The Ennis House is a prime example of Wright's middle-career style. Which phase is described?

The Ennis House is a prime example of Wright's middle-career style. Which phase is described?

• A. Early
• B. Middle
• C. Late
• D. Postwar

Answer: (B)

The question is testing how Frank Lloyd Wright’s career phases are reflected in a building’s style. The Ennis House, built in 1924–25, shows Wright moving into his middle period, when he started using new materials and a more monumental, sculptural approach. Its heavy massing, flat roofs, and especially the use of concrete textile blocks—patterned, repetitive units that give a brick-like texture—are hallmark techniques of that phase. This period sits between the lighter, Prairie-influenced, nature-integrated designs of his earlier work and the later, more experimental Usonian and postwar projects, marking a shift toward bold form, texture, and material innovation. So the Ennis House is described as belonging to Wright’s middle phase.

The question is testing how Frank Lloyd Wright’s career phases are reflected in a building’s style. The Ennis House, built in 1924–25, shows Wright moving into his middle period, when he started using new materials and a more monumental, sculptural approach. Its heavy massing, flat roofs, and especially the use of concrete textile blocks—patterned, repetitive units that give a brick-like texture—are hallmark techniques of that phase. This period sits between the lighter, Prairie-influenced, nature-integrated designs of his earlier work and the later, more experimental Usonian and postwar projects, marking a shift toward bold form, texture, and material innovation. So the Ennis House is described as belonging to Wright’s middle phase.