robertk

I ran across this thread while doing a search on Wylie Vale a week or so ago, and have some information I would like to contribute. Wylie's wife Alliene and my mother are cousins, so I have been familiar with his architecture and her interior design work my entire life. He designed, and she decorated, my parents' home which they built in Groves, Texas in 1962. I came along shortly thereafter and grew up in the home. My folks lived there until they sold it in 1993 when they retired and moved to Tyler, Texas. Since they had loved the first version of the home, they had Wylie make some changes to the plans, and re-built very nearly the same home in 1993. Both versions of the home, while differing slightly from Wylie's "Contemporary Country Ranch" style, have many of his trademark features, including the formal living room with large stone fireplace (white limestone, in both cases), hardwood floors, vaulted beamed ceilings, and pecky cypress paneling with the wiped/stained/sealed finish. Before my parents built their first home, Wylie designed a home for my mother's sister and her husband, which they built in Port Arthur, Texas in 1956. In 1968, they were transferred to Illinois, and returned to Beaumont, Texas in 1977, where they re-built the same home, with slight changes from Wylie’s talented drafting board. They retired in 1991, moved to Tyler, Texas, and built the home for a third time in 1992, with almost no changes from the 1977 Beaumont version. Their home more resembled the Ranch style home, and also incorporated pecky cypress paneling (painted) in the living room and sunroom, a brick and stone fireplace that took an entire end wall, with terracotta Mexican tile floors. As you can tell, our families were very comfortable in Wylie’s homes. Alliene and Wylie’s home at 12431 Taylorcrest was the last home in which they lived in Houston and was an absolutely gorgeous home nestled into the end of the cul-de-sac. The view from the living room was through an entire wall of windows (floor to vaulted ceiling) that overlooked a beautifully landscaped patio and back yard. I am sad to report that the home has recently been demolished and the lot cleared for new construction. I actually discovered this fact while browsing around on a Google Maps satellite view of Houston and I think I actually gasped when I saw the vacant lot. At least for the time being, the street view still shows the home. Their home on Memorial is still intact, and as was mentioned earlier in this thread, has been restored to its original glory. I understand that Alliene and Wylie’s son and daughter-in-law, who live near them in Austin, have visited with the current owners of the home, and report: “We have met these folks and they warmly invited us to see the house, take pictures etc. They really love the house and appreciate every detail of the architecture and materials. They have put a great deal of money into restoring it. We spent many hours with them in the house several years ago and they could not have been nicer.” Alliene and Wylie are currently 92 and 94, respectively, and live in Austin under nursing care and the loving care of their son and daughter-in-law. They are indeed not only some of the most talented, but also the kindest and most genuinely caring people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. So what do some of these homes look like? I figured you were dying to know! Unfortunately, I do not have digital pictures of my parents’ first home in Groves other than some screen shots that I have captured from Google Maps Street Views. I don’t know if posting them would cause copyright violations, so I will hold off on that for now. However, I visited my parents last weekend and took some pictures of their home in Tyler that I am including below. Interior photos of the living and dining rooms, which Alliene decorated in 1994 when the house was completed. Once again, unfortunately, I also do not have any digital pictures of my aunt and uncle’s first two versions of their Wylie Vale homes in Port Arthur and Beaumont aside from the same type of screen captures mentioned above. My aunt and uncle sold their Tyler home two years ago and now live in a retirement center near their son and daughter-in-law in Tulsa, Oklahoma; however, the Tyler home is right around the corner from my parents, and the current owners graciously allowed me to take pictures of the home. I include them below. I, along with the rest of the family, deeply appreciate the interest that has been shown in Wylie’s life work through this thread. It is indeed good to know that there are still folks who appreciate fine architecture from this era! -Robert K