Andrew Willatsen

Andrew Willatsen (8 October 1876 - 25 July 1974) was an architect chiefly remembered for bringing the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School to the Pacific Northwest. Andrew Christian Peter Willatzen was born in North Germany in 1876 and came to the United States in 1900. Born with the last name Willatzen, he changed the spelling to Willatsen c. 1918 due to anti-German sentiment during World War I. This may also explain the fact that later he always identified with the Danish in his background. He first worked as a carpenter, then as a draftsman, and arrived at Frank Lloyd Wright's Studio in Oak Park, Illinois in 1902 or 1903. The Studio was just entering its most creative period, and Willatzen soon became a valued...