In 1954, Frank Lloyd Wright wrote that “The house of moderate cost is […] America’s major architectural problem, [and] for her major architects.”  Wright devoted a substantial portion of his career to trying to solve this problem.  This course will examine the designs of a number of architects, builders, and inventors who took on this challenge, including Thomas Edison, Marcel Breuer, Mies van der Rohe, Charles and Ray Eames, Buckminster Fuller, and William Levitt. Commentary and critical reviews of the day will be looked at, as well the a discussion of various designs: Salt box colonial; Fowler’s octagon; Queen Anne cottages; Craftsman bungalows; Sears and Roebuck mail order kit homes; Fuller’s Dymaxion homes; Wright’s Usonian homes; Leavittown development homes; Krisel’s mid-century modern Homes; and  Wills’ colonial revival homes. Questions like: did these and other efforts succeed or fail?; what this history tells us about life in America?; and how are current designs and building approaches being used in on-going attempts to solve the problem once described by Wright.