Kraus house

The Russell and Ruth Kraus Home in Ebsworth Park in Kirkwood, Mo. was designed in 1951 by Frank Lloyd Wright in the “Usonian” style. It was completed over the next seven years, with the furnishing of the interior taking another three. It is a 1900 sq. ft. structure (including patios and outbuilding) designed on a series of 60° - 120° parallelograms, and the triangles and hexagons that come from subdividing them. Only two right angles can be found in the entire design. The materials are tidewater red cypress, local brick, and concrete. The story of the construction is here.

The home is fairly unique in that it still contains the original furnishings and textiles as designated by Mr. Wright, including three “Taliesin 3” lamps, a parallelogram-shaped bed, and an hexagonal - lozenge bed. Mr. Kraus was also a meticulous saver, and still had every piece of correspondence and transcribed phone conversation with Wright and Taliesin Foundation.

In 1993, a conservancy was established to purchase the home from Mr. Kraus. Eight years of fundraising and three years of repairs restored the home to museum-quality condition. The conservancy gave the property to the St. Louis Co. Parks system, which leases the house back to the conservancy so that the park system takes care of the land and the conservancy maintains the house as a non-profit organization. In 2005, they won the Wright Spirit Award from the Wright Building Conservancy.

The Kraus Home is one of only five Frank Lloyd Wright structures in Missouri, and the only one open to the public. As with most museums, one is not allowed to take photographs inside; a few photos are available on various pages of their website. Tours are $10, limited to 10 persons at a time, and must be reserved in advance.

Kraus Home in Ebsworth Park