Home Accessibility Highlighted in Veterans Affairs Historical Series

As part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, the VA History Office is sharing a series of stories, including one about a Frank Lloyd Wright House for disabled World War II Veteran Kenneth Laurent.

Following his service in the Navy during World War II, Laurent was left paralyzed when surgeons removed a tumor on his spinal cord in 1946. While recuperating in a VA hospital, Laurent contracted with Frank Lloyd Wright to build a house for him and his wife Phyllis in their hometown of Rockford, Illinois.

The one-story residence Wright designed featured many of the architect’s signature touches — an open floor plan, built-in furnishings, banks of tall windows to let in the natural light and radiant heat in the flooring. The house was one of more than 100 homes Wright built in this style. Read the full story at department.va.gov/history/100-objects/066-frank-lloyd-wright-house.