What Are The Characteristics of Prairie Style Homes? Best & Unique 8 Attributes

Homes have many different styles, Prairie style home is one of them, which has a unique charm. In short, Characteristics of prairie style homes are low to the ground with distinct roof lines, often using earth tones and natural materials. They have a lot of horizontal lines emphasized by the roof.
 

What Is a Prairie Style Home?

 
Prairie homes first appeared in the Chicago area in the 1890s, created by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. At the time, Victorian-style homes, which are detailed and ornamented, were popular. Prairie homes, on the other hand, were designed to be simpler and to blend with the surrounding landscape.
 
In 1893, Frank Lloyd Wright started his architectural practice in Oak Park, a quiet village near Chicago. At his Oak Park Studio in the early 1900s, Wright created a new style of home design called the Prairie style. This style was inspired by the flat, wide-open landscapes of the Midwest and became the first uniquely American architectural style of the 20th century. Wright, a skilled designer, introduced a fresh way of thinking about space and form, moving away from traditional house designs. Prairie-style buildings, with their striking horizontal lines and shapes, reflected the vast Midwestern scenery. This style spread through the Midwest into the 1920s.
 

Characteristics of Prairie Style Homes

 
While each prairie home is unique, they share common features inside and out. Here are some typical characteristics:
 

Exterior

Prairie-style homes are known for their low profile, often with low-pitched, hipped roofs. They are usually one story and have overhanging eaves and broad chimneys. The flat, wide roofs are meant to reflect the openness of the American prairie. These homes often have large, deep porches created by the overhanging roofs, providing a transition between indoor and outdoor spaces. Tall, thin windows arranged in rows give the appearance of a wall of glass, bringing the outside in and giving the homes a distinctive look. Sometimes, upper floors have overhangs that extend over the first floor.
 

Interior

Inside, prairie-style homes focus on open floor plans rather than small, separate rooms. They often feature large living and dining areas that are perfect for entertaining. Built-ins, such as cabinetry, nooks, or seating, are common and help create defined zones within the open space. These built-ins are usually made of wood and stained in natural colors, giving each home a custom feel.
 

Formal Characteristics of Prairie Style Homes

 
Strong geometry and massing of prairie style houses make it unique and help to blend in nature. Large central chimneys were placed to heat up the spaces during harsh winter.The geometry supports the massing to make it horizontally spread so that the natural landscape is complemented without having any disturbance.
 
Brick exteriors have another unique characteristic of prairie style homes .The bricks are longer horizontally compared to the typical ones. This also supports the horizontally spread geometry. Also the bricks are less taller then usual ones to make it look more wider.
 
Open, asymmetric floor plans are some unique characteristics of prairie style homes. Most of the common spaces are open and well lighted and ventilated naturally.This function allows large family gatherings and relaxation of the occupants.

Relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces is another significant characteristic of prairie style homes.The extended eaves creates a semi outdoor space that is connected to the interior space by the louver windows.
 
Interior wood composition style defines another way to describe characteristics of prairie style homes.The horizontally spread wood bandings describes its intent to blend with nature.The tall dining wood chairs make a perpendicular composition with horizontal lines of the interior elements.
 
Restricted use of ornamental designs make the prairie houses more. As mentioned earlier, Victorian house was most detailed ornamented designs shown rather then playing with function and space but in modern realm the prairie style replaced the ornamental design by using very minimal and focusing more on functionality and space play that improved the interior space aesthetics and eye soothing exterior finish.