Frank Lloyd Wright House

Here in our little area of Alabama known as *The Shoals* is a treasure built by Frank Lloyd Wright. The Rosenbaum House, finished in 1940, is one of Wright's Usonian houses. The Rosenbaum family lived in it until 1999 when they sold it to the city of Florence and now you can tour it. I've been wanting to do this ever since we moved here two years ago. Unfortunately, I still haven't been able to; however, last week when my husband's sister and her husband were here he was able to take them. It had been a busy morning and I really needed to stay home so Mr. B could nap--and of course the nap won out! But Vince took some great pics and told me all about it (which only makes me want to see it more!). So I thought I would share a little with you about it.

The Rosenbaum House

the kitchen (enlarged in 1948)

Wright did not believe in putting lots of things in your home. He was into efficiency: not much closet space, tiny kitchens, lots of built in storage and the doorways into the bedrooms were only 20" wide. He spent quite a bit of time in Japan and the influence is definitely seen in his designs.

the sons' bunk room

He used a lot of glass, brick and natural material that left almost no need for any other interior decor. The whole house is a work of art, even down to the carved light covers.

the living room

The Rosenbaum family even agreed to let Wright design most of the furniture in the house. I found it very interesting that practically everything inside the house is made of plywood. Apparently he loved it--since plywood was the newest thing at the time. The guide said that when he loved something he used it everywhere, then when he moved onto something else he rarely used the previous obsession again.

the study

Wright designed the Usonian house to be affordable for the middle-class and $7,500 should have covered the cost for this home, but the Rosenbaums had spent $14,000 by the time they moved in. The house was originally 1,540 square feet, with an additional 1,084 square feet added in 1948. When the last remaining family member living in the home sold the house to the city, it was completely deteriorated and had nearly been torn down. The city of Florence raised $540,000 to restore it completely.