Robert H. Sunday House

Completed in 1960, the Robert H. Sunday House is one of the last projects of world-renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959). Wright designed it in the Usonian style, which he first developed in the early 1930s. Usonian houses are usually small, single-story, L-shaped homes built with local materials. They also connect to the outdoors by emphasizing natural lighting and an openness to the outside. The Robert H. Sunday House is an excellent example of Wright's late Usonian style, which he developed in the early 1950s. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 and has remained a private residence.

Robert Sunday and his wife contacted Wright around 1954 and it appears Wright sent them the first designs a month after they met. Sunday first became interested in Wright's work after reading Wright's autobiography and he and his wife visited a number of his homes in the Midwest. Initially, the house was intended to built in the "Usonian Automatic" construction, which used concrete blocks. Wright invented this method to cut construction costs and increase versatility of design. Homeowners could in theory make the blocks and build the houses themselves. Sunday, who was a general contractor, tried to make the blocks but was unsuccessful.

After receiving a high estimate from a concrete manufacturer to cast the blocks, Sunday contacted Wright to revise the design plans to incorporate new materials. The Sundays received the final plans in June 1959, a couple months after Wright passed away. Instead of concrete blocks, the house was built with dark red bricks and concrete. Sunday and his wife did most of the work themselves. Wright never visited the site but a representative, John Howe, did a few times during construction. Howe designed the family room terrace and dining room additions that were completed in 1970. Sunday sold the house in 1984.

Peterson, Chery. "Robert H. Sunday House." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. November 9, 1988. https://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/nrhp/text/88002141.PDF.