Issue 470  June 25th 2025

"Prairie Masterpieces: The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright" Exhibit

David Wendell ’s lifelong fascination with Frank Lloyd Wright began in McCook, Nebraska, upon seeing the Sutton House. The house’s unique architectural style, starkly different from anything he’d seen, ignited his passion. Over 30+ years, this admiration grew into a vast personal collection of Wright-related items — from photos and drawings to furniture and stained glass — celebrating Wright’s visionary design.

Wendell’s exhibit, “Prairie Masterpieces: The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright,” is on display all summer at Pioneer Village in Minden, NE. It explores both the evolution of Prairie Style and Wright’s later Usonian Style — a more minimalist, modernist approach using materials like brick, concrete, and glass, developed as public tastes changed in the 1930s–50s.

Wendell explains Wright’s Prairie Style as a deliberate effort to create a uniquely American architectural identity, inspired by the flat, expansive landscapes of the Midwest. The Sutton House exemplifies this with its strong horizontal lines, overhanging eaves, and innovative roof design that visually elongates the house and integrates it with the surrounding prairie.

Though the Sutton House is the only Wright-designed home in Nebraska, the Stuhr Museum in Grand Island reflects Wright’s influence. Designed by Edward Durell Stone — who had connections to Wright’s teachings — the museum's extended roof lines echo Wright’s Prairie Style principles. Wendell’s work and exhibit celebrate Wright’s innovation and adaptability, offering a rich view into the legacy of one of America’s most influential architects.

Click for more details: nebraskapublicmedia.org  

Stay Overnight In Wright's Gordon House

Frank Lloyd Wright's Gordon House, originally built in 1957 for the Gordon family in Wilsonville, Oregon, now resides at the Oregon Garden in Silverton since its relocation in 2001. The home reflects Wright's signature style—horizontal lines, open floor plans, and a strong connection between indoors and outdoors, highlighted by large floor-to-ceiling windows and low overhangs.

Bruce Brown of the Gordon House Development Committee explains how Wright designed spaces to shape emotional experiences, using compression and openness to dramatic effect. The house also showcases Wright’s innovative concepts, such as the carport and unique fretwork windows that echo natural or geometric forms.

Visitors can tour the house for $20 (adults) or $10 (students) or book an overnight experience called A Night with Wright, offering a deeper appreciation of how light interacts with the home's architecture throughout the day.

Click for more details: centraloregondaily.com  

A Lush Tour Of Fallingwater – Aeon Videos

Commissioned as a summer home for a wealthy Pittsburgh department store owner, Fallingwater (1935-38) is often considered Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece. This video by the YouTube channel Open Space takes viewers into the house, which is now a museum, to reveal how and why this distinctive structure, built over a waterfall in a wooded stretch of rural Pennsylvania, embodied Wright’s philosophy of ‘organic architecture’ – and transformed the designs of homes and churches worldwide. Shot on site, the video offers no shortage of lush architectural eye candy, as meditative visuals of the building are paired with thoughtful commentary from Justin Gunther, the director of Fallingwater, on its story and lasting legacy.

Click for more details: aeon.co  

Visiting "River Rock"

Famed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright has left his mark in Northeast Ohio as his last residential design was built in Willoughby Hills. Fox 8's Kenny Crumpton visits the stunning home called 'River Rock' and sees how first hand the architects signature style is reflected in every detail. Visit the house's website to learn more.

Click for more details: fox8.com