The Jacobs House "is a berm-type dwelling similar to the Detroit cooperative.... On the exposed hilltop site, excavation of the sunken cycle in front of the hemicycle facing to the South furnishes the earth-bank surrounding the building to the North. The sunken cycle partly protects exposed glass surfaces from winds and affords sheltered space in which children will play. Bedrooms are on mezzanine overlooking the living room."

— Frank Lloyd Wright. "Frank Lloyd Wright", The Architectural Forum, January, 1948, Vol 88 Number 1. p74.

The Creator's Words

Referring to Usonian houses:

"We can never make the living room big enough, the fireplace important enough, or the sense of relationship between exterior, interior and environment close enough, or get enough of these good things I've just mentioned. A Usonian house is always hungry for the ground, lives by it, becoming an integral feature of it."

— Frank Lloyd Wright. "Frank Lloyd Wright", The Architectural Forum, January, 1948, Vol 88 Number 1. p71.

Details

The first of two houses Wright designed for Herbert and Katherine Jacobs.

2 foot by 4 foot planning grid.
Original cost of $5500.

Address:
441 Toepfer Street
Madison, Wisconsin   53711