This is one of the few indigenous American styles. It was developed by an unusually creative group of Chicago architects that have come to be known as the Prairie School. Frank Lloyd Wright's early work, inspired by the linearity of Japanese prints, is in this style and he is the acknowledged master of the Prairie house. The name is key to the style. The stereotypical image of the Midwest prairie is that of a wide, flat, horizontal, treeless expanse that meets the horizon.

Features include:

• Broad horizontal forms
• Low-pitched roofs, usually hipped or gabled, with widely overhanging eaves
• Honest use of materials
• Organic ornament
• Two stories, with one-story wings or porches
• Eaves, cornice and facade emphasizing horizontal lines, often with massive, square or rectangular piers of masonry used to support porch roofs
• Bands of casement windows
• Window boxes or flattened pedestal urns for flowers  
• Large, broad flat low chimneys that forms the hub of the house
• Contrasting wall materials or trim, emphasizing second story
• Decorative friezes or door surrounds with floral ornamentation
• Wright's famous furnishings and free flowing interiors
• Seamless transition between indoors and outdoors