Frank Lloyd Wright’s birthday is Saturday, June 8. Arguably one of the greatest American architects, he spent his adolescence in Madison (attending UW-Madison) and in nearby Spring Green during the height of his career.
To see some of his work, you don’t have to go far:
Robert M. Lamp House, 22 N. Butler St.
Built in 1903 for Wright’s childhood friend, this house was made of cream-colored brick, which he also used on his own home and studio in Oak Park, Illinois.
Walter and Mary Ellen Rudin House, 110 Marinette Trail
Completed in 1959 for UW-Madison mathematicians, this home was a prefab design as part of his larger Usonian project.
Eugene A. Gilmore House, 120 Ely Place
An embodiment of the Prairie School style of architecture, the house features horizontal lines, natural materials, and cantilevers.
First Unitarian Meeting House, 900 University Bay Dr.
Wright identified as Unitarian throughout his life. He designed this unique church for Madison in 1951. Decades earlier, in 1908, he designed a Unity Temple for the Unitarians in Oak Park, Illinois in 1908.
Monona Terrace, 1 John Nolen Dr.
Wright died before Madison’s iconic Monona Terrace came to be. Designed in 1938, his vision wasn’t finally completed until 1992.
Bonus: though he designed a boathouse for the UW-Madison it never was built here, but was in Buffalo, New York
If you want to go further afield, follow the Frank Lloyd Wright Trail.
