BenH

No. That's kind of a Houston trend that was popularized by the de Menils.

http://members.har.com/sites/johndaugherty...m?MLNUM=6023499 Classic house designed while N+T were planning Greenway Plaza with Schnitzer. Yours for roughly $5,000,000.

Jason and I were talking about what the next Houston Mod book is going to be and something like this came up. I suggested that it would be a good idea, though it would require alot of luck and some extensive research, to do a book on the top 20 or 25 houses in Houston that have been demolished. Houses included could be Bolton & Barnstone's Winterbotham house and DeMoustier houses (UH's library has extensive photos and drawings for these), Edward Durell Stone's Kempner house, Wylie W. Vale's Hull house, MacKie & Kamrath's Mitchell house, etc. What do y'all think?

We watched it in HD. You're right, not much coverage about the Rothko, but that wasn't the focus of the show; the Seagram paintings were. Funny, I was initially peeved that they didn't mention Barnstone & Aubrey, but it wasn't really needed.

The Rothko Chapel and assorted pieces by Rothko from the Menil collection will be featured tonight on Simon Schama's "Power of Art" episode about Mark Rothko. Show starts at 10 pm on KUHT. Mies' Seagram building and Philip Johnson's Four Seasons restaurant are also heavily featured. If you can, watch it in high def.

http://www.jaybakerarchitects.com/

Didn't have my camera today.

I drove by this house today and noticed that either the house is being readied for demolition, or more likely that a new roof is being put on. Some of the trim around the windows appears to have been removed, but there is a foundation repair company sign in the front yard. This house has needed attention for some time, and it may be getting it. Let's just hope it's not being torn down; two classic mods in the same week is inexcusable.

Not if this keeps up.

A few for certains and a few guesses: Raymond Schindler house - 17 Westlane Place; directly across the street from Bolton & Barnstone's Farfel House, which appears to be in perfect shape, by the way. This is one of, if not the last of Vale's contemporary country style ranch houses left in River Oaks. It is still owned by the Schindler family. Vale also built a house for Raymond's brother Leon Schindler in River Oaks as well. One of Vale's designs, the Richardson house, was featured in Architectural Digest in 1951. It was on Inverness where the gray New England farmhouse that Ray Bailey Architects designed in 1984 currently stands. Vale also designed a house on Pine Hill Lane, where the O'neil Ford/Carlos Jiminez house is. I believe only the garage is left and it will be gone soon. W.F. Gore House - Heavily remodeled but not by Vale, I think. There are three Vale houses on Kuhlman Rd, but the third wasn't really that interesting. Not to this board, anyway. The Gore house is empty at the moment. *Update 2008* This house has been demolished, and new construction is going up on it's site. However, it turns out that there's another house behind it, which is owned by Keith Beeman, Jr. 30 Patti Lynn - Vale designed at least one house in Sandalwood for sure, but I can't confirm whether or not this is it. It has many of his trademarks, including the cut stone walls and prow shaped overhang. Also not certain about this one. The address is 11710 Durrette. A very large house, but has a few similarities to the F.E. Carlton house in terms of exterior paint, brick, large windows, open plan, and board & battons. May be or may be not a Vale house.

That house in the listing isn't the second photo. That one is on a corner lot.

Three more: Two from Katy, Texas Keith Beeman House on Kuhlman Road *Demolished 2008*: I'm beginning to see that Wylie Vale was more or less a master of the California style custom Ranch House. He dabbled in several styles, but this seems to have been his specialty.

In light of new information (a list of every house Vale designed listed by client) it turns out that the Hickory Ridge house is indeed a Vale house. It was built for George Mayes in 1961. I stand corrected and apologize for the confusion.

One of the ramshackle ones was toasted on Friday. The other is doomed as well, according to River Oaks patrol.

We were actually very close to many of them. The only trouble was that we didn't know what to look for really. Personally I was expecting stucco and flat roofs, like the Hickory Ridge house. That just wasn't the case. I'm not done yet. There's one or two that I didn't put up, and a few that I haven't been able to find. Instead of Vale's house, it might be better to put the Townsend house up instead. Vale's house on Memorial drive is pretty much impossible to photograph due to the large bushes. Plus, the owners wish to maintain their privacy. Feel free to use my photo.

Ever since the listing for the house at 118 Hickory Ridge showed up: a few folks have been interested in the work of Wylie W. Vale. Jason and I have been in contact with Mr. Vale over the past few months, and this association has brought to light some interesting information. The first is that Wylie Vale was practicing architecture in Houston since at least 1939. He retired in 2001. Let that sink in a moment. The second fact is that Vale built or designed a large portion of Memorial, Tanglewood and River Oaks, and he did it in many different styles. He built flat-roofed homes with organic touches, conventional houses, and regal mansions. He built churches, librarys, schools and other buildings. However, he most likely did not build the house pictured above. It actually seems to go against most of his rules for design. So in an effort to clear up a few misconceptions about his work, I present this sampler of a few of his remaining designs. (I want to preface this by thanking Penny Jones at Martha Turner Properties for her help and her article on Mr. Vale, which I apologize if I rip off. Of course, I wouldn't have been able to find any of these buildings without Mr. Vale's maps, directions and descriptions. I'd also like to thank Jason for going to Austin and interviewing Mr. Vale, bringing back the maps, driving while letting me photograph, etc.) World War II had a profound effect on Houston's architecture. Ralph Anderson, Karl Kamrath, John F. Staub and others had served in the war in one capacity or another (Staub served in both World War I and World War II). Wylie Vale was no exception. Prior to the war, Vale had attended the Rice Institute where he met his wife Alliene, an interior designer. His designs were popular in River Oaks before the war. These are a few: But the navy came calling, and Vale eventually found himself in San Francisco waiting on his ship to be repaired. To pass the time, he would wake up early and walk until noon, returning a different way each time. The neighborhoods were booming; California was developing the modern styles that would make architectural history and spawn thousands of imitators. Vale absorbed everything he saw and upon returning to Houston, he put it into practice. Vale's place in Houston's history is a unique one: after seeing one of his more modern designs (or "moe-dern", as he would say), it is only logical that he belongs firmly in the city's under-appreciated organic camp with Karl Kamrath, Krakower & Greene and Thomas Greacan. But unlike Kamrath, who designed strictly in the Wrightian mode, Vale chose a more livable path. While Wright was a major influence, Vale built for the client. If the client wanted a super deluxe, flat-roofed palace, he designed the most tasteful modern mansion possible. His house for Herbert and Lois Townsend was a perfect example: The Townsend house has been featured in the CITE Magazine compilation Ephemeral City. One-story homes were Vale's specialty. To this day, his own fully-restored home in Memorial displays his signature detailing. A low pitched roof with overhangs nearing three feet provide artificial shade, multiple fireplaces with giant chimneys, along with stone and wood flooring were only a few of the luxurious details he incorporated. Walls were either randomly stacked stone or pecky cypress imported from Louisiana. This wood was treated with a wipe-finish developed for the Vale's company, Custom Homebuilders; the finish preserved the color and allowed the wood's beautiful grain to remain undamaged. This house on East Friar Tuck features similiar detailing: His other masterworks had flat roofs. This beauty, down the street for his own house is amongst the finest. A good shot was difficult to come by, even from the driveway. It resembles another now-demolished home in River Oaks: As you can see, stucco wouldn't compliment his work very well. It was wood, brick or stacked stone all the way. This house in Tanglewood was among his most unusual. It has all the trimmings of his best flat-roofed homes, but with a few major extras: This house near Briar Drive shows simplicity and streamlining. Though the photo doesn't show it, the porte cache terminates into a blade-like cantilever. Down the street is one of Vale's most organic homes, complete with enough Wrightian detailing to make one wonder if the designer wasn't Karl Kamrath. Vale built three homes on Tiel Way; one at the corner of Kirby and Tiel Way, across from the Kamrath at 950 Kirby, one at 43 Tiel Way and this one, 40 Tiel Way: It was rennovated and remodeled in the mid-nineties by Design Collaborative. One member of the firm was architect S. Reagan Miller, who to date has written the only extended work on MacKie & Kamrath. The Vale's last house in Houston was next to this one, part of an enclave of three on Taylorcrest off Beningus. Wylie W. Vale built more than 450 homes during his practice; residential design was his favorite form of architecture. His work has been featured in the Houston Chronicle and Architectural Digest. He designed homes for folks with names like Roy Cullen, Gus Wortham, Fred Heyne, George Lewis, Tyson Smith Jr., Jack Roach Jr. and Jimmy Green. At age 90, he now lives in Austin with his wife Alliene. His son, Wylie W. Vale Jr., is an award-winning biochemist at the Salk Institute.

Nope, it's at the other end of the street, I believe. It's not crazy modern, but more organic. Very nice landscaping. It was also featured in a Houston Chronicle article.

Arthur Moss did a googie/tiki apartment complex somewhere around town, but that's all I know. I've got pictures of Allen Williams' house but I don't have the time to get them posted at the moment.

Nothing I can confirm but I do have hunches. I believe those houses (there's more than one) were designed by Allen Williams, the architect that designed Ben Koush's house. If you look at Williams own house, it seems like a more sedate version of the wavy roof houses. It has a similiar chimney as well. That seems like the best guess, but I've also heard it could be Arthur Moss of Penguin Arms Apartments fame. Neither Stephen Fox nor Ben Koush know who the architect was.

I don't know. There is a Joe Krakower house on Glen Arbor, along with a Wylie W. Vale at the corner of Glen Arbor & Braeswood. This is the "island" where the two Krakower/Greene houses sit.

Check out this massive Ranchero Deluxe on Glen Arbor. Looks like something from Glenbrook Valley. http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r85/zoo...pg?t=1177219198 http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r85/zoo...pg?t=1177219265

Found the listing for the really swank "Wylie Vale" house. Doesn't look like something he would do... http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:lSGCJ...;cd=5&gl=us The address is 118 Hickory Ridge.

Heh, hence the term "servant's quarters".

According to Ben Koush, this is a Neuhaus & Taylor.

56 seems to be undergoing one serious restoration/rennovation/remodeling. The house is still there (you can see a few of the windows through the green screens.) I don't think this one is in any danger of vanishing.