Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District (ID73000699[3]
)
Added to NRHP
December 4, 1973
The Harrison P. Young House is a home in the Chicago suburb of
Registered Historic District
.
Architecture
The Harrison P. Young House was first built during the 1870s for Harrison P. Young based upon a design by William E. Coman. In 1895 it was
Tudor Revival style.[2] Wright's 1895 remodel was significant and included structural modifications; before any other work began the house was pushed back an additional 16 ft (4.88 m) from the street.[4]
Following on, Wright affixed a large addition to the home, faced with narrow banded
Prairie style work and of his work throughout his career. The large chimney is symbolic of the significance of the hearth in a warm, family-centered environment.[4]
In the Young House some of the elements that Wright would go to use in his signature early modern Prairie style are recognizable. The most obvious element which is immediately visible is the thin, narrow clapboarding, which provides some of the horizontal emphasis for which Prairie style is known. Other features are more representative of Wright's earliest work with architect
Joseph Silsbee, such as the soaring roof lines.[4]
Significance
The house is most significant for the preview it gives of Wright's Prairie style, and the home utilizes many elements that would later become an important part of that school. The house is also recognized by the United States federal government as a
Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District. The village of Oak Park has its own, local version of the federal historic district and the Young House is part of that district as well.[6] The federal Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on December 4, 1973.[3]
