Frank Lloyd Wright is America's greatest architect. Between 1886 and 1959 nearly 500 of his buildings were constructed, of which 359 remain; eleven are located in Ohio. The Louis Penfield House is one.

Set on 30 acres along the Chagrin River, the Penfield House was designed in Wright's Usonian style; a concept intended to bring affordable, elegant housing to the average American.

All of Wright's houses are unique to each landscape and each client; the Penfield house is no exception. Wright himself was short in stature, declaring anyone over six feet tall a weed. Most of his designs reflect this with low entryways and ground-hugging rooflines. Louis Penfield, however, was 6'8" tall and decided to use his height as a challenge. He wrote to Mr. Wright to ask if he had ever considered designing a home for anyone as tall as he. In 1953, during their first meeting at Taliesin, the architect, pointing with his cane, said, "Stand under that beam over there." After several minutes of silent study he declared, "That beam is exactly 6'9" above the floor and you just clear it!" He cheerfully accepted Mr. Penfield as a client.

The resulting house clearly reflects Louis Penfield's stature. Built in 1955 of wood, glass and concrete block; it has a twelve foot ceiling in the living room, eight foot passageway doors and narrow vertical glass panes two stories high. It is a departure from Wright's usual style for Usonian homes.

In addition to the existing house, the Penfield property is unique in having another home designed by the great architect. When Route 90 encroached on the northern edge of the parcel, Louis Penfield returned to Wright and commissioned a second house. The completed plans were on the drawing board when Mr. Wright died in 1959. As yet unbuilt, it is Frank Lloyd Wright's last residential commission.

--From the Brochure of the Louis Penfield House