Purcell and Elmslie: Prairie Progressives explores the work of two important members of the organic architecture movement, and celebrates their tremendously important contributions to American architecture and the Prairie School. Wishing to return to simplicity and honesty, Purcell and Elmslie created homes and buildings that were consistent with a democratic society-simple forms, the natural use of textural materials and decoration, and buildings that accommodated the nature of a site. As did Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, Purcell and Elmslie held the conviction that a building does not end with its simple structure, but reaches its final and logical culmination in the clothing-color, situation and natural environment, together with its decoration of glass, terra-cotta, and other textural materials. The firm of Purcell and Elmslie was tremendously successful in the sense that their small open-planned free-flowing houses could be shared by a great number of Americans of moderate means. Projects discussed in this book can be found throughout the Midwest, including Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, North Dakota, Illinois, Wisconsin, and more. The time has come to recognize the work of these progressive architects of the Midwest. Purcell and Elmslie: Prairie Progressives includes: Comprehensive biographies of George Grant Elmslie and William Gray Purcell The Work of the Firm The Domestic and Non-Domestic Work of Purcell, Feick and Elmslie Work after the Firm Broke Up The Late Work of Purcell and Elmslie A Catalog of Major Projects

Purcell and Elmslie: Prairie Progressives explores the work of two important members of the organic architecture movement, and celebrates their tremendously important contributions to American architecture and the Prairie School. Wishing to return to simplicity and honesty, Purcell and Elmslie created homes and buildings that were consistent with a democratic society-simple forms, the natural use of textural materials and decoration, and buildings that accommodated the nature of a site. As did Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, Purcell and Elmslie held the conviction that a building does not end with its simple structure, but reaches its final and logical culmination in the clothing-color, situation and natural environment, together with its decoration of glass, terra-cotta, and other textural materials. The firm of Purcell and Elmslie was tremendously successful in the sense that their small open-planned free-flowing houses could be shared by a great number of Americans of moderate means. Projects discussed in this book can be found throughout the Midwest, including Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, North Dakota, Illinois, Wisconsin, and more. The time has come to recognize the work of these progressive architects of the Midwest. Purcell and Elmslie: Prairie Progressives includes: Comprehensive biographies of George Grant Elmslie and William Gray Purcell The Work of the Firm The Domestic and Non-Domestic Work of Purcell, Feick and Elmslie Work after the Firm Broke Up The Late Work of Purcell and Elmslie A Catalog of Major Projects

Throughout a fifty-year career in St. Paul, architect Edwin H. Lundie (1886-1972) designed more than three hundred projects, predominantly residences. His architectural designs, along with the Prairie School inventions of Purcell and Elmslie and the modernist themes of Ralph Rapson, are collectively considered the best work of Minnesota architects in the 20th century. What set Lundie apart from his colleagues was his devotion to detail and love of fine craftsmanship. This book documents Lundie's architecture through color photography, plan graphics, and his drawings and renderings.

St. Croix Trail Country was first published in 1967. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. This is a delightful, nostalgic recollection of the author's boyhood summers in the beautiful lake country of northern Wisconsin. William Gray Purcell was born in 1880 and grew up in Oak Park, Illinois. During the years from 1887 to 1901 he spent every summer with his grandparents, Dr. and Mrs. William Cunningham Gray, at their Island Lake summer home in the region of the old St. Croix Trail, south of Bayfield, Wisconsin. The country at that time was largely an unsettled wilderness, heavily forested, and inhabited mainly by Indian families, a few hardy woodsmen, and abundant wildlife. Mr. Purcell recalls the joys of summertime living in this unspoiled natural setting and recounts, too, stories he heard around the campfire of the experiences of Indians and pioneer settlers in the West. An important part of the book is the collection of 32 photographs, each reproduced on a separate page. These pictures, which were taken by young "Willie" Purcell, his father, and his grandfather, portray with photographic skill that is remarkable for its time the scene, the people, and the way of life in those Wisconsin summers long ago. There are maps, also, showing the location of the Island Lake home and the St. Croix Trail country.