Prairie At the beginning of the 20th century, Frank Lloyd Wright introduced a distinct new architecture, expressing the flat, sweeping prairie of his native Midwest. The architecture of the Prairie house was created to meet Wright’s objectives of a simplicity and integrity that combined comfort, utility and beauty but did not imitate past styles. Prairie houses have broad, gently sloping, sheltering roofs with prominent low chimneys and patterned, leaded-glass windows. Balconies and terraces extend in several directions beyond the basic house, creating protected outdoor spaces and rhythms of vertical and horizontal planes.