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Hanna House

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  • Identity of Building/Site
  • History of Building/Site
  • Evaluation

Hanna House

Site overview

The Hanna House is an iconic Frank Lloyd Wright building on a hillside on the Stanford University campus. Designed in 1936 in a unique “honeycomb” design, it was created as a residence for Stanford professor Paul Hanna and his young family. There are no right angles anywhere in the building floor plan, encouraging flow and movement throughout the house. The building is considered significant and even pivotal in the architect’s career for several reasons: he was at last able to experiment with different types of geometry and break away from traditional rectangular design, which greatly informed his subsequent building designs; the design displays Wright’s newfound interest in designing affordable homes for average families in an effort to create a more civil society; and it utilized a construction system of repeated six-sided units that fit together to form a whole, making it possible to dismantle walls and reassemble them in different parts of the house as family needs changed.

Primary classification

Residential (RES)

Terms of protection

National Register of Historic Places, National Historic Landmark

Designations

U.S. National Register of Historic Places, listed on November 7, 1978 | U.S. National Historic Landmark, designated on June 29, 1989

Author(s)

| | 2/1997
| | 6/1998

How to Visit

Private residence

Location

737 Frenchman's Road
Stanford, CA, 94305

Country

US

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Designer(s)

Frank Lloyd Wright

Architect

Nationality

American

Other designers

Frank Lloyd Wright, architect

Related chapter

Northern California

Commission

1935

Completion

1937

Commission / Completion details

Commsiion 1935(e), completion 1937(e)

Current Use

Unused since the 1989 earthquake, will be used as a conference center.

Current Condition

Fair. Most original finishes are in place and in good condition. Damage to masonry elements during the earthquake has made the building structurally unsound. Restoration is in process.

General Assessment

One of Frank Lloyd√.s Wrights first hexagonal grid houses, the Hanna House is also considered one of his Usonian designs. The residence was also Wright√s first commission in the San Francisco Bay region. In plan the building is organized in a characteristic way for Wright, with living spaces coming off of a central chimney mass. Construction is wood frame and masonry of San Jose wire-cut brick. The hexagonal pattern is continued out into the challenging site and incorporated into the terraces, hobby house, garden house and garage. The building was designated in 1960 by the American Institute of Architects as one of the 17 American buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright to be retained as an example of his architectural contribution to American culture.
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