Robert and Elizabeth Muirhead House

Hampshire, United States

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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The Robert and Elizabeth Muirhead House, located northeast of Plato Center, Illinois, is a one-story residential structure designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built between 1951 and 1953. Executed in Wright's Usonian style, the house exemplifies his modern architectural principles through its horizontal orientation, which responds to the flat surrounding landscape. Rows of casement windows and a wooden parapet reinforce this emphasis on horizontality, while the interior features characteristic Wright elements including a deemphasized entrance, floor-to-ceiling fenestration for natural illumination, and carefully orchestrated spatial relationships between rooms. The commission arose from the Muirheads' 1948 visit to Taliesin, where they met Wright and were inspired to engage him for their own home. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 12, 2016.