Greene, Herb

The Prairie House in Norman, Oklahoma, was designed by OU alumnus Herb Greene for his family in 1960-61. Located on the open prairie east of Norman, the house is sheathed in cedar boards and shakes. The wrapping and rising forms give the building an anamorphic presence on the landscape, which earned it the nickname “the Prairie Chicken House.” The cedar shakes continue inside the home, covering nearly every wall and ceiling plane. The effect of this unusual interior treatment is evocative and haunting. Greene’s design was inspired, in part, by his classmate John Hurtig’s drawing series, “A Cathedral for the Religion of Architecture,” as well as by the winds and views of the Oklahoma prairie. Learn more