials such as wood and stone. Many Usonian house plans are single-level designs with modest entryways that open into dramatic, open floor plan interiors. Wright designed these homes to blend in with their surroundings, in accordance with his principles of “organic architecture”. Lindal’s Imagine Series homes unite the timeless design principles of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian houses with current developments in technology, construction and design theory. Select one of our Usonian house plans to build a beautiful, functional home that expresses the way people live today.
“The architect should strive continually to simplify; the ensemble of the rooms should then be carefully considered that comfort and utility may go hand in hand with beauty.”
-Frank Lloyd Wright
