When you build a custom home you have the unique opportunity to choose interior and exterior designs that match your personal needs and style. Even when you’re building within a community that follows a certain architectural bent, you can add subtleties that make your home something extraordinary.

In recent months, we’re finding a good deal more interest in “Prairie Style” architecture—a style pioneered by Frank Lloyd Wright in the early 1900s that became known as the Prairie School.

Characteristics of the modern Prairie Style include:

Strong horizontal lines
Low-pitched or flat roofs
Overhanging eaves
Groupings of windows
Clerestory windows
Prominent chimneys
Open interiors
Integrations with its landscape

Above, to show you how those details might translate to a contemporary design, I’ve juxtaposed a photograph of the Frederick B. Carter, Jr. House designed in 1910 by Walter Burley Griffin, a protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright, with a modern home that clearly was influenced by the Prairie School style. (That’s a stock image for illustration purposes, not one of our builds.)

“Architecture is the triumph of human imagination over materials, methods, and men, to put man into possession of his own Earth.” Frank Lloyd Wright

Those same hints translate comfortably into a homes interior design as well. We’re building more homes with bold lines, minimal interior trim, clean shapes, groupings of windows and window walls, and other details that speak to what has been characterized as the first uniquely American architectural style.

If you’re interested in more about the Prairie School, Hänsel Hernández-Navarro offers an excellent introduction to the style on Circa.com HERE  And The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust fills in further details HERE

Architecture is a complex art. The best of it draws on history, builds on function, honors its setting, and communicates its owner’s style. When we touch each of those corners, the outcome can’t help but be unique.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts about the Prairie Style and how you think it fits out local setting—please email your thoughts to info@whywalker.com or join us on Facebook.

If you’d like to explore the idea of building a custom home in the Richmond area, please call me or drop me an email. My team and I look forward to the possibility of working with you.