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Organic Modern in Texas


Jersey01

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Referring to post #12 by BenH, did anyone find out any more information on the Dr. Davey Lieb house (round, "c" shaped house) at 311 Hunter'sTrail? Very unusual, have to view the aerial to appreciate it's uniqueness. Looks like it could be prone to flood issues. Would like to see the interior of that one. Reminds me of John Lautner's work.

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Referring to post #12 by BenH, did anyone find out any more information on the Dr. Davey Lieb house (round, "c" shaped house) at 311 Hunter'sTrail? Very unusual, have to view the aerial to appreciate it's uniqueness. Looks like it could be prone to flood issues. Would like to see the interior of that one. Reminds me of John Lautner's work.

Willowisp has seen the inside of the house, so he can probably tell you more about it. I want to say it has 12 bedrooms total, six in each wing, and it is supposed to look like a certain type of flower from the air. I believe it was damaged during Ike, but has since been repaired to some extent.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Bruce Goff designed this INCREDIBLE organic home in Dallas.

Organic modern is a topic often overlooked in our city with the majority of our modernism being that of the Miesian type.

I know of some of the obvious, such as the Bruce Goff Durst House here in Houston and the now demolished Mitchell House by Kamrath, but what do we have left that is as big of a statement as the Dallas home?

I thought I would chime in on the house on Baxtershire which was originally mentioned in this thread. Preservation Dallas has stated that there is no definitive proof that it was designed by Bruce Goff. I think most people do attribute it to him but some say it may have been designed by a Goff protege or even someone not related to Goff. The house changed hands recently and some of the deferred maintenance has been repaired. I'm not sure about the interior but the exterior dome over the motor court was removed last fall and some of the beams were replaced. Even without the dome it's still a very beautiful house and really stands out in the neighborhood. We live about a block away and I always hear positive comments whenever we have friends over about what a unique home it is (even from people who are not necessarily appreciative of mid century style architecture).

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Article by Lisa Gray from the Chronicle about Mike Vergas' house and life. Turns out he actually studied with Wright at Taliesin:

http://www.chron.com/life/article/Gray-Mending-the-house-that-love-built-3831547.php?t=4bc8945d9c

Article that ran a few months back about John S. Chase:

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-deaths/article/Architect-John-Chase-a-Houston-pioneer-dies-3450278.php

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  • 8 months later...

Bruce Goff designed this INCREDIBLE organic home in Dallas.

Organic modern is a topic often overlooked in our city with the majority of our modernism being that of the Miesian type.

I know of some of the obvious, such as the Bruce Goff Durst House here in Houston and the now demolished Mitchell House by Kamrath, but what do we have left that is as big of a statement as the Dallas home?

 

Turns out Bruce Goff did not design this house. According to an advertisement in Texas Architect back in the 1960's for a product called Stran-Steel, the architect was named John E. Parnell, with a designer named Bob Miller. General contractor was Elmore M. Klenk & Son, and Stran-Steel dealer was Blue Diamond Company. The ad shows the house under construction, and a model of it. Lists the client as Eddie Parker, which if you Google "Dallas" and "Round House", will show you that it's the same house. Now to find out who these guys were. 

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http://communities.aia.org/sites/hdoaa/wiki/Wiki%20Pages/Browse%20Pa.aspx

 

The closest names who were ever members of the AIA are Victor E. Pannell (Louisiana/Texas) or James B. Pannell of Montana.  No Parnell is recorded.  This doesn't mean he had no architectural education, but I'd be interested to know whether this house was at the start or at the end of his career.

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Okay, it looks like Goff may have designed the house but never intended to build it. According to this article, Parker got the plans from Goff, then must have hired Parnell to build the thing:

http://prestonhollow.advocatemag.com/2003/03/01/the-round-house/

From what I remember, this house isn't in Preston Hollow, either. Janel, do you live in Preston Hollow? Is your house on a four acre lot?  <_<

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Okay, it looks like Goff may have designed the house but never intended to build it. According to this article, Parker got the plans from Goff, then must have hired Parnell to build the thing:

http://prestonhollow.advocatemag.com/2003/03/01/the-round-house/

From what I remember, this house isn't in Preston Hollow, either. Janel, do you live in Preston Hollow? Is your house on a four acre lot?  <_<

 

hahaha. No. Our lot as well as most lots in Jan Mar Circle are around 1/2 acre.  It's near Preston Hollow but not PH proper. 

 

While 4 acres sounds nice our summer water bill is already outrageous. I don't need more grass than what I already have. 

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  • 5 months later...

I would like to make a small clarification re: the original owners of the Goff - Durst house on Tynewood.

Robert and Dan Durst were the sons of Gordon and Lucille Durst.

Gordon and Lucille Durst were the original owners.

They were good friends with my parents and we visited them in that house several times.

I was between 5 and 10 yrs. old.

I thought it was the most Awesome thing I'd ever seen !

 

It is possible that for some reason Gordon and Lucille put that house in Robert's name from the beginning (if Gordon and Lucille's names aren't on any records as owners), but I think that would have been very odd.

The couple were a conventional, conservative pair and they later moved (I think) to Tanglewood...I'm not sure...but  

the Tynewood house was a Lot of house for them.

 

*

I grew up on South Braeswood and when I was 13, we moved to Hunter's Creek, on Shartle Circle.

 

And No, the Robert Durst who was the criminal in the news was not the same person.

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Gargoyle, did your family know the owners of the big, flat-roofed modern house on Hunter's Grove? I think the address is 707 Hunter's Grove and the original owner was a family named Steely, maybe?

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