Kenneth Laurent House

The Kenneth Laurent House (1952) in Rockford, Illinois holds a unique place in Wright's biography: it is the only house he ever designed specifically for a person with a physical disability. Kenneth Laurent was a World War II veteran who had been paralyzed from the waist down, and he wrote to Wright asking for a house that would accommodate his wheelchair. Wright responded personally and designed a single-story Usonian with a circular plan — no steps, wide doorways, and a layout that allowed Laurent to move freely through every room. The result is one of Wright's most humane and thoughtful designs, a house that demonstrates how organic architecture could serve the full range of human experience. Laurent and his wife Phyllis lived in the house for decades. It is now a National Historic Landmark open for guided tours.