![\"Frank](\"http:\/\/perrellas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Frank-Lloyd-Wright-Rosenbaum-House.jpg\" "\\"Frank")
<\/a><\/p>\nThis Usonian house, designed in 1939 as the first of Wrights middle class friendly series, was the precursor to tract homes. The word \u201cUsonian\u201d house, a Wright acronym for The United States of North America, was designed to feature the typical flat roof, small kitchen, overlarge living area and airy plain-Jane aesthetic of his attempt to give Americans a well-designed affordable home, complete with furnishings.<\/p>\n
Beautifully designed, I was a little taken aback with the minimalist furnishings all made from plywood. Still remarkable, it\u2019s walls were made of beautiful Cypress wood and other hard woods, brass hardware throughout, amazing sculptured windows bringing in natural light, copper screens on the sprawling banks of windowed doors and utilitarian storage areas. The house had radiant heat floors and fireplaces for warmth. Cooling was natural air flow from countless strategically placed screened windows and doors.<\/p>\n This was my first look at his 1936 Usonian prototypes. The massive structures of his designs in California, where I had seen several as a young adult, were built for the wealthy populace. I was not aware that he was interested in designing affordable homes on a massive scale for the American middle class.<\/p>\n The Rosenbaum\u2019s were the sole owners and occupants of the \u201cL\u201d shaped home until 1999, when it was purchased by the City of Florence and restored at a cost of over $700,000. The original 1939 cost of the 1,540 square feet and furnished home was $12,000. Built as a single story, in 1948 the household grew to include four sons and Wright designed another \u201cL\u201d shaped 1,084 addition for $45,000. Mr. Rosenbaum\u2019s parents lived across the street (pictured behind the house) and his father teased him relentlessly asking \u201cwhen are you putting on a roof?\u201d.<\/p>\n The American Institute of Architects regarded Wright as the greatest American architect of all time, while a dozen of his buildings appear on Architectural Record\u2019s list of the 100 most important buildings of the 20th<\/sup> century. Our tour guide commented that one of Wright\u2019s plywood chairs, similar to the ones in the house, auctioned off recently for $35,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With Tiffin repairs complete, we were free to wake at our leisure and play tourist for the next few days. KatieBug tagged along with us to Florence so John and I could tour the Rosenbaum House designed by Frank Lloyd … Continue reading <\/a>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n