Westhope,The Richard Lloyd Jones Residence In Tulsa,Ok

Jeff Myers · Post by **Jeff Myers** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 2:37 pm

I have a couple of questions... Was there any Frank Lloyd Wright furniture in Westhope? What other furniture is in the house? Are there any interior photos of this house?
Jeff
To All I am a new member.

Roderick Grant · Post by **Roderick Grant** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:57 pm

Early interior photos are rare, but I have never seen any that include FLW-designed furniture. The current owner, heir to Tyson Chicken fortune (and she needs the money to keep that place up!) has a large collection of eclectic furnishings plus some repros of FLW pieces, including a dining room set in a Prairie style. The one thing I found disconcerting about the interior is the wall-to-wall beige carpet. There is way too much beige in that interior, including the painted blocks.

Jeff Myers · Post by **Jeff Myers** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 4:03 pm

Yeah I agree with you an to much beige. To bad because I really wish there were prints in a book somewhere. I think the house has all the records but none can get to that unless you were a photographer or a Wright scholar. I try finding an email but that will as hard as trying to find photos.
Jeff

Palli Davis Holubar · Post by **Palli Davis Holubar** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 5:07 pm

There are some interior photos in In The Nature of Materials-dinning & billiard room.
I have a inquiry from those photos: Has anyone been inside? Are those perforated blocks open to be cubbies? or are they a different material... wood?

Jeff Myers · Post by **Jeff Myers** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 5:32 pm

Palli Davis Holubar
Can you scan some of those photos. Cubbies? I don't there are any cubbies in the house I think those are windows.

Roderick Grant · Post by **Roderick Grant** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:13 pm

There was originally cabinetry between the dining room and pool room that has been removed, making the dining room immense. There are some perforated blocks that cover vents, but not windows.

Jeff Myers · Post by **Jeff Myers** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:21 pm

I beg to differ...Roderick.. There are perforated blocks covering the tower part of the house and it extends all the way down to the ground. That means it covers the stairwell. I have a copy of a floorplan.
Jeff

Palli Davis Holubar · Post by **Palli Davis Holubar** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:55 pm

Cubbies is probably the wrong word...what I mean is that the decorative grille/cut-out/perf opening could have interior space. Maybe they are vents Jeff refers to above...
Maybe SDR could scan and post the Hitchcock photos for us...
I like the house, I just don't like the owner, Richard Lloyd Wright. (NO Jones, thanks Jeff- I need to proof read!) But he was good to commission Wright at a time when work was needed.

Jeff Myers · Post by **Jeff Myers** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:00 pm

Palli
You mean Richard Lloyd Jones. I believe the house is beautiful and maybe they could open it up and charge $2.00 fee that could probably help go for some of the upkeep that is required. I hate looking at such a beautiful building and not knowing what is in it it is like a present.
SDR could you please scan some photos.
Jeff

outside in · Post by **outside in** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 11:09 am

The house was originally very nice in the sense that there was a lot of interplay between interior and exterior spaces. Unfortunately the previous owner "restored" the building and made a number of alterations, resulting in a very confused and inappropriate plan - sadly, the perforated block has been sealed with this very goopy material (if its only paint, there must be multiple coats) and the interior is an odd collection of early modern and reproduction FLW furniture. In short, a proper restoration would benefit everyone. In its original configuration, the building was fantastic and quite unusual, even for FLW.

Jeff Myers · Post by **Jeff Myers** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 11:17 am

I am with ya on that. The Building Conservancy should help bring it back to its original form and the City as well. Maybe if Mrs. Tyson doesn't mind she can live in the servants quarter during the restoration I mean there are enough bedrooms in that house. I would love for them to have tours it is an important architectural piece to Tulsa and to the people that live there that some want to come see the building. There are Art Deco Tours in Tulsa and there is a list of Art Deco Buildings in Tulsa that list this as Art Deco and people drive to it take photos lets just open the place up you wouldn't have people messing up the lawn so they can take photos.

MHOLUBAR · Post by **MHOLUBAR** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 12:10 pm

Hi Jeff, it is always nice to hear a new voice on Wrightchat. The Building Conservancy is a small overworked and underfunded group that desperately tries to encourage FLW homeowners to properly maintain their increasingly antique homes. Education and persuasion being their stock in trade. When a house becomes public, or even semi public, maintenance seems destined to fall off, as the houses were intended to be homes.
Fallingwater may be the flagship FLW house but the WPNC cares for it as the treasure it really is, and Kentuck Knob has its own 'angel'. Other houses are not so lucky. 'Samara' is a wonderful house that Dr. John Christian built and he is building a foundation to care for it into the future, but in general the houses are safer out of the public eye. At least that is the impression i get largely from this board.

Jeff Myers · Post by **Jeff Myers** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 12:36 pm

Samara is a very beautiful home never been but have seen pictures. I am going to go to Samara sometime. I guess I have this misconception of thinking "you know homes are built for allot of people why not open them up to the public" that is usually how I think about public houses. I have been to Taliesin West a wonderful home and I fell in love with Arizona. The Price Tower which is only 45 minuets from where I live is a wonderful skyscraper (tower) I love it because architecturally it is astonishing and inside is breathtakingly beautiful I am glad they restored the upper floors I went on a tour and they showed us the linen closet I thought " wow you can store linens in a triangular cabinet I guess you would have to fold them like a flag" What I am trying to say is that if you open your buildings weather it be a house skyscraper whatever you have to have the money and time to keep it up or otherwise it will fall into disrepair. I think they have some supplies to keep it open for one day or do what they did at Samara call to make reservations to come see the house.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 8:53 pm

"In the Nature of Materials"

FLLW Archives

Thomas A Heinz

Yukio Futagawa

Jeff Myers · Post by **Jeff Myers** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 8:57 pm

Thank You SDR. I love these I especially love the top perspective. Thank You.
Jeff