ARCHITECTURAL STYLE

Homes of Arapahoe Acres reflect two distinct currents of 20th Century architecture -- International Style (1925 to present) and Usonian Style (1930 to present). Historically, both styles are related to works of Frank Lloyd Wright. Influence of Wright's Prairie Style 1900-1920 was dominant in developing nearly all modern architecture after its inclusion in the widely influential Wasmuth Portfolio published in Germany 1910. Art Deco, International and Art Moderne styles all have influences traced to Wright's Prairie Style work.

STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS

From the stylistic characteristics defined below, it is easy to see that the International Style and the Usonian Style share many features. In Arapahoe Acres, the line between the styles becomes even more indistinct. International Style, which most often utilized industrial materials, is softened, due to its residential setting, by the use of natural materials and earthtone colors more closely associated with the Usonian Style.

Forms and decoration usually associated with Usonian Style are often abstracted into austere aesthetic closely associated with International Style. Each house in Arapahoe Acres can be regarded as point on a stylistic continuum with International Style at one end, and Usonian Style at the other.