Frank Lloyd Wright was born on the 8th of June 1867 in Richland Center, Wisconsin. His mother Anna Lloyd Jones believed her first child would grow up to build beautiful buildings. She decorated his nursery with engravings of English cathedrals torn from periodicals to nurture the child's ambition. In 1876, Anna discovered an exhibit of educational blocks called the Froebel Gifts. The nine-year-old Wright spent much time playing with these geometrically shaped wooden maple blocks. He later described sitting at a little kindergarten table-top and playing with the cube, sphere, and triangle. These smooth wooden maple blocks remained in his fingers to this day according to his autobiography. The blocks could be assembled in various combinations to form two- and three-dimensional compositions. This early play became the foundation of his design philosophy for decades to come.
Prairie Style Development
By 1901, Frank Lloyd Wright had completed about fifty projects including many houses in Oak Park. Two houses identified as the onset of the Prairie Style were the Hickox House and Bradley House. Meanwhile, the Thomas House and Willits House received recognition as the first mature examples of the new style. Wright gave his new ideas widespread awareness through articles in Ladies' Home Journal published in February and July 1901. Although neither affordable house plan was ever constructed, he received increased requests for similar designs in following years. By 1909, Wright began rejecting the upper-middle-class Prairie Style single-family house model. He shifted focus to more democratic architecture. The Robie House featured extended cantilevered roof lines supported by a 110-foot-long channel of steel. Its living and dining areas formed virtually one uninterrupted space. Prairie Style houses often combined features like low-pitched roofs with broad overhanging eaves and strong horizontal lines. They included ribbons of windows and a prominent central chimney. Built-in stylized cabinetry used natural materials especially stone and wood.