Frank Lloyd Wright's Laurent House Set to Open Friday, June 6 in Rockford, Illinois

April 18, 2014

ROCKFORD, Ill., April 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The newest Frank Lloyd Wright museum, The Kenneth & Phyllis Laurent House, will open to the public on Friday, June 6 in Rockford, Illinois. A series of events beginning Wednesday, June 4 will celebrate the opening. The opening coincides with what would have been Wright's 147th birthday on June 8. The home, considered by Wright as one of the 35 best works of his career, is the only building designed by the famed architect for a person with a disability. Kenneth Laurent was a disabled, wheel-chair-bound World War II veteran who, at the prompting of his wife, contacted Wright asking him to design a home to meet his unique needs. Wright responded, "Dear Laurent: We are interested but don't guarantee costs. Who knows what they are today - ?" The Laurents commissioned the home in 1948 and lived there from 1952 until early 2012, when the home and all of its original Frank Lloyd Wright-designed furniture was acquired by the Laurent House Foundation and added to the National Register of Historic Places. This single-story Usonian home is both functional and beautiful, meeting the needs of its owner decades ahead of Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility requirements. The home features a solar hemicycle footprint, patio, fishpond, carport, and outdoor connectivity to the natural landscape. The modest home is built of Chicago Common Brick and Red Tidewater Cypress. Much of the labor and materials used to build the home were sourced locally in Rockford.

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