Frank Lloyd Wright's Mosher House in Wellington

While driving out to Findley State Park in search of fall colors a few weeks ago, I made it a point to snap a few shots of this house. It's known as the Mosher House and is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed Prairie School home – and it sits just south of Wellington on Route 58!

Here's another view of it from my Friday afternoon photo shoot.

I had first heard of this house back in the early 1980s, when I saw a photo of it in the Lorain Public Library's copy of Preserving Our Past (1977) published by the Lorain County Regional Planning Commission. The book is an index of historic and landmark buildings in Lorain County and Vermilion.

At the time the book was published, the house's history was still a little bit shaky. As the book indicated, "This is a less ambitious, yet handsome rendition of Wright's prairie style architecture. The eaves of the roof extend out four feet from the exterior walls. Inside, the kitchen and the central fireplace were remodeled by the last owner of the house. The present owners have done a limited restoration of the house."

Here's the photo of the house from the book.

The book also noted, "This building has been researched by students of Oberlin College, who claim that this is indeed a house from Wright's office. Apparently a Mr. Mosher, who was an acquaintance of Wright in Chicago, had the house commissioned. It is questionable whether Wright himself supervised the work or even saw the house."

Apparently – judging from what I've seen on the internet – there had been a longtime controversy concerning this house as to whether or not it really was the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. But it seems that with the discovery of drawings and plans, it's now accepted as such – which is a relief.

Here are a few interesting links to check out regarding the house. Prairieschooltraveler.com has a link with some nice photos of the house before it was painted. Franklloydwrightinfo.com has some nice detailed shots of some of its ornate features.

And to see some great Taliesin architectural renderings of the house, click here and scroll down a bit. If you're a FLW fan, you won't want to miss these. The online discussion accompanying the photos is worth reading as well. (By the way, according to that website, it turns out that the man for whom the house was designed was actually named John A. Moser.)