August 23, 1940

Mildred and Stanley Rosenbaum moved into their Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house in Florence. Now a museum, the Rosenbaum House is the only dwelling in Alabama designed by the famous American architect. Wright designed the house using an L-shaped floor plan based on his “Usonian” style, characterized by low-cost single dwellings worked into the natural landscape using native materials. The original house featured an open floor plan with a horizontal exterior of cypress wood, brick and glass, with cantilevered roofs and a carport. Despite the striking design, however, the house suffered almost immediate problems, including a leaky roof and defective chimneys.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

The Rosenbaum House, Florence, AL, 2010. (The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) is America’s most celebrated architect. His designs ranged from massive urban projects, such as the Guggenheim Museum in New York City and the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, to single-family dwellings, such as the Rosenbaum House in north Alabama. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, Courtesy of Library of Congress)

Living room at the Stanley Rosenbaum House, one the “usonian-style” homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, Florence, AL. (Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

Interior of the Rosenbaum House, Florence, AL, 2010. (The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

Dining room of the Rosenbaum House, Florence, AL, 2010. (The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith’s America, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.