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OCTOBER Mod of the Month Houston Mod invites you to join us Sunday, October 25, 2020 for a Mod of the Month open house event from 2-5 PM. Masks are required to be worn for this event. Please resist touching surfaces and maintain 6 feet of social spacing. Please help us find new preservation-minded owners for these outstanding vintage modern houses located 8 and 70 miles southwest of downtown Houston. Thanks to Houston MODern Market for sponsoring this FREE event. House 1: 4603 Ivanhoe Street, Houston, TX 77027 (open Sunday) HAR Link | Google Map For their own home, architect Allen Williams and his wife Thesalone, an interior designer, were among the first to purchase a lot in Afton Oaks but waited six years to build while perfecting their design. The result is this unique and still stunning modernistic composition in brick, glass and wood. This was the Williams' opportunity to be bold without questioning clients. Soaring ceilings, large expanses of glass, multiple levels, and free flowing brickwork compose the central living spaces. A triangular theme is carried through out in window shapes and the openings in the brick columns providing the conditioned air. The kitchen, viewing a walled side garden, still contains the nifty original cabinetry raised on brick platforms and topped with the original marble countertops. Williams even incorporated a chess game board into the terrazzo floor at the base of the stairway for his sons. Sincece we last saw the house, the original terrazzo floors that had been hidden by carpet and dark wooden flooring have been unearthed and the wall between the kitchen and dining area has been removed, returning the architect's original vision of the house. Allen R. Williams (1916-1978) was from Abilene, Texas. He was a B-26 Marauder bomber pilot in World War II. His architectural education was both in the Beaux Arts style and modern, graduating in 1946 from the University of Texas School of Architecture. The architecture he studied in France, Germany and particularly Maastricht, Holland was influential in establishing his style. In Houston, he briefly worked with Staub, Rather & Howze and partnered with Mack G. Reed before establishing his own firm, working alone and with his wife for the rest of his career. He designed hundreds of projects, both residential and commercial, a number of them for developers Roy Harris and W. E. Keep. A concentration of his work is located in the areas of Ripple Creek, Tynewood, Lamar Weslayan and Meyerland. Thesalone Williams also worked in the Interior Design department for Joske's department store. She serves as a Master Mod, Houston Mod's advisory board, and lives in Houston, recently celebrating her 101st birthday. Visit HoustonMod.org to learn about other designs by Allen R. Williams. The Mod Squad will be on hand at Sunday's event to assist with membership and publication purchases - which both make excellent gifts! After Alden: Midcentury Architecture in Brazosport, Texas, Houston Mod's new publication by Marty Merritt with a forward by Stephen Fox and photography by Benjamin Hill, will be available at Sunday's event along with our other publications. Or, you may purchase a copy online at our website. House 2: 1409 Dickson Street, El Campo, TX 77437 (Drive-by tour only) HAR Link | Google Map Here's an interesting flat roofed mod with deluxe features, listed for a very affordable price, located an hour drive from Houston. Note the wood-beamed and tectum ceilings, terrazzo floors, artfully tiled bathrooms, fine wood cabinetry and paneling, exposed brick walls, clearstory windows and abundant glass sliding doors opening to the almost half-acre site. If you have more information about this house, or others, please contact Houston Mod so it can be added to the website. More Mod Happenings New Book: ImprobableMetropolis: Houston's Architectural and Urban History Author Barrie Scardino Bradley now available Tour: AtHome With Architects | AIA Houston 2020 Virtual Home Tour, October 24, 2020 Tour: Preservation Houston 2020 Good Brick Tour Donations are always appreciated by the presenting organizations to allow for continued dynamic and engaging programming. Houston Mod is dedicated to promoting knowledge and appreciation of modern architecture and design in Houston and Texas and advocates the preservation of this cultural legacy, seeking support from its members and the general public in achieving this goal. Copyright © 2020 Houston Mod, P.O. Box 541353, Houston, TX 77254, All rights reserved. We hope to see you Sunday at Mod of the Month!