Herb Greene's Prairie House restored as American School icon

The Prairie House in Norman, Oklahoma, designed by architect Herb Greene in 1961, is being restored by the Prairie House Preservation Society (PHPS) after years of deterioration. The house, a prime example of the American School movement led by Greene and Bruce Goff at the University of Oklahoma, features organic forms clad in unfinished cedar planks and shingles. Following the death of its longtime owner in 2016 and the demolition of Goff's Bavinger House that same year, PHPS formed in 2022 to save the structure. The nonprofit now offers public tours, education programs, and sketching events while fundraising for a master plan to transform the house into a community creative space. Greene's great-niece Lila Cohen, president of PHPS, is also producing a documentary about Greene and the American School. The house was famously photographed by Julius Shulman for Life magazine, which described its shape as 'bird- and beast-like.'