Wright Chat

I just looked at some of the new additions this month on the PrairieStyles.com site:



http://www.prairiestyles.com/new.htm



I've really appreciated this site because it really introduced me to lots of the other architects associated with the style, especially lesser known names like Percy Bently, Harry Robinson and Richard Schmidt...and it gives addresses for when I'm in a touring mood!



I think it's also fun to see how far the "Prairie Style" notion got stretched, especially in commercial architecture. To my eyes the site has a liberal interpretation of it, which makes it all the more interesting.



--Bill Pardue

Not to distract from the excellent Prairie Styles site, but you might also be interested to visit The Prairie School Traveler, a site I've been developing for the last several months. You can find it at http://www.prairieschooltraveler.com



Comments and contributions to the PST are always welcome!



John Panning

Lake City, Iowa

John,

Very interesting site you're creating. I did a quick run through of various links on your site and it was interesting to see the William Drummond house in Mason City, IA for sale for $250,000. Don't know if that is a reasonable price for Mason City, but it would be a steal for the Chicago area!



I also just stumbled on a prairie house in Whiting, IN. My father grew up in Whiting and my aunt still lives in their family home (not the one in the picture). However, I have never seen this house (see below) and wonder the details of where, who designed/built. I will contact the Preservation site that has the photo and the city itself, but wondered if anyone on this board is familiar with this building?

Hello Mr. Panning -



I noticed that you have Unity Church listed as 1904.



The fire at the original Unity Church occurred on May 5, 1905.

The design was completed and presented to the Board in September 1905.



Construction on Unity Temple began in the spring of 1906 and continued through 1908 with the dedication in 1909.



Thanks --



Keith Bringe

Executive Director

Unity Temple Restoration Foundation

www.unitytemple-utrf.org

Jerry K.: The house in Whiting is exactly the sort of building I hope to include on my site. Most people know about the iconic PS buildings, but there was so much more to the spread of progressive architecture in this country. I would be delighted to know more about the Whiting house.



Mr. Bringe: Thank you for the correction of the date. At this point, I'm not quite sure why I had 1904 listed; it's clearly an error. I generally give the date of completion of the building, not the date of the completion of the design, so I have changed the date to 1909. When I compose the page for Unity Temple, I will be sure to provide a link your excellent site.



John