Because of the sharply pointed gable roofs, half-timbering and groups of casements windows, it might seem that Robert Spencer had turned to the Middle Ages for inspriation in designing this charming residence. In fact, the house is a version of Spencer’s own mature Prairie idiom. This is apparent in its crisply-articulated geometric masses, and in the way they are subdivided into rectangular units. Even the supposed half-timbering proves when examined carefully to be no more than a rectangular grid of rough boards laid in the stucco.If its owner, William Stephens, an Englishman by birth, fancied himself living in a Tudor cottage, its architect knew that his client was really living in a Prairie house.