The American System-Built Homes were modest houses designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. They were developed between 1912-1916 to fulfill his interest in affordable housing.
FLW was devoted to the idea of providing beautiful yet affordable homes to the public. His firm produced over 960 drawings for the project, the largest number of drawings for any project in the Wright archives.
The designs were standardized, and customers could choose from seven models. Because of this standardization, the lumber could be precut at the factory, thereby cutting down on both waste and the amount of skilled labor needed for construction.
The buildings are often termed prefabricated homes, but they were not, since no parts of the homes were constructed off-site. The lumber was cut at the factory, packaged along with all other components, and delivered to the work site for construction.
Some are located in a federal historic district in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and others have been designated Chicago Landmarks.
In 1999, it was announced that an update of the American System-Built Homes would be part of a renewal of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Taliesin Associated Architects were contracted to design new homes based on the original designs. They were expected to sell for $125,000 to $150,000 USD, similar to the originals in that the cost was relatively low.
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