Inside Louis Penfield House Usonian Design by Frank Lloyd Wright

Discover how Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian homes provide practical strategies for a cohesive and comfortable home that reflects your lifestyle and tastes. Usonian homes have a deep connection to nature, functional efficiency, and an inviting aesthetic. Although they were designed nearly 100 years ago, you may be able to use these concepts to shape your own space.

Usonian Houses: Everything You Need to Know About Frank Lloyd Wright’s Affordable Homes
Conceived after the Great Depression, these designs focused on simpler, more humble materials and were meant to be accessible to the middle class

Built-in shelving. Wood-paneling. A connection with nature. These are just a few of the still extremely desirable qualities of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian houses. Designed and built in America between the 1930s and 1950s, these homes represent the architect’s vision for a more affordable form of organic architecture. Compared to Wright’s most well-known structures—like the sculptural spiraled interior Guggenheim building, for instance—the Usonian homes are remarkably simple at first glance. Still, they demonstrate a profound sensitivity to their sites and a dedication to everyday beauty.

Architectural Digest 

Step in through these glass front doors. Glass walls go all the way to the ceiling of the second floor.

The Louis Penfield House is an early example of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian design. It incorporates many of the features that characterize the style. Usonian house are smaller than his earlier designs, from around 1,200 to over 2,000 square feet. His earlier Prairie style houses started at around 2,000 square feet to over 5,000 square feet with separate servant accommodations. Usonian homes were for a middle class family without someone else cooking or cleaning for them.

The idea behind Usonia was about more than just designing smaller houses. It was about planning, nature, and simple design on a human scale.

Usonian: History Colorado

The house was designed for Louis Penfield. He was tall, 6-feet, 8-inches tall, and the house was built to accommodate his height. Downstairs doorways are 8 feet high and upstairs doorways are 7-feet 4-inches high.

The house was built using wood panels and concrete blocks with large floor-to-ceiling glass windows. The exterior wood was stained red and the concrete was stained yellow. The interior reflects the same use of colors with redwood tiles and red stained wood paneling. The cement floor (with steam radiant heat) has a red cast and red flecks.

Although most Usonian homes are one level, the Louis Penfield House is two-story, 1800 square feet.

Downstairs

Downstairs is 780-square feet with an open floor plan living, dining and kitchen areas. A powder room and closet are accessible from the entry and the kitchen workspace area. There is a fireplace, underfloor heating and convection heaters under the windows.

Behind the table here is a fireplace. The Usonian house has an open floor plan around a central hearth.

Wood, stone, glass and other natural materials are left unpainted to help blend indoor and outdoor.

The open floor plan is divided into zones, rather than traditional rooms with doors that close. That seems pretty normal now, but it was a radical idea 100 years ago.

Floor to ceiling windows, glass doors, high clerestory windows and skylights bring in natural light and make the room feel bigger.

As Wright did with the Prairie style of his earlier fame, he also incorporated the smaller Usonian house with the site. Wright integrated the house with the landscape and nature in an attempt to get away from box-like structures. Walls extended beyond the interior to the outside, intermingling the two. Large windows brought the outside in. Natural materials blended the house with the site and warm colors on the interior further contributed to the feeling of bringing the outdoors inside.

Usonian: History Colorado

The Louis Penfield House has built-in seating in the living/dining room.  Specifically designed furniture and a lot of built-ins and shelving are typical of Usonian design.

There is storage inside these seats.  Seating was an integral part of the Louis Penfield House’s architecture with built-in storage. Built-in seating, shelves, storage, and other furniture is supposed to eliminate clutter and maximize space.

Storage within seating is a fundamental feature of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian designs. Traditional houses at the time were a lot bigger. To save money, Usonian homes did not have a basement or attic, instead integrated storage was built in where it could be.

Local wood and stone are used indoors and out. Lots of windows bring in natural light.

Floor to ceiling windows and a planter that appears to pass through the glass blur the boundary between indoors and outdoors. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian designs often incorporate these indoor-outdoor planters as built-in architectural features.

These planters are part of the design, strategically placed to blur the line between interior and exterior spaces. Both sides, indoors and outdoors have a drainage system built into the foundation of the house.

The kitchen is called the Workspace on the house plans. In earlier homes, the kitchen was a separate room at the back of the house. Usonian homes integrate the kitchen into the main living space. Normal now, but not 100 years ago.

The kitchen cabinets and counter run past the fireplace, the “central hearth,” to the dining and living area of the home.

Usonian kitchens are functional and minimalist with built-in surfaces and storage.We take built-in cabinets and counters for granted, but they were not typical when this house was built.

The counter was made from a tree from the land the house is built on.

Like the rest of the home, the kitchen has abundant light and ventilation from the high windows. Built-in appliances and storage with doors keep clutter to a minimum.

Upstairs

Wright’s typical Usonian designs were single-story L-shaped homes dividing private and public zones. The open floor plan living and dining areas are in the public side of the L with large glass walls and doors, usually facing the back garden or view. Small bedrooms are in the private side of the L.

These houses were arranged in zones, typically with three areas: living space, small bedrooms, and a kitchen-dining area. Built-in components and furniture allowed homeowners to appreciate the simpler, integrated space Wright intended.

Usonian: History Colorado

The Louis Penfield House has the private areas upstairs instead.

The stairs are in the entry. They are narrow, really narrow, only 23″ wide. There is no handrail.

Perhaps to make up for how narrow they are, each step is deeper than usual. Maybe tall Louis Penfield also had long feet?

Upstairs is 458 square feet, positioned over the kitchen. There are three bedrooms.

To save money, Usonian bedrooms are small. It’s also supposed to encourage the family to spend more time together.

Usonian bedrooms emphasize simplicity. Like the rest of the house, they integrate nature with wood and concrete materials. They have functional built-in elements and integrated storage.

The Louis Penfield house has three bedrooms.

Like the rest of the house, the bedrooms have large windows, but not floor to ceiling, more privacy.

Seeing how Frank Lloyd Wright designed his smaller, less expensive Usonian homes offers inspiration and practical ideas that can help you create a cohesive comfortable home that reflects your needs and personality. These designs offer practical tips that you can use to improve the functionality and aesthetics of your home.

The more you learn about different styles, even styles that may not appeal to you, the more you define your own personal style. Every style can give you some inspiration.