Frank Lloyd Wright, the best-known American architect of the twentieth century, enjoyed a 70-year career in which his designs emerged across the American landscape as new standards in style. Born in Wisconsin in 1867 and closely associated with the work he did in Chicago—as well as the exemplary designs of Pennsylvania’s Fallingwater and other notable residences—Wright’s work soon reached across the country as couples commissioned him to design their homes. The structures he imagined became exemplary expressions of his architectural ideals, and a portion of those homes can be found in the Southern states. The region is home to Wright’s Prairie style homes as well as those with features that are identified with the architect’s Usonian period. A unifying theme is that these homes emerge organically from the landscape and work within their natural surroundings, making them stunning to behold (some are open for tours) and inspiring to live in. Below are twenty of the architect’s houses located in the South.
1. Andrew B. Cooke House
Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Designed in 1953 and constructed in 1959, the Andrew B. Cooke House is one of the last homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Construction began in 1959, weeks before the architect’s death at age 91. It is one of three Wright-designed buildings in Virginia and has a semi-circle layout that overlooks Crystal Lake.
2. Bachman-Wilson House at Crystal Bridges
Location: Bentonville, Arkansas
Originally built in New Jersey in 1954, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art acquired the Bachman-Wilson House (pictured above) in 2013 and relocated it to Bentonville, Arkansas. You can find an audio tour of the property at crystalbridges.org.
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3. Broad Margin
Location: Greenville, South Carolina
Frank Lloyd Wright designed Broad Margin in 1951, and it was built in 1954. The walls and large chimney are constructed of stone native to the area. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
4. Fountainhead
Location: Jackson, Mississippi
Another of Wright’s Usonian homes, Fountainhead is located in Jackson, Mississippi, and was designed in 1948. It is also known as the J. Willis Hughes House.
5. Frank Bott Residence
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Designed in 1957 and built between 1961-1963, this Wright home has views of the Missouri River and the Kansas City skyline. The building incorporates field stone, mahogany wood, and desert red concrete.
6. Gillin Residence
Location: Dallas, Texas
Wright designed this Usonian home in 1950, and it was built in 1958. It’s the last home constructed before Wright’s death in April 1959.
7. Laurel
Location: Wilmington, Delaware
Laurel, also known as the Dudley Spencer House, was designed by Wright in 1956 and constructed between 1956 and 1961. It’s located in Wilmington, Delaware, and incorporates fieldstone throughout the structure.
8. Leigh Stevens House
Location: Yemassee, South Carolina
The Wright designs of C. Leigh Stevens House, also known as Auldbrass Plantation, are constructed of cypress, a wood native to the area, and echo the shapes of oak trees found on the property. Construction was completed in 1987, long after Wright’s death.
9. Lewis Spring House
Location: Tallahassee, Florida
The Lewis Spring House (pictured above) was designed for Clifton and George Lewis, who met Wright in 1950 at Florida Southern College. The Tallahassee home was built in 1954 and is the only Wright-designed private residence in the state. It’s also one of two “pod-shaped” homes designed by Wright.
10. Marden House
Location: McLean, Virginia
This Wright home was designed in 1953 and constructed in 1959 for Luis and Ethel Marden. Also known as Fontinalis, the Marden House (pictured above) incorporates concrete blocks and has views of the Potomac River. It is part of a larger estate in McLean, Virginia.
11. Pope-Leighey House
Location: Alexandria, Virginia
Now owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Pope-Leighey House (also known as the Loren B. Pope Residence, pictured above) was commissioned in 1939 and constructed in Falls Church, Virginia. It was subsequently relocated to the grounds of Woodlawn Plantation in Alexandria.
12. Rev. Jesse R. Zeigler House
Location: Frankfurt, Kentucky
This home, which is located in Franklin County, Kentucky, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright during the summer of 1910. It’s in the Prairie Style and is the only Wright-designed building found in Kentucky.
13. Robert Llewellyn Wright House
Location: Bethesda, Maryland
This Bethesda home is composed of concrete blocks and mahogany. The architecture incorporates concentric circles often used by Wright in his hemicycle designs.
14. Rosenbaum House
Location: Florence, Alabama
Alabama’s only Wright-designed home is the Rosenbaum House (pictured above), which is located in Florence. The L-shaped home was built for Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum in 1940 and is one of only 26 Usonian homes built before World War II.
15. Russell and Ruth Kraus House
Location: Kirkwood, Missouri
Wright designed the Kraus House in 1950 for Russell and Ruth Goetz Kraus. Built of tidewater red cypress and molded brick, it’s one of Wright’s last Usonian designs and still has its original furnishings.
16. Seamour and Gerte Shavin House
Location: Chattanooga, Tennessee
This Wright-designed home is in the Usonian style. It’s located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and was completed in 1952. It’s built of cypress and crab orchard stone, which makes up the distinctive stonework on the exterior of the home.
17. Sondern-Adler House
The Sondern-Adler House, also known as Clarence Sondern House, was built in 1939 in Kansas City’s Roanoke neighborhood.
18. Theodore and Bette Pappas House
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
One of two St. Louis-area homes designed by Wright, this structure was designed in 1955 and is made of concrete blocks tinted with terracotta. It’s located in the St. Louis suburb of Town and Country, Missouri. Construction began in 1960, after Wright’s death.
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19. Westhope
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Westhope, also known as the Richard L. Jones House, is a Wright design located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was built in 1929.
20. William L. Thaxton Jr. House
Location: Bunker Hill Village, Texas
This home is the only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed residential project in the city. The diamond-shaped structure is in the Usonian style and was designed in 1954 and constructed the following year.