Built: 1903

Demolished: 1950

Though Wright is perhaps more famous for his residential projects, he also worked on commercial sites. He created the main office building for the Larkin Company, a mail-order soap business, focusing on designing a space to foster productivity. The brick structure featured an atrium to bring in natural light, air-conditioning (it was the first office building to have it throughout), and a recreation space on the roof. It quickly became one of the most famous office buildings in the world. Eventually the Larkin Company went out of business, and after the building changed hands several times, it was ultimately left vacant, then demolished.

3. Midway Gardens, Chicago

Photo: Courtesy of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation

Built: 1913

Demolished 1929

Built as an indoor/outdoor entertainment complex in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Midway Gardens featured a beer garden, a dance hall, and a concert venue. Wright had creative control over the entire project, designing details as small as the napkin rings. When Prohibition came around, Midway Gardens went dry but remained open until a decline in attendance caused it to shutter in 1929, when the building was demolished.

4. Rose Pauson House, Phoenix

Photo: Courtesy of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation

Built: 1942

Destroyed by fire: 1943

Rose Pauson commissioned Wright to design a winter home that she could share with her sister, and he produced a monumental stone-and-wood structure. Unfortunately, Pauson only lived in the home for a year before it burnt down—an ember caught a curtain and reduced the house to its foundation, which was left untouched for decades. Locals used the spot as a hangout, nicknaming the ruins Shiprock for their shape. Eventually the foundation was removed, but part of the chimney has been preserved and can be seen at the entrance to the Alta Vista Park Estates subdivision.

5. Hoffman Display Room, New York