Prairie
Where the
eave becomes
the horizon.
Prairie architecture for couples building on open lots, heritage homeowners restoring doctrinal detail, and boutique developers platting low-slung modern streets.
The land does not
end at the wall.
Prairie architecture begins with a single conviction: that a home should make the site feel larger, not smaller. Every roofline we extend, every clerestory we place, every planter we cantilever is an argument against the wall as a boundary and for the threshold as a horizon.
We work in the doctrine Wright laid down — low proportions, deep eaves, earth-anchored materials, the long horizontal line that rhymes with the Illinois plain — and we apply it with contemporary precision. No pastiche. No nostalgia. Only the grammar, spoken fluently.
47
Projects Built
18
Years Practice
3
AIA Awards
"The horizontal line is the line of domesticity, the line of the earth."
— Frank Lloyd Wright
Selected Work
Halcyon House
Barrington Hills, IL
Meridian Row
West Des Moines, IA
The Aldrich Restoration
Oak Park, IL
Clearwater Studio
Geneva, IL
Halcyon House
Barrington Hills, IL
Year
2024
Type
Private Residence
Area
4,200 sf
Status
Complete
A single-story composition on 3.4 acres of open meadow. The roof extends six feet past the last mullion on every elevation, dissolving the wall into shadow. Locally quarried limestone base, Douglas fir fascia, and floor-to-ceiling glass along the south-facing prairie view.
Three kinds of
client. One standard.
Couples on Open Lots
You have found the land — a 2-acre lot on the edge of a town that still has horizon in it. You want a home that belongs there, not one that could have been dropped anywhere. We design for the specific: the orientation of your lot, the prevailing light, the view you want to frame and the one you want to lose.
First home · Custom siting · 2,800–5,000 sf
Heritage Homeowners
Your home was designed in the doctrine and has been compromised over decades — a 1970s addition here, replacement windows there, the original art glass sold off. We restore with research: every coursing line, every fascia profile, every window division is verified against period documentation before a single thing is touched.
Restoration · Addition removal · Period authentication
Boutique Developers
You are platting 6 to 20 lots and want the street to read as a coherent neighborhood, not a collection of competing statements. We design a master vocabulary — shared eave heights, material palette, setback rhythm — then compose individual homes within it. The result reads unified from the road and distinct up close.
6–20 unit developments · Master vocabulary · Design standards
Every prairie begins
with a single line.
Let's draw yours.
We take on a limited number of projects each year — enough to give each one the attention it deserves. The first conversation is about your land, your life, and what you want to feel when you come home.
No forms. No obligation. One conversation.
47
Completed Projects
18yr
In Practice
AIA
Illinois Member
IL · IA
Licensed States