Midwest Architecture

The Heurtley House (1902) would be recognized as a Frank Lloyd Wright design, wherever it was found.  The Prairie touches, and windows tightly integrated into the design both scream "Wright!"

The Gale House (1892) has a lot in common with its classic Queen Anne neighbors, but it is Frank Lloyd Wright.  Look at the tall dormer window.

The Moore House (1895/1923) resembles a church, with its Gothic revival touches, but this side has a strong hint of Tudor, at the strong request of Nathan Moore.  But it is still Frank Lloyd Wright.  The 1923 date is a rebuild job, after a fire destroyed the top floor.

Now for something completely different.  This is the house I grew up in.  A William Strain design, it started as a starkly modern, square, white box in 1940, and it was expanded in 1952, growing a gable and space over the garage.  Houses in Bloomington were smaller, then.

My father did only one building directly for Indiana University.  This is his Optometry Building, completed around 1970.  The spare design, dominated by planes of limestone, was driven by the need for lots of laboratories with no windows.  I remember the Department Head going on and on at Dad's funeral about how well the building was serving his departments activities.

Individual fraternities and sororities at IU were major clients for my father.  In my eyes, some four or more decades later, these buildings are typically more utilitarian than decorative.  This is the Sigma Nu house.  It is both.