Malcolm Willey house
Encyclopedia
The Malcolm Willey House is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota
, USA. It was designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright
, and built in 1934. Wright named the house "Gardenwall".
Malcolm Willey was an administrator at the University of Minnesota
. In June 1932, his wife Nancy Willey sent a letter to Wright asking if he would be able to provide them a "creation of art" for a budget of "about $8,000." The current design is the second design that Wright conceived for the Willeys, since the first design proved too costly for the family. The home ended up a modest 1200 square feet (111.5 m²) at a cost of $10,000. The Willeys sold the home in 1963 to a family that later sold it to a Wright aficionado who only sporadically occupied the home; when the current owners purchased the home in 2002 it was in need of major restoration which is currently ongoing.
The Willey House was primarily built out of red brick and cypress wood. The house is designed so that the living room and dining room were unified in a single space, and the kitchen was separated from them by only a group of shelves. This allowed a clear view from the kitchen to the living and dining area, allowing Mrs. Willey to watch the rest of the house while in the kitchen. This was an important step away from the historic precedent of compartmentalizing the functions of the house into separate rooms. The house can be considered a bridge between Wright's earlier Prairie School
style houses, and his later Usonian style houses, since it incorporates certain elements from both styles.
Located at 255 Bedford St. SE in the Minneapolis neighborhood of Prospect Park
, the home remains private and is only partially visible from public roads. It sits adjacent to a freeway wall blocking it from the sight and sound of nearby Interstate 94
; the home originally had a panoramic view of the Mississippi River
gorge before the freeway's construction obstructed it in 1960.
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, USA. It was designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright
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...
, and built in 1934. Wright named the house "Gardenwall".
Malcolm Willey was an administrator at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
. In June 1932, his wife Nancy Willey sent a letter to Wright asking if he would be able to provide them a "creation of art" for a budget of "about $8,000." The current design is the second design that Wright conceived for the Willeys, since the first design proved too costly for the family. The home ended up a modest 1200 square feet (111.5 m²) at a cost of $10,000. The Willeys sold the home in 1963 to a family that later sold it to a Wright aficionado who only sporadically occupied the home; when the current owners purchased the home in 2002 it was in need of major restoration which is currently ongoing.
The Willey House was primarily built out of red brick and cypress wood. The house is designed so that the living room and dining room were unified in a single space, and the kitchen was separated from them by only a group of shelves. This allowed a clear view from the kitchen to the living and dining area, allowing Mrs. Willey to watch the rest of the house while in the kitchen. This was an important step away from the historic precedent of compartmentalizing the functions of the house into separate rooms. The house can be considered a bridge between Wright's earlier 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,...
style houses, and his later Usonian style houses, since it incorporates certain elements from both styles.
Located at 255 Bedford St. SE in the Minneapolis neighborhood of Prospect Park
Prospect Park, Minneapolis
Prospect Park is an historic neighborhood within the University community of the U.S. city of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The area is bounded by the Mississippi River to the south, the City of Saint Paul, Minnesota to the east, the Burlington Northern railroad yard to the north, and the Stadium...
, the home remains private and is only partially visible from public roads. It sits adjacent to a freeway wall blocking it from the sight and sound of nearby Interstate 94
Interstate 94
Interstate 94 is the northernmost east–west Interstate Highway, connecting the Great Lakes and Intermountain regions of the United States. I-94's western terminus is in Billings, Montana at a junction with Interstate 90; its eastern terminus is the U.S...
; the home originally had a panoramic view of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
gorge before the freeway's construction obstructed it in 1960.