James Caulfield
Widely considered one of America’s greatest architects, Midwest native Frank Lloyd Wright had a prolific career, designing 1,114 architectural works—532 of which were realized. One of his most important residential buildings, the Robie House in Chicago, is emblematic of his signature Prairie-style architecture, characterized as “a long, low, open plan structure that eschewed the typical high, straight-sided box in order to emphasize the horizontal line of the prairie and domesticity,” according to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
Fans of the famed architect can now explore this game-changing home in the new book “Robie House: A Frank Lloyd Wright Masterpiece” penned by Patrick F. Cannon with photo-
graphy by James Caulfield.
The iconic home was originally completed in 1910 then meticulously restored and reintroduced to the world in 2019. The book details the history of the Robie House—a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of eight buildings by Wright to be designated as such—and its groundbreaking design. It also includes all-new photography of the restoration, which illuminates Wright’s original vision.
“The Robie House, where I gave guided tours for many years, is often considered the finest example of the architect’s Prairie period, which was the first purely American domestic architectural style,” Cannon explains. “Although the ubiquitous ranch and even split-level houses of today owe much to Wright, more faithful Prairie designs have also had a revival, and still look as modern as ever.”
This new book is the tenth Cannon and Caulfield have worked on together, and which explore Chicago area architects and architecture, including four exclusively on Frank Lloyd Wright. The duo has also been awarded four Gold Medal in Architecture honors at the Independent Publisher Book Awards.
“Robie House: A Frank Lloyd Wright Masterpiece” is distributed by University of
Minnesota press and can be purchased at upress.umn.edu.
Want more Prairie-style architecture? Read “Prairie Blossoms: The Restoration of a Historic St. Paul Home“
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