Wright Chat

Does anyone know of the existence of a FLW house in Grand Prairie, Texas (a suburb of Dallas)? There is a home on Walnut Street that is said to be. I suspect that if it is it was designed by one of his students. If someone knows or has an idea how I can find out, please contact me at [email protected]. Thanks!!

Can you post a photo of the house for us to see? Maybe we can give you an answer.

Two Architects come to mind, 1. David George, Taliesin fellow,1940's worked in DFW area in 50's through 90's. 2. Harwell Hamilton Harris worked in Dallas area in the 50's. He worked for Neutra, and was inspired by Wright.

There are four undisputed Wright buildings in Texas: the Dallas Theater Center, which was almost immediately bastardized beyond recognition after it opened to provide office and rehearsal space; the Gillen House in the Preston Hollow area of Dallas, a typical late-1950s design similar to Kentuck Knob that I managed to visit when it was between owners during an estate sale; the Thaxton House west of Houston; and the Sterling Kinney House outside of Amarillo, whose owner is almost obsessively private according to architectural historians at Texas Tech University who have tried to document the house.



At least two other Wright designs for Texas were never executed: a 1930s house for Stanley Marcus of Neiman-Marcus fame on Nonesuch Lane in Dallas, which floundered when Mr. Wright encountered an ego at least as titanic as his own; and the Rogers Lacy Hotel immediately after WW II, which would have been a 47-story hotel in Downtown Dallas somewhat reminiscent of the Price Tower. The hotel would have contained the first television studios in Dallas, with a transmitter aerial on the roof and television sets in every room, a great novelty for the time. Unfortunately, the client, Rogers Lacy, died before construction began and the hotel was never built. The only one of these buildings open to the public is the Theater Center, but it is a disappointment due to the radical changes.

Wow! I know this is an old post. However, as an avid FLW fan living in the Arlington TX area, I cannot believe there may actually be a home in GrandPrairie TX associated with FLW..I will have to look into this further.

Pdean-- I used to live in a 1950 "California Modern" house in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas that was not a Wright design, but that was clearly influenced by him. It had a cantilevered carport, an entrance not visible from the street, few windows on the street facade, and a solid wall of floor-to-ceiling windows and doors overlooking the backyard. It had clerestory windows over the interior doors. The living room was paneled in plywood stained to resemble redwood, which unfortunately needed replacement after the previous owners had smoked in it for 50 years. The exterior was faced with stone and wooden boards painted Cherokee Red.



If you drive around the residential sections of Dallas and Fort Worth that were developed in the post-war period and that haven't suffered from recent McMansion-ization, you can find many examples of modernist houses and commercial buildings that show Wright influences. Neighborhoods south of I-30 in Dallas, which have been regarded as less desirable places to live and to redevelop, are more likely to have remaining unmolested postwar houses.

There is one curiosity in Dallas. In an old neighborhood north of downtown is a butchered copy of the Heath House, obviously taken from an unmeasured drawing, probably in Ausgehfurtebauten. I don't recall for sure the name of the architect, but Lamb comes to mind. He was a rather prominent commercial architect around the teens. He made some critical errors in deriving a scale for the house and ended up with an enormously bloated version of Heath. I have seen one source that refers to it as FLW. It definitely is not.

I recall from FLW Monograph #8 that there was an unbuilt house for Austin, TX.

Outstanding! It would certainly seem like the house you described is/was influenced by FLW. I'm surprised that Dallas-Ft Worth does not have more of his work. We do have the John A Gillin House in the Preston Hollow district of Dallas. Not sure if you were aware of this house. Unfortunately, not currently on the market. thanks again.