Frank Lloyd Wright has often been revered as America's most creative and innovative architect, and rightfully so. His career spanned some seventy years and within his lengthy run he created some of the most unique and forward thinking building designs in the United States. Beginning his education at the University of Wisconsin, Wright studied engineering before embarking on another endeavor, an apprenticeship in the architectural studio of Joseph Lyman Silsbee in 1887. Silsbee worked in five prevalent stylistic trends in America at that time: Gothic Revival, Richardsonian, Romanesque, Queen Anne, Shingle, and Colonial Revival. His concentration being residential design, many believe Silsbee was a huge influence in Wright's own stylistic development of residential design, which is known as the Prairie School.
             For the next five years Wright (1888-93) worked in the office of Chicago School Architects, Denkmar Adler and Louis Sullivan, as a draftsman on the Auditorium Building. During his tenure with Adler and Sullivan, Wright absorbed much of Sullivan's influence, working in both commercial and residential designs. His real passion was that of residential design; and commissions he worked on aside from his work with Adler and Sullivan, eventually led to a break, with Wright setting up a separate practice. The first commissions of his new solo practice were primarily for the design of private homes in affluent Chicago suburbs.
             The evolution of Wright's distinctive personal style at the turn of the century hinted at what would be "prairie style". A good example of a "pre-prairie style" Wright design is the W.H. Winslow House in River Forest, Illinois, built in 1893. The house is constructed of brick, stone and plaster; it is very symmetrical and more reminiscent of Arts and Crafts style with a hint of Sullivan's organic decorative influence. Low, horizontal lines, meant to harmonize with the flat surrounding landscapes, characterize...