Usonia () is a word that was used by American architect

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

to refer to the United States in general (in preference to ''America''), and more specifically to his vision for the landscape of the country, including the planning of cities and the architecture of buildings. Wright proposed the use of the adjective ''Usonian'' to describe the particular

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

character of the American landscape as distinct and free of previous architectural conventions.

Usonian houses

"Usonian" usually refers to a group of approximately 60 middle-income family homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright beginning in 1934 with the Willey House, with most considering the

Herbert and Katherine Jacobs First House Herbert and Katherine Jacobs First House, commonly referred to as Jacobs I, is a single family home located at 441 Toepfer Avenue in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Designed by noted American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, it was constructed ...

, 1937, to be the first true "Usonian." The "Usonian Homes" are typically small, single-story dwellings without a garage or much storage. They are often L-shaped to fit around a garden terrace on unusual and inexpensive sites. They are characterized by native materials; flat roofs and large

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...

ed overhangs for passive

solar heating A solar thermal collector collects heat by absorbing sunlight. The term "solar collector" commonly refers to a device for solar hot water heating, but may refer to large power generating installations such as solar parabolic troughs and sola ...

and natural cooling; natural lighting with

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

windows; and

radiant-floor heating Underfloor heating and cooling is a form of central heating and cooling that achieves indoor climate control for thermal comfort using hydronic or electrical heating elements embedded in a floor. Heating is achieved by conduction, radiation and ...

. Another distinctive feature is that they typically have little exposure to the front/'public' side, while the rear/'private' sides are completely open to the outside. A strong visual connection between the interior and exterior spaces is an important characteristic of all Usonian homes. The word

carport A carport is a covered structure used to offer limited protection to vehicles, primarily cars, from rain and snow. The structure can either be free standing or attached to a wall. Unlike most structures, a carport does not have four walls, and us ...

was coined by Wright to describe an overhang for sheltering a parked vehicle. The

Usonia Historic District Usonia Historic District was a planned community and is now a national historic district located in Town of Mount Pleasant, adjacent to the village of Pleasantville, Westchester County, New York. In 1945, a rural tract was purchased by a cooper ...

is a planned community in Pleasantville, New York built in the 1950s following this concept. Wright designed 3 of the 47 homes himself. Variants of the Jacobs House design are still in existence today. The Usonian design is considered among the aesthetic origins of the

ranch-style house Ranch (also known as American ranch, California ranch, rambler, or rancher) is a domestic architectural style that originated in the United States. The ranch-style house is noted for its long, close-to-the-ground profile, and wide open layout. ...

popular in the American west of the 1950s. According to plans that Wright created in 1939,

Florida Southern College Florida Southern College (Florida Southern, Southern or FSC) is a private college in Lakeland, Florida. In 2019, the student population at FSC consisted of 3,073 students along with 130 full-time faculty members. The college offers 50 undergradu ...

constructed in 2013 the 13th Wright building on their campus. The building includes textile-block construction, colored glass in perforated concrete blocks, Wright photographs, a documentary film about the architect's work at the school, and furniture designed by Wright. Named the "Usonian House", it was originally designed as one of twenty faculty housing units. The building is home to the

Sharp Family Tourism and Education Center The Sharp Family Tourism and Education Center is a posthumous addition to Frank Lloyd Wright's Child of the Sun collection at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. Wright oversaw the construction of twelve buildings on Florida Southern's ca ...

, a visitor center for guests visiting campus to see the collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings known as Child of the Sun.

Origin of the word

The word ''Usonian'' appears to have been coined by James Duff Law, a Scottish writer born in 1865. In a miscellaneous collection, ''Here and There in Two Hemispheres'' (1903), Law quoted a letter of his own (dated June 18, 1903) that begins "We of the United States, in justice to Canadians and Mexicans, have no right to use the title 'Americans' when referring to matters pertaining exclusively to ourselves." He went on to acknowledge that some author had proposed "Usona", but that he preferred the form "Usonia". Perhaps the earliest published use by Wright was in 1927: However, this may be a misattribution, as there is as yet no other published evidence that Butler ever used the word. José F. Buscaglia-Salgado reclaims the term ''Usonian'' to refer to the peoples,

national ideology Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: T ...

and neo-imperial tradition of the United States of America. Miguel Torres-Castro uses the term ''Usonian'' to refer to the origin of the

Atlantic puffin The Atlantic puffin ('), also known as the common puffin, is a species of seabird in the auk family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean; two related species, the tufted puffin and the horned puffin is found in the northeastern ...

used in the children's book ''Jupu the Puffin: A Usonian Story''. The bird is a puffin from

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...

, US.

Noted Usonian houses

Precursor to Usonians

* Malcolm Willey House 1934,

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origi ...

*Peters-Margedant House* 1934,

University of Evansville The University of Evansville (UE) is a private university in Evansville, Indiana. It was founded in 1854 as Moores Hill College. The university operates a satellite center, Harlaxton College, in Grantham, England. UE offers more than 80 differ ...

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city i ...

. * Benjamin Rebhuhn House 1937, Great Neck Estates, New York Goetsch Winckler House, 2009

Bernard Schwartz House Still Bend Two Rivers Wisconsin Jan 2013

View of window wall looking into house - day

Usonian Houses

, "Jacobs I," 1937,

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th ...

* Paul and Jean Hanna House, "Honeycomb House," 1937,

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

* Andrew F.H. Armstrong House 1939, Ogden Dunes, Indiana * Joseph Euchtman House 1939,

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...

* Bernard Schwartz House 1939,

Two Rivers, Wisconsin Two Rivers is a city in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 11,712 at the 2010 census. It is the birthplace of the ice cream sundae (though other cities, such as Ithaca, New York, make the same claim). The city's adver ...

George Sturges House The George Sturges House is a single-family house, designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built for George D. Sturges in the Brentwood Heights neighborhood of Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. Designed and built in 1939, the one-story re ...

1939,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

* John and Ruth Pew House 1939, Shorewood Hills, Wisconsin * Hause House 1939,

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, makin ...

Sidney Bazett House The Sidney Bazett House, also known as the Bazett-Frank House, is a Usonia, Usonian-style home on 101 Reservoir Road in Hillsborough, California, United States, designed in 1939 by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Sidney Bazett wrote to the ...

(also known as the Bazett-Frank House) 1940 Hillsborough, California * Goetsch–Winckler House 1940, Okemos, Michigan * Gregor S. and Elizabeth B. Affleck House 1940

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern border with the city of Bir ...

* Rosenbaum House 1940,

Florence, Alabama Florence is a city in, and the county seat of, Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the state's northwestern corner. It is situated along the Tennessee River and is home to the University of North Alabama, the oldest college in the ...

* Theodore Baird Residence 1940,

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,263, making it the highest populated municipality in Hampshire County (although the county seat ...

* Clarence Sondern House 1940,

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the List of United States cities by populat ...

* Pope–Leighey House 1941,

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C. In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...

* Stuart Richardson House 1941 (built 1951)

Glen Ridge, New Jersey Glen Ridge is a borough in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough’s population was 7,802, reflecting an increase of 275 (+3.7%) from the 2010 census count of 7,527,

* Alvin Miller House (also known as the Alvin and Inez Miller residence) 1946,

Charles City, Iowa Charles City is a city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Iowa. Charles City is a significant commercial and transportation center for the area. U.S. Routes 18 and 218, Iowa Highway 14, and the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific rai ...

* Erling P. Brauner House 1948, Okemos, Michigan * Usonia Homes, Pleasantville, New York ::* Sol Friedman House 1949 ::* Edward Serlin House 1951 ::* Roland Reisley House 1951 * Melvyn Maxwell and Sara Stein Smith House 1949, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan * Robert and Rae Levin House 1949,

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropoli ...

* Weltzheimer/Johnson House 1949,

Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, 31 miles southwest of Cleveland. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students. The town is the birthplace of th ...

* Donald Schaberg House 1950, Okemos, Michigan * Karl A. Staley House 1950,

North Madison, Ohio North Madison is a census-designated place (CDP) comprising the unincorporated communities of Redbird and Madison-on-the-Lake in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 8,547 at the 2010 census. The CDP is located north of the unin ...

* J.A. Sweeton Residence 1950,

Cherry Hill, New Jersey Cherry Hill is a township within Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a population of 74,553, which reflected an increase of 3,508 (+4.94%) from the 71,045 counted in the 2010 census.< ...

* Lowell and Agnes Walter House 1950, Quasqueton, Iowa * Kraus House 1950,

Kirkwood, Missouri Kirkwood is an inner-ring western suburb of St. Louis located in St. Louis County, Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 27,540. Founded in 1853, the city is named after James P. Kirkwood, builder of the Pacific Railroad ...

* Kenneth and Phyllis Laurent House 1951,

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). ...

* Nathan Rubin House 1951,

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes an ...

* Muirhead Farmhouse 1951,

Hampshire, Illinois Hampshire is a village in Kane County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 5,563, and as of 2018 the estimated population was 6,324. Geography Hampshire is located in northwestern Kane County at . Most of the vi ...

* Zimmerman House 1951,

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Ha ...

John D. Haynes House The John D. Haynes House is a house in Fort Wayne, Indiana, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The house is a small and modest Usonian design in glass, red tidewater cypress, and Chicago Common Brick on a red concrete slab. The gallery is offset ...

1952,

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

* Frank S. Sander House 1952,

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 202 ...

Kentuck Knob Kentuck Knob, also known as the Hagan House, is a house designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in rural Stewart Township near the village of Chalk Hill, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, USA, southeast of Pittsburgh. It was designat ...

1953,

Stewart Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania Stewart Township is a township in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 619 at the 2020 census. Stonerville and Kaufmann are the only villages in this very rural township, which ...

* John and Syd Dobkins House 1953, Canton, Ohio * Bachman–Wilson House 1954, Millstone, New Jersey * Ellis Feiman House 1954, Canton, Ohio * John E. Christian House "

Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara rivers, with a population ...

" 1954,

West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister cit ...

* J. Willis Hughes house "Fountainhead", 1954,

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...

* William L. Thaxton Jr. House 1955,

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

* Louis Penfield House 1955, Willoughby Hills, Ohio * Cedric G. and Patricia Neils Boulter House 1956,

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

Dudley Spencer House The Dudley Spencer House, also called Laurel, is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed Usonian home in Wilmington, Delaware. Wright designed this home in 1956 and named it "Laurel". This house is of the hemicycle design, and is built of irregularly c ...

1956,

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Unami language, Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North ...

* Donald C. Duncan House 1957, Donegal, Pennsylvania (dismantled and relocated from its original location in

Lisle, Illinois Lisle ( ) is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,390 at the 2010 census, and in 2019 the population was recorded to be 23,270. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Illinois Technology and Resea ...

) * Evelyn and Conrad Gordon House 1957, Wilsonville, Oregon (later moved to Silverton, Oregon) * Lovness House and Cottage 1957,

Stillwater, Minnesota Stillwater is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Washington County. It is in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, on the west bank of the St. Croix River (Wisconsin-Minnesota), St. Croix River, across from H ...

* Robert H. Sunday House 1957,

Marshalltown, Iowa Marshalltown is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, Iowa, United States, located along the Iowa River. It is the seat and most populous settlement of Marshall County and the 16th largest city in Iowa, with a population of 27,591 at ...

* John Gillin Residence 1958,

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, Texas * Paul J. and Ida Trier House 1958, Johnston, Iowa Rosenbaum House Rear Pano

Usonian Automatic Houses

The Usonian Automatic houses were made with concrete blocks. An attempt on the part of Wright to further lower the cost of housing, the clients could actually be involved in the creation of the blocks and thus the construction of the building (such as in the Tracy House). * Benjamin Adelman Residence 1951,

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

* Arthur Pieper Residence 1952,

Paradise Valley, Arizona Paradise Valley is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb of Phoenix, the state's largest city. It is Arizona's wealthiest municipality. The town is known for its luxury golf courses, shopping, expensive real estate, ...

* Gerald B. and Beverley Tonkens House 1954, Amberley Village, Hamilton County,

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

* Toufic H. Kalil House 1955,

* Theodore A. Pappas House 1955, Town and Country, Missouri * Tracy House 1956, Normandy Park, Washington * Dorothy H. Turkel House 1956,

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

File:View_of_the_'Grand_Room'_in_the_Tonkens_House..jpg, View of the Great Room in the Tonkens House File:Dorothy_Turkel_house.jpg, Exterior of the Dorothy H. Turkel House

Usonian houses

Origin of the word

Noted Usonian houses

Precursor to Usonians

Usonian Houses

Usonian Automatic Houses

See also

Notes

References

External links