This book is a visual and verbal tour of the Purcell-Cutts house, the “crown-jewel” of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts’ Prairie School collection. We wanted this to be a unique combination of historical account, house tour and museum guide, a book that captures the modern, innovative spirit of the Prairie School—typified by the often horizontal, geometric and organic qualities of the architecture and design of the time. This was done in several ways: through the book’s format (square when closed, horizontal when open); the title “box” on the cover that’s “transparent”; the low, horizontal, open format of the spreads with photos occasionally breaking out; the use of airy letterspacing of modern sans serif type in combination with more traditional serif type; and the creation of a sensory book rather than a purely academic catalogue.