Charles L. Manson House
Encyclopedia
The Charles L. Manson House is a Frank Lloyd Wright
designed home in Wausau
, Wisconsin
.
Built over two years (1938 - 1941) for a successful local insurance agent, the Charles and Dorothy Manson House is among Wright’s Usonian designs. The home uses a square unit system, but introduces 30 and 60 degree angles to eliminate right angle corners. However, the strong horizontal line of the house descending three levels down the sloping wooded lot has the silhouette of Wright’s Prairie School
houses.
Typical of Usonians, the walls are sandwich compositions of plywood and tidewater red cypress
board and batten
trimmed with local red (Ringle
) brick. To protect the house against fierce winters, Wright sandwiched two extra layers into the walls. The house sits on a concrete slab with its back to the street.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
designed home in Wausau
Wausau, Wisconsin
Wausau is a city in and the county seat of Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. The Wisconsin River divides the city. The city is adjacent to the town of Wausau.According to the 2000 census, Wausau had a population of 38,426 people...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
.
Built over two years (1938 - 1941) for a successful local insurance agent, the Charles and Dorothy Manson House is among Wright’s Usonian designs. The home uses a square unit system, but introduces 30 and 60 degree angles to eliminate right angle corners. However, the strong horizontal line of the house descending three levels down the sloping wooded lot has the silhouette of Wright’s Prairie School
Prairie School
Prairie School was a late 19th and early 20th century architectural style, most common to the Midwestern United States.The works of the Prairie School architects are usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands,...
houses.
Typical of Usonians, the walls are sandwich compositions of plywood and tidewater red cypress
Taxodium distichum
Taxodium distichum is a species of conifer native to the southeastern United States.-Characteristics:...
board and batten
Batten
A batten is a thin strip of solid material, typically made from wood, plastic or metal. Battens are used in building construction and various other fields as both structural and purely cosmetic elements...
trimmed with local red (Ringle
Ringle, Wisconsin
Ringle is a town in Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the Wausau, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,408 at the 2000 census...
) brick. To protect the house against fierce winters, Wright sandwiched two extra layers into the walls. The house sits on a concrete slab with its back to the street.