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The Rosenbaum House in Florence, Alabama is the only building in the state designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in his Usonian style. It was built in 1939 and expanded in 1948 for the Rosenbaum family. The house is now a museum and has been restored to its original state. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and earned an award from the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy in 2004.
The Rosenbaum House is a city museum in Florence, Alabama and is notable in that it is the only building in the entire state designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Rosenbaum House is one of only 409 of the architect’s structures still standing, out of a total of 532 built. The architect designed it in his simple Usonian style – no basement or attic and few ornamental details – and kept an eye on cost control because at the time of its design, the Great Depression in America was going strong.
Usonian comes from the initials of United States of North America. The style reflects Frank Lloyd Wright’s goal of making a building for the common man in his unique American style. Houses in this style, such as Rosenbaum House, are one story tall, flat-roofed, and were designed for the middle class. The Rosenbaum House, located on 2 acres (8,093.7 square meters) of land near the Tennessee River, meets all of these specifications.
When built in 1939 for Mildred and Stanley Rosenbaum, the house had 1,540 square feet (143.07 square meters) of living space, but a 1,084 square foot (100.70 square meters) addition in 1948 expanded the house to accommodate the growing family by Rosenbaum. Mildred and Stanley Rosenbaum were the house’s only private owners. The city of Florence bought it in 1999 when it was in great need of maintenance. The termites were in the walls and the leaks allowed the water to damage the walls, ceilings, trim and joists. Following repairs financed by a new sales tax enacted in Florence, the house was restored.
Now a museum, the Rosenbaum House on Riverview Drive has been restored to its original state and is open to visitors. The successful renovation earned an award from the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy in 2004 and the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The house is shaped like an L and the addition is another L shape. The house is made of glass, brick and cypress wood. The design called for no garage and instead features a carport.
The Rosenbaums had originally asked another architect to design their home, but the submitted design exceeded their budget. The architect suggested that the family consult Frank Lloyd Wright. His design incorporated all the specs they wanted at an affordable cost. The addition commissioned in the late 1940s added not only more space but also a garden lanai, which further reinforced the architect’s desire to incorporate nature into his structures.
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